After three fun and challenging weeks, the 2023 Aevitas Open is now behind us! We have tallied all the scores between Team North and Team South for each workout, and this one was CLOSE! Keep reading to see how you and your gym made out, and who will be hosting the Aevitas Battle of The Gyms trophy… at least for now…
23.1 – The Repeat
This year’s Open started with a repeat workout from 2014. The workout entailed a LOT of work, culminating in a high-skill gymnastics movement, for athletes who made it that far and could still use their arms!
The workout:
The scores:
Team South (Guilderland) pulled ahead early in the first week, with a slim 1.4% advantage over their northern counterparts. A lead, yes, but not a large enough lead to take for granted… as 23.2 was sure to show us all!
23.2 – New Movement, Classic Movement
This year’s new movement was shuttle runs, which made for a very aerobic 23.2a! Combined with Burpee Pull-ups (also a new standard), athletes were challenged to just keep moving to accumulate as many reps as possible within the first 15 minutes.
Then for the second portion of 23.2, athletes were challenged to find a 1 rep max Thruster – the most classic of CrossFit movements! While a classic, no one actually wants to do a 1RM of this potent exercise, because of the sheer work required to complete it!
The workout:
The scores:
The scoring of this workout was very interesting between the two gyms. While Team North (Round Lake) took a substantial lead in 23.2a, Team South edged out a win for 23.2b
Going into the final week, it was really anyone’s game…
23.3 – Wall Walks and Doubles and Snatches, Oh My!
23.3 brought everything else you could ask for in an Open – three movements that highlight who has worked through their weaknesses over the year, along with a pay-to-play format that allowed athletes to earn their way into a better score bracket.
The Wall Walks and Strict Handstand Push-ups (or Hand-Release Push-ups) reminded athletes yet again how taxing going upside down can be on your shoulders! Then, the high-skill Double Unders took a toll on many athletes, but were in a small enough dose so that people could make it to the final movement – Snatches! But not just any Snatches – the more rounds completed, the heavier the Snatches became. Making this one an all-out effort for six, nine, or twelve minutes.
The workout:
The scores:
For the final workout, Team North beat out Team South, but no by quite enough to gain the lead. That gave the overall event win, and trophy bragging rights, to Guilderland. Congrats, Team South!
Closing Thoughts and What’s Next in the North vs South drama
This year’s format brought together the team initiative from 2022 in a new, more comprehensive way. We hope that the intramural style competition fostered more camaraderie between athletes within their home gym, and we also hope that the friendly competition between the two locations is here to stay!
Don’t worry, we are already brainstorming ways to compete for the Aevitas trophy throughout the year – so Team North, get ready to take it (and Team South – be ready to defend!)
