NoCoast CrossFit at Louisville Elementary School

Coach Dan teaches the squat to LES students.

By Mary Kolenda

NoCoast CrossFit & Louisville Elementary Kids Do CrossFit

Louisville Elementary School (LES) students experienced a healthy dose of CrossFit when NoCoast CrossFit Kids Coach Mary Kolenda introduced CrossFit to over 400 students in Doug Dombek’s PE classes for four days in September 2013. Squats, presses, burpees and CrossFit dodgeball kept the kids moving and engaged as they enjoyed fitness with CrossFit Kids.

NoCoast CrossFit Partners with the Louisville Elementary PTA

Coach Matt Johnson and Coach Mary Kolenda at LES.

On October 9, 2013 NoCoast CrossFit visited LES again and ran free 30-minute CrossFit Kids classes as a reward for each class that raised the most money for the school’s Jog-A-thon fundraiser. The PTA surpassed its goal of raising $29,000 for the school, and lucky classes PK - 5^th were treated with a special Hallowe’en themed CrossFit class led by NoCoast CrossFit Owner/Coach Dan Finck, Coach Matt Johnson, and CrossFit Kids Coach Mary Kolenda.

Kids entered the gym with grins, gasps, and wide-eyes as they observed the Hallowe’en decorations, lights, and obstacle course attraction that awaited them. Coaches Dan Finck and Matt Johnson led the eager students in duck walks, broad jumps and other CrossFit warm-ups before dividing the kids into relay teams for the obstacle course.

3-2-1 Go! LES kids hurdled over “hot lava,” crawled through the “bat cave,” swerved around cones in “witch alley,”  squatted on orange medicine balls in the “pumpkin patch” and bear-crawled through the “haunted house” to the finish line.  Favorite Hallowe’en tunes of  “Ghostbusters,”  “Calling all the Monsters,” and “Purple People Eater” blared while teammates cheered for each other. LES parent volunteers, NoCoastians Bridget Voss and Jen MacQueen helped facilitate the fun-filled event.

NoCoast athlete, Bridget Voss, volunteered for the event.

One highlight was seeing kids of all ages and abilities participating and cheering each other on throughout the day. Another highlight was watching 5^th grade teacher Adam Thaler take on NoCoast CrossFit Coach Dan Finck in the final obstacle race of the day.  Fifth grader Jacqueline Kolenda commented, “It was a fun way to sweat!” Overall, this NoCoast CrossFit Event was a blast and true to the CrossFit Kids theme of providing “Fun with a Purpose.” Thank you to the Louisville Elementary School students and PTA for having NoCoast CrossFit share the love!

Thank You and Congratulations! Lumberyard Throwdown was Awesome.

The inaugural Lumberyard Throwdown is in the books! We couldn't be happier with how the event went. We had great weather, great volunteers, and great competitors. We are so thankful for all the help and support we received that made this event possible. Keep an eye out for pictures from MVF Studios. Special thanks to RJ Gelinas from I Get it Chiropractic for donating his vocal chords and emceeing the entire event. And another special thanks to Human Movement Management, our awesome neighbors who shared the lumberyard with us, as well as helped with equipment and set up 

From Head Judge and Competition Floor Flow Master, Dan:

"I just wanted to thank all of you so much for an outstanding job on Saturday. As judges, pit crew, and heat assigners, I thought we came together really fast to run a really fun and smooth competition. With the amount of changes in weight, equipment, and movements you guys kept each heat running smoothly. For those of you who judged, I want to thank you for making my job easy! You guys did a great job, you were fair, and from what I saw, you were encouraging and left each athlete with a good experience.Our pit crew guys, thank you for being on top of each heat. With the amount of changes we had through out the day, you guys kept each heat moving and on time.And to our ladies at the check in table, thank you for keeping your side of the competition running on time. Over the past few days, we've gotten a lot of great comments about our competition from athletes and spectators. Without you guys, the day wouldn't have been possible. Thank you so much for all of your hard work and support, Sam, Leah, Matty, Mary, and myself truly appreciate it!!"

And of course, congratulations to the winners! (Photos below courtesy of Ken Apodaca)

Masters Women
1. Heather Szabo
2. Julie Egbert 
3. Stephanie Lohmuller, MBS CrossFit

Masters Men
1. Scott Baldensperger
2. CJ Langbecker, MBS CrossFit
3. Keith Bushaw, CrossFit Arvada

















Open Women
1.Staci Meredith, Mile High CrossFit 
2. Heather Shaughnessy, Alpine CrossFit 
3. Sherrie Pasko, NoCoast CrossFit
















Open Men
1. Dylan Barnes , CrossFit South Aurora
2. Luke Andrusyk, CrossFit Arvada
3. Nate Rader, CrossFit Verve
















Elite Women 
1. Veronica Wojakowska, NoCoast CrossFit
2. Johanne Snavely, CrossFit MOB
3. Abby Knowles, CrossFit Roots

















Elite Men
1. Matt Johnson, NoCoast CrossFit
2. Jon Moffitt, Mile High CrossFit
3. Kory Mossoni, NoCoast CrossFit

Programming vs. Programming

By Matt Hosburgh

We measure our fitness by the ends.  The ends can be a max lift, a fitness test, a race, a CrossFit competition or even a life-threatening event.  How we get there is the means.  When you take a look at the means, it’s not always attractive.  In fact it can look downright overwhelming.  If you’re a CrossFit athlete, you follow some type of structured workout plan. Whether it is the standard three days on, one off, or five days on, one off, there is a degree of “normalness” in a program that boasts the unknown.  That structure is typically referred to as programming.  Behind the day in, day out workout lays a carefully architected plan, or program.  In CrossFit, this program best works when all three of the energy systems (glycolitic, phosphogenic and oxidative) are each given attention.  Too much of one might hinder the other.  A generic program might look like:

Source: The CrossFit Journal: CrossFit Training Guide

At first glance, the programming might be complicated or hard to follow.  Upon further examination, it begins to paint the means to the end. 

As we get ready for the Lumber Yard Throwdown(LYTD), many details go into the planning and preparation.  One of the often overlooked pieces is the scoring system.  I find myself taking for granted these systems and my expectation is that they “just work.”  Anyone who has participated in the CrossFit Games’ Open has experienced that mass scoring system.  For the most part, it just works.  For our competition, we obviously needed a scoring system.  NoCoast is a fan of highlighting internal, community talent, which is why this year’s LYTD scoring system was created (from scratch) by Tom Piekos.  Powering the leaderboard is a programming language called Ruby.  A little snippet (I do mean a little) looks like this:

Source: Tom Piekos

Similar to what happens in CrossFit programming, happens here.  The end is the leader board and the means is the programming to bring it all together.  NoCoast would like to thank Tom for all his hard work and attention to detail!  Look out for his craftsmanship this Saturday.

Welcome our New Coaches!!

NoCoast Coaches

We are pleased to announce and welcome Joe and Coleigh to our team!

Joe Galbraith

Born and raised in Colorado, Joe has always been interested in sports and athleticism. Joe is what we call an “OG” in the CrossFit community with over five years of CrossFit experience. CrossFit has had a significant impact on Joe’s life and has changed him in many ways for the better. Throughout his CrossFit journey, he realized a passion for helping others achieve their CrossFit goals. This inspired him to begin coaching. He began his coaching career in March of 2012 coaching  the MERGE Flatirons Church group. His passion for coaching then lead him to completing his Level One Crossfit Certification in December of 2012. Joe has been training hard as a coach ever since and is excited to bring his experience and passion to the NoCoast community.

Coleigh Patrick

Born In West Palm Beach, FL. Coleigh has Lived in a variety of different places, including: California, Upstate NY, NYC, VA & MD. Coleigh has always been very competitive starting from the monkey bars at the playground to baseball, soccer, a little gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, Lifting, BMX, some martial arts, surfing, snowboarding and mountain biking.  At 19, as an Ocean Lifeguard in Boca Raton, FL., he competed at a national level with the team for 6 years. To this day he is still invited to compete with the BRBP to compete at Nationals every year! In 2005 he made a life change landing him in Superior, CO. where he’s lived since. He raced Downhill, 4 cross and duel slalom mountain bikes for the first 4 years excelling up in class every season to Semi Pro. Then he had two beautiful boys and lots of those activities took a back seat.

Introduced by a close friend through persistent persuasion, Coleigh gave CrossFit a try. After his first free WOD, he drove straight to his gym and quit, never looking back. Coleigh learned as much as possible and received his Level 1 certification in December of 2012. Teaching has always been a part of Coleigh’s DNA in the world of sports and continues to be with Crossfit. Nothing makes him happier to see results like that! He’s super stoked to be a part of such a great staff and crew of members at NoCoast. He is anxious to continue to learn, grow, and change NoCoast’s members lives for the better.