No Excuses CrossFit 2019 Year In Review

2019 was a great year for No Excuses CrossFit. Check out all we accomplished this year.

 

January: We wanted to add more chances for the members to spend quality time with families and we love being a family-friendly gym with lots of active moms and dads so we kicked off the new year with our first ever Family WOD day. In addition,
we also hosted the first Granite Games Throwdown of the year, which
drew 36 teams, led by No Excuses CrossFit with 11, in four different divisions. Finally, the 5 AM class was such a hit, we officially added it to the Monday-Friday class schedule.

 

February: February was also a busy month for us. Orphan Aid Liberia traveled to our gym to sell “shirts with a purpose”. All proceeds went to help feed the children in Africa. Coach Yessica held a Valentines Cookie Decorating Party for the lady members at the Laurel Park Clubhouse. Our second competition of the year went down with the Garage Games Masters Championship. And finally, the end of the month started the first Friday Night Throwdown and CrossFit Open 19.1.

 

March: The CrossFit Games Open was the highlight of early 2019. Beginning on Friday, Feb. 22 and every Friday for the five weeks during the CrossFit Open, we hosted Friday Night Throwdown (19.2, 19.3, 19.4, 19.5). Power & Grace Performance, a group of professional weightlifters who travel the US and the world in Olympic weightlifting meets, joined the No Excuses family.

 

April: D’Anna Klinger of Ortho Restore Physical Therapy offered the members a shoulder mobility clinic. The class covered some movements you can use to protect, warm up, and recover your shoulders so they feel good and work better. The men had some quality bonding time and went to Don Carter State Park for the 5th annual Men’s Camping Trip. It is always unknown what truly happens that weekend.

 

May: Erin Criswell from Power & Grace Performance hosted a Gymnastics Clinic for the members that covered handstands, handstand pushups, and handstand walks. We finished up the month taking on Memorial Day Murph in honor of Lt. Michael Murphy and all of our fallen heroes that have sacrificed for our freedom.

 

June: To start off the Summer, Power & Grace held a Clean Seminar. The class was a big hit and sold out within a few days! 

 

July: Our members had a fun-filled family evening of food, fellowship, and a nice game of kickball at the Family Kickball and Potluck.

 

August: Our friends from Power & Grace held a Jerk Seminar for the members. Once again, the class was a success and sold out within a couple days. In an effort to cool off from the Georgia heat, we had our annual Lake Party on Lake Lanier. The No Excuses CrossFit community came together on Saturday, Aug. 24 for its annual in-house competition — the Hugo Open, now in its 6th year. The event drew 60 athletes. Team of 5: Mike Jones, Dimy Jeannot, Lindsay Morris, Ethan Darcy, and Kim Benson took home first place!

 

September: We started the month off with the Annandale Village 5K race at Suwanee Town Park to help raise money for a great cause. Annandale Village has been training with us at No Excuses CrossFit twice a week for the last four years. No Excuses CrossFit members, Mauricio and Miriam invited everyone to their home for a pool party to try and beat the heat. An authentic taco bar was served. We hosted the Granite Games Fall Throwdown competition on Saturday, September 14th. The event drew 42 teams, led by No Excuses CrossFit with nine, in four different divisions.

 

October: Long-time coach, Chris Fischer stepped down as the head coach due to positive changes within his family. Chris had been the head coach at No Excuses for more than five years and has been an integral part of the gym’s success over that time. Former member, Roman Berkhan, took over as Head Coach at No Excuses CrossFit in October. For the first time ever, the CrossFit Open was held two times in one year. This time, the gym changed it to Saturday Morning Showdown instead of our usual Friday Night Throwdown. 20.1 started on October 12th and went on for the following 5 weeks.

 

November: The CrossFit Open finished with 20.4 and 20.5 in the first two weeks of November. With Roman as the new coach, some exciting and new Benchmarks were added into the mix. 

 

December: We ended the year by celebrating eleven years as a CrossFit Affiliate. Instead of hosting our annual Birthday Bash, we combined it into the final Granite Games Throwdown competition of the year. With the money raised, we were able to provide 15 children and seniors in our community through the North Gwinnett Co-Op with Christmas gifts.   

 

CrossFit Babies: Vanessa and Warren Whitten welcomed their daughter Lumi in March.

Mercedes and Corey Brindle welcomed their daughter Emma in May.

Ashley and Addison Williams welcomed their son Julian in June.

Michelle Stovall and Devin Stovall welcomed their son Ryan in July.

Spotlight Athletes: Erick Lopez and Samantha Spell, Pete Sereno and Kathleen Yanes, Mary Beth Krone and Cris Burgum, Haja Donzo and Bond Nguyen, Martha Raber and Jeff Hull, Gloria Vasquez and Gus Cortes, AJ Herron and Maria Corvera, Dimy Jeannot and Alicia Cavener, Charlene Leblanc and Jae Kim, Stacey Odom and JT Odom, Ethan Darcy and Jamie Pyle, Robbie Waldron and Shawna Gray

No Excuses CrossFit by the Numbers:

67 – Age of our oldest member

54 – Percentage males that train at No Excuses CrossFit

46 – Percentage females that train at No Excuses CrossFit

38 – The average age of No Excuses CrossFit members (not including CrossFit Kids and CrossFit Teens)

17 – Number of couples that train at No Excuses CrossFit

14  – Number of countries represented by our membership including, United States, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Lebanon, Liberia, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, El Salvador, Slovakia, India, Vietnam and South Korea

12 – Number of mothers who have trained at No Excuses CrossFit while pregnant since 2014. Leslie Brigman, Stacey Odom, Vanessa Whitten, Jami Poore, Jennifer Shamloo, Jiyun Kim, Ashley Seals, Mindy Black, Ashley Williams, Jessica Hoydar, Mercedes Huarte-Brindle, Lindsay Morris, and Michelle Stovall.

11 – Number of years No Excuses CrossFit has been affiliate, the longest in Gwinnett County.

10 – Number of years Greg Hayes and Leslie Brigman have been members of No Excuses CrossFit.

8 – Number of former members that have opened CrossFit gyms.

8 – Number of years Scot Poore, Robert Thornton, Mike Matthes, Matt Ziesmer, Bob Sawyer, Carl Cook, Chris Fischer have been members at No Excuses CrossFit.

7 (part 1) – Number of years Jeremy Edmondson, Kim Guthrie, Lisa Orlandella, Lori Parker, CJ Minniefield, Greg Carefoot, Glen and Nicole Wilkins have been members at No Excuses CrossFit.

7 (part 2) – Number of couples that have met their spouse at No Excuses CrossFit.

6 – Number of years Bill Bozeman, Michelle Stovall, Stacey Odom, Ward Woody, Jami Poore, Dhillon Stankoh, Min Oh, Jeff Gaskins, Jon Owings have been members at No Excuses CrossFit.

5 – Number of years JT Odom, Judy Nam, Michelle Lomax, Adam Perillo, Vanessa Whitten, Lilly Villafuerte, Tyler Jensen, and Jenny Fancher have been members at No Excuses CrossFit.