Lincoln LaFaver, of Macungie, was eagerly looking to make it to the National Crossfit Games this year after missing out on the finals the year before. The 15-year-old achieved that feat earlier this month and placed second overall in the 14-15 age group at the NOBULL CrossFit Games in Madison, Wisconsin.
There are multiple age groups, but for the teens, there are the 14–15-year-old, male and female and 16-17-year-old as well. For the age group division, only the top-10 athletes advance to the Games. Qualifying starts with the Open, with online qualifying tests that have to be judged and recorded.
About 1,400 registered in LaFaver’s age group for the open and he placed fourth overall. Roughly the top 10 percent advance to the quarterfinals, so 166 athletes. He placed second overall in the quarters. The top-30 athletes advance to the semifinals. From there, the top-10 worldwide are invited to the Games. LaFaver placed sixth in the semis.
At the end of each day, the athletes were ranked based on their cumulative scores from that day. LaFaver was in first place into day two and then back and forth between first and second until the end. Tests one, two and three were on day one. Tests four, five and six were on day two and tests seven and eight were day three. LaFaver finished with 590 points, 20 points behind the winner, Jeremie Jourdan of the U.S.A.
“His mother and I are beyond proud of him,” Lincoln’s father Luke said. “He missed making it to the Games Semifinals in 2022 and vowed to make it to the Games this year. He worked extremely hard all year, endured a few injuries and totally dedicated himself to doing what he needed to in order to make it. CrossFit only takes the top 10 age group athletes from the semifinals and that’s world-wide. It’s extremely difficult just to make it to the Games, then to Podium and take second place on the biggest stage there is when it’s only his second competition. It’s pretty incredible.”
Crossfit is a unique sport, especially for his age range. So how did LaFaver become interested in it?
“I had stumbled upon some of the older CrossFit Games documentaries and watched Rich Froning’s documentary about his four CrossFit games wins,” said Lincoln. “I saw that and some of the other documentaries about what it all entails to compete and was immediately hooked.
“I did some research and found some videos of the Teen CrossFit Games and watched Dallin Pepper win three years straight, but as soon as I heard that there was a version for the teens I immediately knew I wanted to do that.”
LaFaver has also wrestled in the Emmaus youth programs and has used the techniques and practices from his training there in how he goes about his Crossfit training.
“I get my programming from my Brute Strength Training coach, so it can slightly vary day-to-day, but we go through five-week cycles where we focus certain things and trying to get stronger in those areas,” Lincoln said. “Typically, throughout the season I train somewhere between two-and-a-half hours a day, sometimes more the later we go into the season and then once we were about three or so months out it was four-five hours a day, but typically on the higher end for five days a week and then swim sessions on Thursdays in case that were to come up.
“This was my second in-person competition, but I’ve been through a few online competitions because that’s how we qualify to the big stages. In my other in-person competition, I placed second there as well, but with this one being the highest level you can compete at I would without a doubt say this is my best finish so far.”
Next year, maybe LaFaver can move up one more spot and place first.