She thought her athletic years were done; then she won CrossFit worlds

Worms, cargo netting, gymnastic rings and weights: Not exactly a box of goodies, but for CrossFit athletes, they are tools of the trade.

Michaela North (nee Haggett), a 2006 graduate of Kamiakin High School, knows all too well how to make these implements work for her. She and her Wasatch Brutes CrossFit team from Layton, Utah, won the Reebok CrossFit Games team title Aug. 6 in Madison, Wisc., besting the second-place team by 48 points and collecting $10,000.

“It was a huge deal,” North said. “We beat Crossfit Mayhem, which won the 2015 and 2016 team titles. Rich Froning, who won four consecutive individual titles, went to team competition in 2015 with Mayhem. We had a blast competing with them all weekend, getting to know them and learning from them.

“The goal of the Games is to find the fittest team on earth — aerobic ability, speed, agility, coordination, strength and team work. This year, that was us. I think we really surprised them. We even got some boos when we were announced as the fittest team. I’m glad we won by so many points so they can’t say it was a fluke. I love how passionate everyone is about it.

Meet the team

The team portion of the CrossFit games had 38 groups comprised of six athletes — three male and three female. The Wasatch team was comprised of a pair of former college football players (Adrian Conway, Weber State, and Brennan Fjord, Southern Utah); a pair of track athletes (North, Weber State, and Mandi Janowitz, Idaho State); a gymnast (Tiffany Hendrickson, Boise State); and a “walk-on”: Mitch Spjut, who walked into the Wasatch gym 18 months ago and worked his way onto the team.

“Tiffany is 37 and has three kids,” North said. “She is amazing.”

North, 29, is no slouch either. Her senior year at Kamiakin, she won the 100 hurdles at state, was on the winning 4x200 relay team, was on the second-place 4x100 relay team and was fourth in the long jump. The Braves finished second in the team standings that season.

But after wrapping up her college career, she figured her competitive years were behind her.

“My senior year of college, the Olympic bobsled coach tried to recruit me. I thought, ‘Why would I do that? I’m married, I’m so burnt out on competing,’ ” she said. “Fast forward six months. I’m not doing anything physical, I got back into the gym and I was studying nutrition.

“About a year later, I had a friend invite me to a free workout at a CrossFit gym. I absolutely loved it. I showed up the next week and I still loved it. I worked for a an advertising agency at the time. I realized people did this for a living, coaching people. I talked to the owner that day. I kept coming in to work out. A month later, I got my level one certification. I love coaching and competing.”

Let the Games begin

Run-swim-run: It doesn’t sound that tough.

Think again.

You and a teammate must hold a short rope between you on the first 1.5-mile run. Then, you must swim 500 meters in open water, then back to another 1.5-mile tandem run. Three teams of two per team, and your times are added together. North ran with Hendrickson.

“It was hard, but I really love that event,” the 5-foot-7, 153-pound North said. “I love swimming events in CrossFit because it is so different than what I usually do. We had people nervous about the open-water swim, but they made up for it on the run. We wound up sixth. That set the tone for us for the weekend.”

The men on her team were not so great in the muscle-up and snatch event (26th), but North, Hendrickson and Janowitz finished first in a time of 9 minutes, 10.73 seconds.

The Wasatch gals also put on a show in the clean and jerk (ninth, 645 pounds), where North lifted a personal-best 235 pounds.

“I have had a lot of back issues the past three months — most movements were hurting my lower back,” she said. “I didn’t go that heavy leading up to the games. I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to get 215. ... I did 235 with no problem. Once I took the floor, the adrenalin kicked in and it didn’t hurt anymore. It made me feel superhuman. I was happy to match my personal best.”

The team also placed first in the rowing worm and worm rotation events. The worm is a 550-pound sack of sand, separated into six sections. With men and women alternating, the three men have a heavier section to lift than the women. They won the rowing worm by 7 1/2 seconds over the next team.

“It was really painful,” North said. “We had to do 30 squats with the worm. We went out there and went out as hard as we could. When there is a high pain element, we do really well. We stayed moving. Having that mindset helped our team stay in synch and helped our confidence. ... We are used to a 440-pound worm. It was really painful, but it was so much fun.”

The team also was fourth in the obstacle course, first in the couple couplets, third in the burpee litter and worm complex, and fifth in the drag and drive.

“In the obstacle course, we rolled under a cargo net, walked on a log, we had to swing and grab six different ropes, pull ourselves over a high wall, cross monkey bars, drop onto a log and more,” North said. “... That went well for us. It was a blast. It’s every kid’s dream and fun as an adult.”

Family life

North and her husband Craig live in Ogden, Utah, with 4-year-old twins Mason and Zoey and 2 1/2-year-old son Jack. But life as a mother hasn’t slowed her down.

“It’s in my nature, no matter what, I still would be doing this,” North said. “Craig played football in college with Adrian, but he has a bad shoulder. He might be more competitive than I am. He thinks he might give (CrossFit) a go.”

This was the first team competition for North, who competed in the women’s division after the birth of her twins.

“My goal coming off my pregnancy was to qualify for regionals, and I qualified for nationals in weightlifiting (clean and jerk, and snatch),” she said. “I finished 21st at regionals in 2015, and two months later I competed at nationals and finished 20th at five months pregnant. Had I had known I was pregnant, I would not have competed. It ended up being pretty cool. I almost feel like since I didn’t know, it was God’s way of giving me a little something.”

Now that the Games are over, North has settled back to mom mode. She is resting her back, playing with her kids and training clients. She’s also reconnected with former classmates, who reached out to her after the win.

“It has been so fun to hear from people I haven’t heard from in a long time,” she said.

This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "She thought her athletic years were done; then she won CrossFit worlds."