CrossFit Athletic Group

Yesterday afternoon Jake Malak and Noah Hurst finished their 5th andfinal Fundamentals session with 3 rounds of 200m run and 10 dumbbell cleans.

The more I got to know these two during our sessions, the more I realized how serious they both seem to be about baseball. Both want to play at the college level and they are ready to lead Lamphere this spring as juniors. For both of them the endurance part is going to be the biggest limiting factor at the start. They are out of shape and they know it. Their technique, however, is really good for being new and they are dialed in when the time comes- especially Noah. I've been trying to get the Lamphere connection going strong again since the Jay/Jacob/Marianne/Meghan thing back in 2012, and now I think Noah and Jake are helping us start that back up. Hopefully we can hold up our end and make them better. Welcome to the Champions Club kids!

Ghosts of Champions Club Past: Jake - JZ coming in a year later than he did, Noah - a motivated Collin Skorupski

Recently graduated Fundamentals kid Jake Malak (who's post will be coming soon maybe) has been quite the recruiter. Or, at least, his dad is. A bunch of the Lamphere baseball kids worked out with a local guy who ended up moving out of state. Somehow (maybe I think through James Rogers) Mr. Mallak was recommended to me and he's been sending all the kids our way. The two latest ones are Drew Webster and Josh Vandoorn.

Josh is a freshman who is baseball-only at the moment, though he did play football and basketball growing up. Drew, a sophomore, is football and baseball, with football being his primary sport and the one he hopes to continue in college. Josh is a bean pole but really coordinated and surprisingly strong. Drew is a freaking bowling ball. In fact, Jake and Noah told me that he goes through 2 or 3 helmets every football season. I think both of them will end up being really good fits to the gym and our culture. I'll check back in after Day 5.

Cecilia's mom comes through again on the recruiting trail for me with our youngest addition to the group. Addison O'Brien is 10 years old and plays on the same soccer team as Diamond (coach by Mrs. Steinwascher). She tried out the team workout session last Sunday and liked it, so she jumped on board.

Addison is a psycho! She is all over the place climbing the rope and jumping on things and swinging from the bars under the loft, but she still shows the concentration to keep the technique good when it comes to the formal movements like squats and box jumps. As far as I know she's soccer all the way, so hopefully we'll be able to convince her to play some other sports as well. I'll check back in after Day 5.

We have our first Regina High School addition to the Champions Club in the form of Abbi Lemons, a junior softball player who was recommended to come here through my Uncle Mike.

Abbi played softball (and basketball and volleyball and soccer) for GA growing up and is also family friends with Mrs. Hana and Ethan. Her diverse athletic background has helped her pick up the movement techniques so far through our Fundamentals sessions. Regina won the softball state championship last season, so her hopes are high going into this year. In addition to softball, Abbi also plays field hockey for the school. I'll check back in after Day 5.

On Wednesday Jacob Rusch finished his final Fundamentals session. I have been doing running/cleans in place of Helen almost across the board and this was no exception; 3 rounds of 200m run and 10 dumbbell cleans. It was cold!

Rusch has been a pleasant surprise during these sessions. He has a good combination of strength and skill for someone his size and a willingness to learn that will make his improvements come even quicker. He's a senior, so that means we gotta put in a few months of hard work before track starts in the middle of March. Welcome to the Champions Club Rusch!

Ghosts of Champions Club past: honestly, probably Ethan Hana.

The Foley invasion continues; not sure whether to credit this one to Decker or Ethan, but it's definitely not Owen because he doesn't talk. Anyway, enough of them, they're old news. Jacob Rusch is the latest addition to the Champions Club team - senior runner from Foley who's looking to get ready for track season.

Rusch takes after Owen in the quiet department, but more than makes up for that with his height and base level of strength (probably thanking Jacob - our original, the one and only, Jacob - for that). We've been through two days of Fundamentals so far and look to be on pace to finish up early next week. So far things are looking good, just have to really dial in on the squat. I'll check back in after Day 5.

We are in the middle of a New Kid invasion right now and what makes me the most excited about it is they're coming from our two closest neighboring schools. Jake Malak and Noah Hurst are juniors at Lamphere High School and are serious about playing baseball at the college level. Jake's dad came to us as a recommendation from NuNu's mom and he's bringing a group with him. For now, Noah and Jake are the first two on board.

One thing I try and look for with New Kids is how open/outgoing they are within the first few session. Would they be the type of people to dress up for our 80s Workout is something I ask myself. Usually it takes a few sessions to figure this out. With these two the answer is an obvious yes. They're goofballs; it probably helps being in with a friend and not alone, but both Noah and Jake haven't displayed any bit of shyness yet. The other thing I noticed is they both ask really good questions about form and technique, which tells me they are still serious about getting better. So far so good, and I'll check back in with you guys after Day 5.