Seven Years Strong – Team Invictus at the CrossFit Games

Seven Years Strong – Team Invictus at the CrossFit Games
Written by C.J. Martin

For the seventh consecutive year, Team Invictus is going to the CrossFit Games!

Since there have been teams at the CrossFit Games, Invictus has been there proudly representing our amazing community – the Sea of Green. This year will be no different.

After a harrowing couple of weeks that created some serious doubt as to whether we would be making our return to the CrossFit Games to defend our title of world’s fittest affiliate team, Team Invictus showed the dedication, mental toughness and teamwork that has driven their success for the last seven years. For the past several years we have been lucky to have avoided injuries or competition “surprises” that could have put our qualification in jeopardy. This year we dealt with our fair share of both. Just eight days before the California Regionals, Heather Hippensteel cut herself badly in a failed attempt at de-pitting an avocado. The cut, unfortunately, severed some nerves in her middle finger. Heather was told that she would need immediate surgery and would be unable to compete. She sought additional opinions, and finally the third hand specialist she saw told her that if she could deal with the pain, she could compete – and if surgery was necessary she could do it immediately following the regionals weekend. Heather, who has been a member of Team Invictus at the CrossFit Games the past two years, chose to battle it out.

Regionals started off as expected, with a solid second place finish in event 1, but then things took a turn for the worse. During event 2, an event that we were confident about, we were a bit surprised by a judge’s perspective on Cat Blatner’s thrusters. Cat was repeatedly asked to squat deeper in order to receive credit for her thrusters, despite at times bouncing her bum off of her ankles. Cat’s long, monochromatic black pants probably made it a bit tougher for her judge to see her depth, and all of our athletes are well aware that judging issues are part of all sports and that it’s the athletes’ responsibility to adjust as needed. Unfortunately, in the process of trying to get continually lower, Cat injured her knee. Cat could barely limp out of the venue on Friday, and the knee issues created some serious problems for Saturday’s events – which included, running, wall ball shots and a 1-RM snatch. Despite severe pain, Cat battled through. We were well off of our training pace as Cat had to dig deep to get through her wall ball shots, and we reduced Cat’s snatch weight so that she could power snatch and not risk further harm to her knee. The results put us in seventh place after Saturday’s events – outside of a qualifying position for the first time in five years. As scary as it was to enter Sunday knowing that we needed to climb in the rankings, we also knew that there was no more squatting…so Cat’s knee would not cause her nearly as much pain.

Sunday went as planned, and our incredible team climbed back up the leaderboard to fourth place, earning their seventh consecutive trip to the CrossFit Games. The result was awesome, but what made me much prouder was the character they demonstrated throughout. The members of the team never once lost faith, got angry or doubted each other (or themselves). Instead, the team rallied together, communicated their confidence in each other and reminded each other that as long as they each gave their full effort and stuck together that everything would work out for the best. That is exactly what happened.

Congratulations, and a huge thank you, to Nuno Costa, Heather Hippensteel, Melissa Hurley, Bryce Smith, Gaje McDaniel and Cat Blatner for representing the character and principles upon which Invictus has been built. Your commitment, support of each other and tenacity in the face of adversity is exactly what the Invictus mindset is all about!

Additionally, the success of all of our athletes (both teams and all individuals) over the weekend would not have been possible without some incredible supporters. There are many, but I want to specifically thank Pops and Karen Martin for their tireless support this weekend. They are the ultimate team parents that handled not only the cooking of all of the athletes’ meals, but also the logistics of lodging, tent city, etc…. Nichole DeHart was a Godsend throughout the entire season, serving as a coach, mentor and friend to all of our athletes. Her experience and leadership was invaluable. Ryan Lee, Ian Armstrong and Tara Parsons kept our athletes’ bodies in one piece throughout the weekend with constant body work that allowed them to perform to the best of their ability. And finally, a huge thank you to Heidi Fearon-Barker. Heidi has spent countless hours with our athletes over the past several months treating their bodies, and helping to relax and focus their minds. When athletes have needed help, she has gone to great lengths to make herself available. I can tell you without a hint of exaggeration, that without her care for Lauren, Rasmus, Josh Bridges and every one of the members of Team Invictus, we wouldn’t have had half the success we had over the weekend – and last couple of years.