CrossFit Athletic Group

This was, without a doubt, the most difficult decision for Athlete of the Summer we have ever had. And to be honest, I still can't say that I am one hundred percent with this yet. I mean, how can we really turn down Katie Shakes? How can we turn down Jennifer and Erika? HOW CAN WE TURN DOWN LAUREN FREAKIN' HIGGINS?? The answer, I suppose, comes with consistency. And because of that, this Summer's top award goes to Elizabeth Banet.

At no point this Summer was Elizabeth the most impressive athlete in the gym. Katie Shakes and Erika Banet owned the start of the Summer. And there is no question Jennifer and Lauren showed the month of August belonged to them. So then how can we give Biff the award? Because in terms of attendance, movement quality, and workout times, I don't think we can say anyone was better overall from June 8 until today. Then mixed into those days were a few wake-up calls to the coaches that served to let us know who was the baddest girl in the gym. Those highlights included beating every single person in the gym on the run/push press workout, obliterating the field on the early-July chipper, and turning on the extra gear for her namesake benchmark.

Congratulations Elizabeth! You put in the work and you earned this for sure. And you managed to stand out in the most competitive Athlete of the Summer running the Champions Club has ever seen. Here is our top-10 Dream Team selections (attendance percentage is in parenthesis):

1. Katie Shakes (99)

2. Elizabeth Banet (96)

3. Erika Banet (94)

4. Jennifer Banet (94)

5. Nicole Murley (90)

6. Emma Wonsil (89)

7. Alexis Hilliard (85)

8. Jacqueline Banet (84)

9. Mariah Fielder (82)

10. Lauren Higgins (82)

Shakes, Jennifer, Erika, and Emma were all in the top 10I didn't make the final decision for Athlete of the Summer until last night after going through all the workouts again. Like I said above, none of you made it easy for me.

Either way, I think this some special recognition should be given to Katie Shakes. Nobody knows what's gotten into her. We've done things like increase the weight, downgrade the bands, unscale the movements, and count reps, and she still produced Beast Modes like she was getting paid for it. And to only miss one day the entire Summer... it was tough not to roll with her. Same with Erika and Jennifer. Those two girls put in some of the most impressive efforts we have seen ever - Erika with a 39 minute Murph as rx'd especially. Bubs and Emma made up a lot of ground they lost in College, while Murley set a good example in regards to training around an injury. Jacqueline and Lauren did Jacqueline and Lauren things. And the rookie, Alexis Hilliard, surprised everyone with her consistency during her time with us.

There are still a few things we need to straighten out for the Final Attendance numbers, so we won't have those for you right now. The top 10 are all accurate, but we have to double-check the rest of you guys. In the meantime, be sure to congratulate the Dream Team and be on the lookout for The Days are Just Packed coming out tonight at 7 pm.