Early Mistakes Shake Things Up At The Ranch

Two events down at the Ranch and already we’ve seen some slip-ups and strategic errors shuffle up the leaderboard.

What went down: In both the 2007 Reload and the Corn Sack Hill Sprint we saw stumbles at the finish line and some early strategic mistakes ultimately cost multiple athletes precious points within the top five despite the smaller field providing a clearer picture of the competitive landscape within each event.

• Noah Ohslen once again came hot out of the gates in a workout only to pay the price on the back end. Early on in 2007 Reload, Ohlsen looked like he was picking up where he left off in 2019 and was a close second off the rower going toe to toe with Mat Fraser. By the second round of bar muscle-ups he had fallen off the pace and eventually finished last, more than two minutes behind 4th place.
• Brooke Wells looked like she had 4th place in 2007 Reload locked up, but during the final two reps of shoulder-to-overhead, she hit a wall and failed multiple reps in a row. Katrin Davidsdottir seized the moment and made up a six rep deficit to pull the rug out from under Wells at the finish line.
• Justin Medeiros started strong with a 2nd place finish in the opening event but during the Corn Sack Hill Sprint Medeiros had what could be considered his first “rookie mistake.” He was in close race with Jeffrey Adler and Noah Ohslen and it appeared as if he maybe let up just a little at the finish line and it was just enough for Adler to come from behind and pass him at the finish to steal an extra 20 points.
• Haley Adams is sitting pretty in 2nd place overall and managed a 3rd place finish in the Corn Sack Hill Sprint, but she potentially left some points on the table as a result of her difficulty handling the corn sack. From the get go Adams was the lone athlete fiddling with the positioning of the bag after the initial burst. She switched between at least four different methods of holding the bag, and in the final sprint when she was in position to potentially push Katrin Davidsdottir for 2nd place in the event, she slipped and dropped the bag and ended up carrying the bag in front of her across the finish line.

Worth noting: Even reigning champions Mat Fraser and Tia-Clair Toomey weren’t immune to some minor slip-ups in the mornings events despite winning both events handily. Fraser and Toomey both failed the very last rep of the 2007 Reloaded workout, but had built up such a massive lead that they were able to easily collect themselves and win the event.

The bottom line: It’s still early, and given the circumstances surrounding the event the athletes are still adjusting to the live competition setting after an eight-month layoff. Still, these minor mistakes cost points, and depending on how the races shake up by weekend’s end, these elements of execution could prove costly if 10-20 points ends up being the difference between being on the podium or not.