Masters Fitness Collective Championship Day Two Recap

Only two events awaited the athletes inside the Grand Wayne Convention Center on day two of the Masters Fitness Collective Championship on Friday. The caveat was that the events included a heavy ground to overhead ladder and a long, grueling down-and-back chipper appropriately called “Chop it Down”. At the end of the day those events didn’t really separate anyone from the pack in any of the 13 divisions, which showed the balance of competitive athletes throughout the field.

Highlights and interviews from day two of competition are available on the Morning Chalk Up’s YouTube Channel, including an interview with C.J. Martin of CrossFit Invictus who programmed the events.

35-39 divisions

• Men: Kyle Ruth remains in the lead by a 30-point margin over Ryon Anderson at the end of day two. Ruth has yet to have a finish outside of the top-two through two days of competition. He recorded two runner-up finishes on Friday. Anderson won his first event of the competition, taking “Chop it Down” with a time of 19:42. Kevin Jones sits in third, adding his second event win of the competition with a victory in “Speed Kills”, the only athlete in the division to clear the ladder and not get time-capped.
• Women: The field remains balanced as a three-way tie for first place stands after day two. Rachel Green was the biggest mover, going from fourth to tied for the lead due to a sweep of day two’s events. She edged out Briana Gaipa in “Speed Kills” by two seconds and then left the field behind in “Chop it Down”, finishing in 17:41. Gaipa also added a third place finish to put her in the tie. April Payne is the third athlete in the deadlock.

40-44 divisions

• Men: Heath Moody broke his day one tie with Tony Kurz with a clean sweep of Friday’s events. He dominated in “Chop it Down” finishing it in 17:22 while Kurz placed second with a time of 19:07. In the most exciting finish of the day, Moody snuck up on Luke Wotruba to tie him at the finish line in the GTO ladder. Kurz placed third. Moody holds a 15-point lead over Kurz with Wotruba in third place.
• Women: Jenn Ryan moved 20-points ahead of the field with a second place finish in “Speed Kills” and third event win of the competition in the day’s finale. Sara Blunck remained in second with two top-three finishes including a second place in “Speed Kills”. Michelle Benedict moved into third place after her event win in “Speed Kills”.

45-49 divisions

• Men: The division remains a close race with five athletes all in the hunt. Bill Thompson moved into the lead after taking the final event of the day. Greg Anderson and Jeff Dodson are close behind, just three points out of the lead. Anderson won “Speed Kills” with a time of 5:24 followed by Ryan Fruchey in second. Matt Thurber and Evan Samuel round out the top-five on the leaderboard.
• Women: Mollie Pate saw her lead shrink to three points as Kelly Edelmann moved into second place with an event win in the chipper. Carol Mezen used a huge day two to take over third place just four points behind Pate, winning “Speed Kills” and finishing second in the chipper. Julie Rappaport fell from second place to fourth but remains just 13 points out of the lead.

50-54 divisions

• Men: After winning the opening event of the competition, two-time Masters champion Ron Ortiz has reeled off four-straight runner-up finishes to build a 20-point lead over the field. Tied for second, Lon Allen and Kevin Becker have more event wins then Ortiz at two apiece but lack his consistency so far. Allen won the GTO ladder, edging Ortiz by nine seconds. None of the athletes in the division completed “Chop it Down” with Becker coming the closest at 311 reps.
• Women: The division continued to provide excitement as Deanna Hoffman and Rose Wall supplanted Tia Vesser atop the leaderboard but by just five points. Hoffman won her second event of the competition with a victory in “Speed Kills” to start day two. Wall’s two runner-up finishes gives her three overall. Vesser started her day with a fifth place finish but rebounded with an event win in “Chop it Down”.

55-59 divisions

• Men: Patrick Sprague holds just a five-point lead with two runner-up finishes on the day. Chris Podesto won “Speed Kills” for his second event win of the competition to help him stay in second. Jody Clements had two top-three finishes including ending his day with his first event win in the chipper. He is just ten points behind Sprague on the leaderboard.
• Women: Linda Elstun has yet to have an event finish outside the top-three, adding two second places on Friday to give her a 20-point lead in the standings. Betsy Vanderburgh remained in a second place tie but this time with Stephanie Johnston. Vanderburgh won the chipper while Johnston took the top time in the “Speed Kills”.

60-64 divisions

• Men: David Hippensteel extended his points lead to 19 with a second and fourth place finish. Keith Williams vaulted into the second place spot thanks in part to winning the chipper. 2019 Games qualifier Dave Hardie dropped from second to third just three points behind Williams who he finished behind in the chipper. Matt Bell won the GTO ladder edging Hippensteel by three seconds.
• Women: Donna Bruce extended her lead in the division to 30 points, tying for the largest lead throughout all the divisions. She cleared the ladder in 3:23 almost a minute ahead of runner-up Theresa Demich. Patricia Claro remained in second with two top-four finishes. Lorraine Lewis and Jackie Budd are tied for third. Demich bounced back from a disappointing day one by also winning her first event of the competition, finishing the chipper in 19:29.

65+ Division: George Koch made up the ten-point deficit from day one and ended day two in a tie with Ken Ogden. Koch was the only one in the division to finish “Chop it Down” earning him 100 points and the share of the overall lead. Ogden picked up a pair of runner-up finishes. Betty Hardin won the “Speed Kills” for her first event win of the competition.

On tap for day three: Three events await the athletes on Saturday at the Grand Wayne Convention Center. The live feed of the event will be available on the Morning Chalk Up YouTube channel starting at 8:00 AM EST.

• Complete leaderboards for all 13 divisions are powered by Competition Corner.