Laura Horvath and Pat Vellner Win It All: 2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit Event 9 “The Cleanup” Results
Heading into the final event of the 2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit competition, nearly no position on top of the leaderboard was certain. The epic battle between defending CrossFit Games champ Laura Horvath and the winningest Individual in history, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, was every bit as epic as expected. They were tied for first place on the overall leaderboard coming into the last event. When the dust settled on Event 9, “The Cleanup,” Laura Horvath and Pat Vellner earned the titles of 2023 Rogue Invitational champions, while Jeff Adler earned second overall with his first-place event finish.
Because of the weather, the final event was held indoors in the concourse of Dell Diamond instead of outside on the field. Adaptation was the name of the championship game, and Horvath did so flawlessly. Vellner had a no-rep toward the end of his event that made fans gulp, but he hung on for a successful overall victory.
[Get the Full Story: 2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit Live Results and Leaderboard]
2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit Event Nine Results — “The Cleanup”
- 3 rounds:
- 25 Double-Unders
- 5 Power Cleans (225/155)
- 2 rounds:
- 25 Double-Unders
- 5 Squat Cleans (225/155)
- 1 Round
- 25 Double Unders
- 5 Clean & Jerk (225/155)
Time cap: 14 minutes
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Below are the full results:
Men’s Division
- Jeffrey Adler — 3:58
- Roman Khrennikov — 4:09
- Dallin Pepper — 4:15
- Brent Fikowski — 4:17
- Travis Mayer — 4:21
- Noah Ohlsen — 4:30
- Ricky Garard — 4:33
- Lazar Đukić — 4:36
- Jay Crouch — 4:40
- Pat Vellner — 4:41
- Garrett Clark — 4:41
- Björgvin Karl Gudmundsson — 4:45
- Jayson Hopper — 4:47
- Tudor Magda — 4:50
- Bayley Martin — 4:58
- Jelle Hoste — 5:28
- Victor Hoffer — 5:35
- Chandler Smith — 5:38
- Will Moorad — 5:47
- Jonne Koski — WD
Women’s Division
- Laura Horvath — 3:47
- Emma Lawson — 4:11
- Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr — 4:17
- Danielle Brandon — 4:26
- Alex Gazan — 4:26
- Gabriela Migała — 4:28
- Dani Speegle — 4:31
- Kyra Milligan — 4:32
- Paige Powers — 4:33
- Karin Freyova — 4:39
- Emma Cary — 4:42
- Lauren Fisher — 4:54
- Arielle Loewen — 4:59
- Paige Semenza — 5:00
- Christine Kolenbrander — 5:04
- Manon Angonese — 5:09
- Elena Carratala Sanahuja — 5:32
- Emily Rolfe — 5:38
- Shelby Neal — 5:57
- Bethany Flores — 6:30
2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit Event Nine — “The Cleanup” Recap
Coming into the final event, Toomey-Orr and Horvath were locked up at the top of the leaderboard, each with 680 points. Gabriela Migala and Emma Lawson were also tied for a podium position with 555 points each, but Alex Gazan and Emma Cary were both within spitting distance with 510 and 500 points, respectively.
On the men’s side, Pat Vellner began the last event with a nice lead with 605 points to second-place Jeff Adler’s 540 points, but the battle was far from decided. Brent Fikowski sat in the third-place slot with 525 points, with Roman Khrennikov just 10 points behind him, Jayson Hopper 10 points below him, and Ricky Garard staring up at podium contention with 495 points. It was truly anyone’s game.
And the details of the event hadn’t even been publicly announced until minutes before the athletes took to the concourse.
[Read More: Alex Gazan and Will Moorad Prep For the 2023 Rogue Invitational With the Buttery Bros]
Women’s Division, Heat One
The women competed in smaller heats because of the weather-related venue change. Kyra Milligan was the first to move into the one-round portion of the event, opting for singles to finish off her first round. Karin Freyova did her best to catch Milligan, but wound up coming in second place in the heat.
Women’s Division, Heat Two
Christine Kolenbrander and Paige Semenza didn’t quite opt for touch-and-go reps, but they still were the first to cycle through their first encounter with the barbell. The women went relatively rep for rep throughout their first round, hitting the rope and barbell consistently at the same time.
Semenza soon pulled ahead of Kolenbrander on her squat cleans, taking the least amount of time between repetitions to push a steady but quick pace. Lauren Fisher climbed the ranks of her heat, too, sliding into second near the three-minute mark. Fisher and Paige Powers then shifted out in front of the pack. Powers stepped over her barbell first to come away with a heat win, followed by Fisher.
Women’s Division, Heat Three
Emma Cary and Arielle Loewen were the first to get to the barbell but Dani Speegle was the first back to her jump rope after banging out touch-and-go reps on her first set of power cleans. Only on her third set of power cleans did she start breaking up her reps.
Heading into the squat cleans, Speegle and Danielle Brandon went rep for rep, until Brandon headed back to the jump rope slightly ahead of Speegle. Brandon was opting to push the barbell down to the ground to make her transitions more rapid, and the strategy seemed to be working for her as Speegle and Cary began battling for second place.
Brandon got called with a no rep on a double-under, but she still had the chance to set the new event-best time with her heat win. Speegle stepped over her bar a couple of seconds after to lock up second place for the heat.
Women’s Division, Heat Four
The championship would be decided by this heat. Toomey-Orr hasn’t been in a race as tight as this since 2017 against Kara Saunders (which she won). But they weren’t the only ones competing for the podium. Gabriela Migala and Emma Lawson were also going head-to-head for third place.
All the athletes opted for singles on their first barbell, with Horvath transitioning back the smoothest to her double-unders. They touched their barbell at all but the same time for their second set of power cleans while Lawson edged ahead of Migala for third.
Horvath tripped very slightly on her rope, which put the two rep-for-rep on their barbells until Horvath pulled ahead slightly, getting back to her rope first. She continued about a rep ahead of Toomey-Orr through her first set of squat cleans as Lawson continued to lead Migala. She continued her one-rep lead over the six-time Fittest Woman on Earth® going into her last round of double-unders, stepping over her barbell far ahead of Toomey-Orr to make her the 2023 Rogue Invitational champion.
Lawson stepped over the bar to secure herself third place overall, as Toomey-Orr secured herself a second-place finish overall at her first return to competition, just a few months after giving birth.
Men’s Division, Heat One
The first heat saw Garret Clark showcasing the reason he qualified for this event, with a solid combination of strength with the barbell and prowess with high-skill moves like double-unders. He showed no sign of anything beyond moderate effort throughout his rounds of power cleans and squat cleans. Clark continued leading the pack, including Bayley Martin in a second-place position, until he stepped over his barbell for the heat win.
Men’s Division, Heat Two
All of the men in this heat approached their barbells at roughly the same time after their first sets of double-unders, but Noah Ohlsen was the first to make it back to his rope and back again to the bar. Each athlete chose to work in singles, hoping to maintain a solid rhythm while minimizing fatigue.
Ohlsen sustained that front position through this last round of squat cleans, all but pushing the bar away from him to aid his transition back to the rope. He hopped over his barbell with both feet and a small celebration to take his heat win. Lazar Đukić took second, followed by Björgvin Karl Gudmundsson.
Men’s Division, Heat Three
Travis Mayer, Dallin Pepper, and Ricky Garard motored their way through their jumps and reps through the first minute, maintaining consistent pacing through to the squat clean portion of the workout. Mayer got two costly no-reps on his squat cleans, letting Pepper slide in front of him for first in the heat.
Behind them, Garard continued grinding consistently, working his way up to battle for second with Mayer. Pepper hopped over his barbell to stop the clock, giving himself the heat win. Mayer recovered ahead of Garard, coming in second in the heat to Garard’s third.
Men’s Division, Heat Four
Spots on the podium were up for grabs as the final five men descended on their platforms for the last heat of the competition. Brent Fikowski was the first man to his barbell and was the first back to his jump rope, closely followed by Jeff Adler then Roman Khrennikov.
Adler pulled ahead slightly as the men continued to cycle their barbells, particularly as they entered the squat cleans. With Adler’s shorter leverages than Fikowski, he had a shorter range of motion to navigate and could more easily pull off a faster cycle rate.
On his five clean & jerks, Adler didn’t hesitate before pushing the bar overhead and hopping over his bar for the heat and overall event win. Khrennikov made a huge push and jumped over his bar before Fikowski, helping to earn himself the third spot on the podium. Pat Vellner would be crowned this year’s overall champion, with Adler coming in second overall.
That’s a Wrap
And just like that, the 2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit competition has come to a close. If you missed any of the action (or are already eager to relive it), check out all of our CrossFit event recaps here:
- Event 1 “Texas Heavy” Results
- Event 2 “Seat at the Bar” Results
- Event 3 “The Circus” Results
- Event 4 “10th Inning” Results
- Event 5 “The Duel III” Results
- Event 6 “Max Deadlift” Results
- Event 7 “Hulk Hands” Results
- Event 8 “Big Cat” Results
Featured Image: @laurahorvaht on Instagram