UPDATE August 1, 2019: We have the 2019 CrossFit Games Live Stream, also! Check it out here.
And we’re back for the second and final day of the Rogue Invitational Live Blog. This page does not dynamically refresh, so click the “refresh” button for minute-to-minute news from this Sanctional event.
Watch the live stream through one of our links here.
By: Ben Garves, Senior Editor
Squat Clean Ladder
3:44 PM – Next up is at the Rogue Invitational is the Squat Clean Ladder. This is schedule to start in about 15 minutes.
- 10 squat clean, 185 / 125 lb.
- 8 squat cleans, 225 / 145 lb.
- 6 squat cleans, 255 / 165 lb.
- 4 squat cleans, 285 / 185 lb.
- 2 squat cleans, 305 / 205 lb.
Rogue Invitational Individual Snatch and Press
3:41 PM – Scott Panchik finishes second in the heat, third overall.
3:40 PM – Mat Fraser goes unbroken on his last set and finishes the event at 6:09.76. More than a minute faster than Colton Mertens. Chandler Smith looks unlikely to beat Mertens.
3:39 PM – Mathew Fraser heads back to the wall for his final round of handstand push-ups.
3:37 PM – Fraser is back to the wall and does six of his handstand push-ups unbroken. Scott Panchik is six reps back, Cole Sager is tied with Panchik. Chandler Smith in fourth.
3:36 PM – Mat Fraser looking smug. He knows he’s the hardest working athlete in sports, and this is where he excels the most: two events left in some of the most grueling competition of the year.
3:35 PM – Chandler Smith strings together four handstand push-ups, but Mat Fraser churns his out and heads right back to the dumbbell.
3:34 PM – Early into this, Scott Panchik and Chandler Smith are fighting for the lead. Mat Fraser is in third.
3:33 PM – Cole Sager is only six points behind Patrick Vellner on the overall leaderboard.
3:32 PM – The rest of the big guns are headed to the floor. Watch for Chandler Smith on this one. Without Games experience he could be exhausted and struggle with these handstand push-ups.
3:31 PM – Rory McKernan grabs Ben Smith for a quick interview. They talk about his recovery from surgery and Smith reiterates he’s headed to win the Granite Games next week.
3:26 PM – Sweat is dripping down Ben Smith’s face as he heads into his last handstand push up. He crosses at 9:29.26.
3:25 PM – Mertens wins heat 1. The time to beat is ow 7:13.43. Ben Smith has nine reps left on the handstand push ups. He leads Jacob Pfaff by ten reps.
3:24 PM – Colton Mertens is back to the wall for his last set of handstand push-ups. He’s breaking these up into sets of two. He still has a 12-rep lead over Ben Smith.
3:23 PM – Ben Smith is 15 reps back from Colton Mertens.
3:22 PM – Ben Smith has zipped up the board to second place, battling with Jacob Pfaff.
3:21 PM – Colton Mertens has a 10-rep lead headed into his third set of snatches.
3:20 PM – While Ben Smith is 18-reps back on the event, he has one of the most steady motions with immaculate form. Could this be an endurance play?
3:19 PM – If Colton Mertens keeps up this pace, he may place high, even for the second heat.
3:18 PM – One minute in, Jake Berman and Colton Mertens lead, with Ben Smith four reps back.
3:16 PM – The first heat of elite men have taken the floor. Mat Fraser leads Patrick Vellner by 76 points. Short of not hitting the minimum work requirement, Chandler Smith looks to have locked up an invite to the CrossFit Games.
3:11 PM – We are preparing for the men’s Snatch and Press event. Men will be doing 100-lb dumbbell snatches and strict parallette handstand push-ups from a 4-inch deficit.
3:02 PM – Laura Horvath has not been able to complete one handstand push-up. Horvath has struggled with similar events in the past. She has to complete nine of these reps to meet the minimum work requirement.
3:01 PM – Katrin Davidsdottir crosses, followed by Brooke Wells in fifth.
3:00 PM – Tia-Clair Toomey takes the event. Kari Pearce and Dani Speegle battle for second. Pearce slides across the finish line. Speegle has three reps left.
2:59 PM – Tia Toomey heads back to the wall. Five reps to go.
2:57 PM – Dani Speegle and Katrin Davidsdottir are tied, five reps back from Tia-Clair Toomey.
2:56 PM – Toomey is headed back for her second round of deficit handstand push-ups.
2:55 PM – Right now, Tia-Clair Toomey leads the event with 35 reps. Katrin Davidsdottir is four reps back, Dani Speegle is five.
2:54 PM – Elite women, heat 2: Go!
2:52 PM – One athlete to keep your eye on during this event is Brooke Wells. She won the handstand obstacle course in the 2018 CrossFit Games and is very comfortable when inverted.
2:51 PM – 70-lb dumbbells are being reset for the second heat of elite women.
2:49 PM – Margaux Alvarez does not complete the minimum work requirement. Shawn Woodland points out, “this may be the last time we see Margaux Alvarez on a competitive event floor.”
2:47 PM – With two minutes left in the first heat, Trombetta finishes and Henderson has 3 reps left. Lauren Suever has 4.
2:46 PM – This event has a minimum work requirement of completing one full cycle. Margaux Alvarez has only completed one handstand push-up and may not qualify for the last event.
2:44 PM – With 7:48 on the clock, it is still Garibay, Trombetta, Henderson.
2:43 PM – Shrum has moved on to the second round of dumbbell snatches, but doesn’t look to have the ability to catch up. Rachel Garibay continues her nine-rep lead in this heat.
2:42 PM – Rachel Garibay takes the lead and is about 9 reps ahread of Lauren Suever.
2:38 PM – Karine Shrum is first to the handstand push-ups, but receives a no-rep on her first attempt.
2:33 PM – The first three athletes on the male leaderboard have already qualified for the CrossFit Games, which means Chandler Smith is closing in on a ticket to the Games. On the women’s side, Margaux Alvarez is looking to qualify from 11th-place. She intends to decline an invite, so it will go to Rachel Garibay in 15th-place. We’ll see what happens, with only a couple events left in the Rogue Invitational.
2:31 PM – On the men’s side, Mat Fraser is leading Patrick Vellner by about 40 points. On the women’s side, Tia-Clair Toomey has only a six-point lead over Sara Sigmundsdottir.
2:30 PM – We’re back after a pretty hefty break to live blog the Rogue Invitational’s final events in Columbus, Ohio.
12:58 PM – Festivities are headed inside the Rogue headquarters. Elite individual athletes will take on the Snatch and Press event in 30 minutes.
Team Tug-of-War Finale
12:55 PM – CrossFit Team OC3 wins the Tug-of-War event and are headed to Madison, Wisconsin for the 2019 CrossFit Games.
12:52 PM – OC3 wins the first round of this final event. This is Back Bay’s first loss. They’ll have to lose again in order for OC3 to win the event.
12:50 PM – OC3 defeats CrossFit Mayhem Freedom to advance to the final round. They’ve locked up their qualification for the CrossFit Games.
12:49 PM – Because this is double-elimination, Back Bay will have to lose TWICE to the winner of this pull in order to leave in second place.
12:48 PM – CrossFit Mayhem Freedom won their first matchup against Team OC3. This matchup will determine who faces CrossFit Invictus Back Bay in the final round.
12:47 PM – CrossFit OC3 is matching up against CrossFit 417. It looks to be quick work from OC3. They win.
12:46 PM – Invictus Back Bay survives an early lead by CrossFit Mayhem Freedom. Mayhem will drop to the loser bracket.
12:45 PM – The winner of this match will take on the winner of OC3 versus 417.
12:44 PM – CrossFit Invictus Back Bay from Boston is taking on CrossFit Mayhem Freedom and their captain, Rich Froning.
12:43 PM – ROMWOD/WIT is taking on OC3, which is a powerful team. This is a quick match with ROMWOD eliminated.
12:42 PM – Independence gains the early advantage but loses to the pulsing tug-of-war strategy of CrossFit 417.
12:41 PM – CrossFit 417 is setting up against CrossFit Mayhem Independence. The loser of this pull will be eliminated.
12:40 PM – CrossFit Invictus Back Bay is taking on CrossFIt 417. This was a faster round, with 417 losing to Invictus. Invictus Back Bay will take on CrossFit Mayhem Freedom in the winners bracket.
12:40 PM – These two teams are waffling back and forth. Mayhem Freedom has a slight advantage with a more offensive approach. Mayhem wins. In this double-elimination format, OC3 will have another chance.
12:38 PM – Team OC3 will be taking on Rich Froning and CrossFit Mayhem Freedom next.
12:27 PM – WOMWOD/WIT loses to Don’t Stop after Travis Williams loses his balance as the team anchor.
12:26 PM – CrossFit Balance eventually crosses and gets eliminated. Next is Don’t Stop versus ROMWOD.
12:35 PM – Balance is struggling, but this is a long match. Teams have two minutes before a tie is called. A slip on Independence helps Balance gain some ground back.
12:34 PM – This is the first elimination round: CrossFit Balance versus CrossFit Mayhem Independence.
12:32 PM – ROMWOD versus CrossFit Invictus Back Bay. Invictus wins after ROMWOD forces a late last stand.
12:30 PM – Don’t Stop versus CrossFit 417 gets a reset after a false start. Closer matchup, but goes to CrossFit 417.
12:30 PM – Quick bout – Mayhem Freedom refuses to lose.
12:29 PM – Next up is Mayhem Independence versus Mayhem Freedom.
12:28 PM – First up will be CrossFit OC3 versus CrossFit Balance. OC3 looks to win quickly.
12:27 PM – CrossFit Mayhem Freedom will go against CrossFit Mayhem Independence in their first round. Some conundrums here, as Independence has yet to earn an invite. Also. Rich Froning doesn’t like to lose. And. Independence may be afraid of Froning’s future workout punishment if they win.
12:26 PM – Teams are taking the field after a cool intro montage for this tug-of-war event.
12:21 PM – Finishing off the team competition could be one of the most exciting events of the 2019 Rogue Invitational. Teams will be going head-to-head in a double-elimination tug-of-war.
Individual Cyclone Event
12:15 PM – Samathan Briggs finishes first for the women, followed by Becca Voigt-Miller. Tanya Wagner takes third.
12:12 PM – The 2008 CrossFit Games Champion, Jason Khalipa, wins the Legends Cyclone event at the Rogue Invitational. Tommy Hackenbruck follows closely behind. Mikko Salo finishes third.
12:11 PM – Annie Sackamoto is leading the women. Not counting Samantha Briggs.
12:10 PM – Tommy Hackenbruck is the first athlete back to the bike. Fun fact. He rucked for over 3,000 yards in on year as a foodball player.
12:07 PM – Jason Khalipa is the first athlete off the Echo bike and on to the Cyclone bag. He’s followed by Tommy Hackenbruck.
11:51 AM – Legends will take the field shortly for the Rogue Invitational Cyclone event.
11:47 AM – Streat Hoerner and Cole Sager have a foot race for second place. Streat Hoerner just barely edges Sager out. Patrick Vellner crosses fifth.
11:46 AM – Mathew Fraser has taken the lead over Streat Hoerner by one rep on the Echo Bike.
11:45 AM – Cole Sager and Mat Fraser are sharing a lane and are tied heading into their bike.
11:43 AM – Athletes have finished their first bike and have picked up the Cyclone bags. The group is led by Travis Mayer and Streat Hoerner. Mat Fraser is in third.
11:42 AM – Here they go, sprinting to the Rogue Echo Bikes.
11:41 AM – Men are taking the field for the Cyclone event.
11:32 AM – The floor is being reset for the elite men. These athletes will be upping the weight of the cyclone bag to 150-lbs.
11:26 AM – We still have a number of women on their final Rogue Echo Bike.
11:24 AM – Sara Sigmundsdottir wins the event, followed by Katrin Davidsdottir. Tia-Clair Toomey finishes eighth, losing ground to Sara Sigmundsdottir in the overall lead.
11:23 AM – Tia-Clair Toomey is just now making it back to the bike. Katrin Davidsdottir has a significant lead over the 2017 and 2018 fittest woman on earth.
11:21 AM – Katrin Davidsdottir finishes her four laps with the Cyclone bag and heads to the Echo Bike for another forty calories. Sarah Sigmundsdottir and Laura Horvath are right behind.
11:20 AM – Katrin Davidsdottir is the first off the bike and takes her Cyclone bag down and around the first pillar.
11:19 AM – With two minutes in, Annie Thorisdottir leads the event, passing Brooke Wells after she took an early lead.
11:16 AM – Announcers are commenting on how the wind gusts have really picked up. Event staff are having troubles with wind blowing lane markers over.
10:54 AM – Look for the Cyclone event to start in about 15 minutes.
10:52 AM – The Rogue Invitational Cyclone event will feature a 200-meter Cyclone bag shuttle run, sandwiched between two 40-calorie bike rides. Cyclone bags will be 150-lbs for men and 100-lbs for women.
10:51 AM – As the teams close out their second-to-last event, the floor will start to be reset for the individual Cyclone event.
Team Event 6 – Rogue Invitational
10:49 AM – Invictus Back Bay has won two of the last three events.
10:48 AM – CrossFit Invictus Back Bay wins the event, followed by CrossFit Mayhem Freedom. Only 42 points separate Back Bay from OC3 in their battle for the CrossFit Games.
10:47 AM – Teams are into a their sets of dumbbell snatches and handstand push-ups.
10:22 AM – The floor of the Rogue Invitational is being reset in preparation for the sixth team event of the weekend. This will be a snatch and press event, starting in about ten minutes.
Rogue Invitational Concept2 Biathlon
10:16 AM – The event goes to Matt Chan, followed by Jason Khalipa and Chris Spealler.
10:15 AM – Matt Chan beats the time of Rasmus Andersen to set the fastest time of the day. Jason Khalipa passes Chris Spealler and Tommy Hackenbruck.
10:14 AM – Hackebruck falls to fourth and looks to lose to Graham Holmberg and Chris Spealler.
10:13 AM – Matt Chan now has a three-rep lead on Tommy Hackenbruck. He’ll win the Men’s Legends Biathlon.
10:12 AM – Interesting fact: Katrin Davidsdottir hit thirteen of her fifteen shots. This makes her the best shooter at the Rogue Invitational Concept2 Biathlon.
10:11 AM – Hackebruck and Chan are head-to-head in the final shoot. Chan hits all five of his shots, while Hackenbruck only hits one.
10:10 AM – Tommy Hackenbruck stays in the lead, headed into his last shooting segment.
10:08 AM – Matt Chan is a lefty. He has to move the rifle away from his targeting in order to load the chamber with another pellet.
10:06 AM – Spealler has already dropped to third, as Tommy Hackenbruck and Matt Chan’s bigger body size helps them on the SkiErg.
10:05 AM – Chris Spealler hits all five of his shots and heads right back to the SkiErg. This puts him in the lead.
10:04 AM – Holmberg and Tommy Hackenbruck are the first athletes to the shoot. They each make their first prone shot.
10:03 AM – Graham Holmberg takes the lead, followed by Dan Bailey and Matt CHan. Mikko Salo is close behind.
10:02 AM – Male Legends are taking to the SkiErg.
9:54 AM – Annie Sakamoto wins the legends Concept2 Biathlon, followed by Becca Voigt-Miller. Kristan Clever and Tanya Wagner are working on their final ski with 50 seconds to go.
9:52 AM – As the wind picks up, Annie Sakamoto hits all five of her final shots to return to the SkiErg in first.
9:48 AM – Lots of red in the standing shoot. Becca Voigt-Miller, Julie Foucher, and Sam Briggs all miss their entire five shots.
9:45 AM – Kristan Clever hits all five of her prone shots.
9:41 AM – Female Legend athletes are off!
9:32 AM – We’re looking at about 20 minutes before legends athletes take the field for the Concept2 Biathlon.
9:31 AM – Patrick Vellner hits all five of his targets. This is damage control, now that Fraser has finished. Vellner will drop below Mat Fraser on the overall leaderboard.
9:29 AM – The time set by Rasmus Andersen in the Concept2 Biathlon stands. Chandler Smith has just one penalty lap before he finishes with his last ski.
9:28 AM – Fraser is in the groove. He went three-for-three before missing the fourth shot. Mathew Fraser has 70 seconds to complete his penalty lap and ski. He may not hit the time set by Rasmus Andersen.
9:25 AM – Fraser goes four-for-five in his standing shoot. Chandler Smith misses all five and heads into five rounds of penalty laps.
9:20 AM – Athletes are off. The first man to the ten-calorie mark is Travis Mayer, followed by Mat Fraser and Chandler Smith.
9:18 AM – The final heat of elite men in the Concept2 Biathlon have taken the field. We’re receiving an update that Lukas Hogberg has withdrawn due to an illness.
9:10 AM – The time to beat in the second heat is 10:49.79. We’re highly likely to see the elite athletes in that heat outperform.
9:09 AM – Hitting twelve of his fifteen shots, Rasmus Andersen is the first athlete to his final round on the SkiErg. Behind him are Pfaff and Jake Berman.
9:06 AM – Andersen is back for his second-to-last ski on the SkiErg. He’ll head into one final round of prone shooting next.
9:02 AM – Rasmus hits four of his five targets. Ben smith is currently one-for-four. He hits his fifth and has to take three penalty laps.
9:01 AM – Rasmus Andersen is the first athlete to the prone shoot. He hits his first target.
9:00 AM – The first athlete on the board with ten calories done on the ski Erg is Jake Frye, followed by Ben Smith.
8:58 AM – Ben Smith and Rasmus Andersen are the two big names in the first heat. Smith is recovering from knee surgery and Andersen, having already qualified for the CrossFit Games, has struggled this weekend.
8:55 AM – The floor is being reset for men.
8:48 AM – Davidsdottir finishes with 10:24.05. Favorite quote from Shawn Woodland: “The sled dog can shoot!”
8:48 AM – Davidsdottir will win the event, followed by Kristi Eramo. Tia Toomey and Laura Horvath are in a fight for third place.
8:46 AM – Katrin Davidsdottir hits all five of her targets and heads back to her last ski. Her time is destroy the record set in the first heat by Margaux Alvarez.
8:45 AM – Katrin Davidsdottir starts her final round of shooting and hits her first target.
8:44 AM – Tia-Clair Toomey also comes back to the SkiErg after only missing one standing shot. It may not be enough to catch Katrin Davidsdottir.
8:43 AM – KATRIN DAVIDSDOTTIR HITS FOUR OF HER FIVE STANDING TARGETS. Sorry. All caps because it’s incredible. She’s going to have one heck of a lead after her single penalty lap.
8:40 AM – Katrin Davidsdottir hits four of her five targets and is first into her penalty. Kristi Eramo, Kari Pearce, and Laura Horvath each hit all five targets.
8:39 AM – No stranger to the SkiErg, Katrin Davidsdottir has a slight lead on the first part of this event. Annie Thorisdottir and Dani Speegle are close behind.
8:37 AM – And the top heat of elite women has started with their run to the SkiErg.
8:34 AM – The floor is being reset for the second heat of elite women. Tia-Clair Toomey moved to Cookeville, Tennessee this year. She’s been training with avid shooter Mat Fraser, and has been nicknamed the “bush woman” by her husband Shane. Will this pay off?
8:30 AM – Brooke Haas and Margaux Alvarez hit all five of their targets from the prone position and return to the Concept2 SkiErgs. Margaux Alvarez wins the heat at 12:21.73.
8:26 AM – Margaux Alvarez finishes her three penalty labs and heads into the third SkiErg segment.
8:24 AM – Alvarez is first back to the shooting, but misses three of her first four shots.
8:21 AM – Karine Shrum is the first athlete off the SkiErg. She misses her first shot. Margaux Alvarez is currently four-for-four on the shooting. She hits all five and is back to the SkiErg.
8:18 AM – The first heat of women is underway.
8:17 AM – For those asking, athletes are using an air rifle and not an actual rifle.
8:16 AM – Rogue has brought in an actual Olympic Biathlete to tell us more about strategy. We can expect a number of missed shots and the run and kettlebell thruster penalties from both men and women.
7:59 AM – In about fifteen minutes, the Concept2 Biathlon will start. The Rogue Invitational Concept2 Biathlon will be the first sanctioned CrossFit event to feature shooting. Athletes will complete three rounds of 40 calories on the Concept2 SkiErg, alternating with three rounds of shooting. There will be a kettlebell thruster and run penalty for each missed shot, per round. Women will complete 30 calories on the SkiErg.
Rogue Invitational – Team Events 4 and 5
7:55 AM – Totals are being calculates. Jared Stevens was clearly dominant in this event. He hit a 435-lb front squat. Kelsey Kiel of CrossFit Invictus Back Bay tossed a cool 285-lbs.
7:49 AM – The front squat event has started and athletes are ramping up to their heavy weights.
7:41 AM – There will be a five-minute reset, followed by a one-rep-max front squat. The sum of each athlete’s top weight will be the team scores.
7:40 AM – Team OC3 zips back from a huge deficit to win the event. Nobody saw them coming.
7:36 AM – CrossFit Invictus Back Bay has lost their tying lead with Team Don’t Stop. They’ve fallen behind CrossFit Mayhem Independence. Don’t Stop has pulled drastically ahead by almost 80 calories.
7:33 AM – Another great story to follow is Chandler Smith. In a wildly-competitive mens field, Smith would only need an eleventh-place finish to qualify for the CrossFit Games. Instead, Smith has come out hard. At the end of Day 1, he’s in fourth place.
7:30 AM – This fourth team event will be called the Concept2 Medley. With three team members working at all times, athletes will crank out 200 calories on each of the Concept2 machines. Concept2 Rower | Concept2 SkiErg | Concept2 BikeErg
7:27 AM – The video for the Rogue Invitational live invitational has started.
7:26 AM – We also know we could see an entirely different Mat Fraser today. There are few things more dangerous than Mathew Fraser with a chip on his shoulder.
7:24 AM – Now, Fraser is three months out from the CrossFit Games 2019 kick-off. He’s probably not at the peak of his fitness. Athletes structure their training to have their strength and skillset peak at the height of the season.
7:23 AM – I don’t believe the sun has set on a competition floor without Mathew Fraser in firsts place since the 2016 CrossFit Games. This has to be an uncomfortable feeling for him.
7:22 AM – How can we capture the intensity of Day 1? Probably by saying Mat Fraser is not leading this competition. That honor goes to one Patrick Vellner.
7:15 AM – We’re kicking off in about 15 minutes with the fourth and fifth team events of the 2019 Rogue Invitational.
Rogue Invitational Schedule – Day 2
| Date | Time | Location | Event |
| Sunday, May 19 | 7:30 AM | Gates Open | |
| Sunday, May 19 | 8:30 AM | Outside | Team Event 4 & 5 |
| Sunday, May 19 | 8:15 AM | Outside | C2 Biathlon – Individual Women |
| Sunday, May 19 | 10:15 AM | Outside | C2 Biathlon – Individual Men |
| Sunday, May 19 | 10:45 AM | Outside | C2 Biathlon – Legends |
| Sunday, May 19 | 11:30 AM | Outside | Team Event 6 – Snatch and Press |
| Sunday, May 19 | 12:15 PM | Outside | Individual Event 6 – Women |
| Sunday, May 19 | 12:30 PM | Outside | Individual Event 6 – Men |
| Sunday, May 19 | 1:00 PM | Outside | Legends Event 4 – The Finale |
| Sunday, May 19 | 1:30 PM | Outside | Tug of War – Team |
| Sunday, May 19 | 2:30 PM | Outside | Rogue Record Breakers |
| Sunday, May 19 | 2:30 PM | Inside Opens | |
| Sunday, May 19 | 3:30 PM | Inside | Individual Event 7 – Women |
| Sunday, May 19 | 4:15 PM | Inside | Individual Event 7 – Men |
| Sunday, May 19 | 5:00 PM | Inside | Individual Event 8 – Women |
| Sunday, May 19 | 5:30 PM | Inside | Individual Event 8 – Men |
| Sunday, May 19 | 6:00 PM | Inside | Closing Ceremony |
