Chloe Honaker is an athlete in every sense of the word.
From running, to jumping to weight training, she can do it all.
She also puts all those abilities to good use.
Four years ago the rising Independence senior transitioned from gymnastics to CrossFit at the suggestion of a few friends. Two years later, in 2019, she earned her first trip to the CrossFit Games in Madison, WI. Now, two years after her first trip to the international competition, she’s heading back, ranked 12th in her age group.
“It’s like the world championships of CrossFit,” Honaker said. “The first part is called the Open and everyone that does CrossFit does it. It’s an online competition and from there the top 10 percent in each age group go to the next online qualifier. And then the top 20 from that group qualify for the CrossFit games. I finished in the top of those groups and I’m excited I get to go back because it was so much fun last time. I did really well and felt really good the whole time.”
Part of the allure of the event is the participants don’t know exactly what events they’ll be doing going in. They’ll train the strength and endurance but as far as the specifics, they’re largely unknown until right before the event starts.
“There’s usually 12 different events,” Honaker said. “We don’t know any yet but we usually find out the week of. But it usually consists of a lot of running, different gymnastics, pullups but we don’t know what they are yet.”
Honaker’s versatile enough to compete in all aspects. She competed for the Patriots in the State Track and Field competitions and practiced gymnastics for 10 years priors to taking up CrossFit.
“I ran track all through middle school,” Honaker said. “But I didn’t do it as a freshman because I was focusing on CrossFit and then last year we didn’t have a season. Cross country definitely helps me train for this though. That’s three miles every day so it helps my endurance. Track helps a little with sprinting but knowing all of that helps me a lot.”
One thing Honaker will have this time around that she didn’t have last time is experience, though she still did well for herself.
In her first trip to the event in 2019 she finished seventh in her age group and picked a few things up along the way.
“I think the first event I tend to be super nervous,” Honaker said. “But lately in my competitions I haven’t been quite as nervous. I guess I’m getting more used to it. It’s definitely easier where I’ve been there before. A lot of girls, this is going to be their first time being there so I’m one of the few that has gotten there before. It’s a lot less nerve-racking having been there before.
“I think I learned more about going in with a competition mindset last time. Every day I’m pushing myself like I’m competing against the other girls, imagining them beside me and trying to catch them in every workout in the gym.”
Honaker also picked up more of the ins and outs of how to train for the event. Talking with the girls she competes against, she was able to get an idea of the changes she could make to improve her prospects as a competitor.
“So a lot of the girls have an online coach,” Honaker said. “So after the games I got with an online coach that’s with one of the big programs in CrossFit. And my strength – where I did cross country and gymnastics my endurance was super good, but my weightlifting numbers were my weakest point. I’ve worked on strength a lot since then and gotten a lot better on my lifts.”
The added strength will help as Honaker moves up an age group.
When she last competed in 2019 she was in the 14-15-year-old division, but will move up to 16-17 division. Naturally the difficulty increases the further she moves up.
“Usually the 14-15 is different,” Honaker said. “They have a 100-pound sandbag and I know the 16-17 group had one that was 150 pounds. So the weights usually always increase and change.”
The CrossFit Games will begin on July 27 and conclude on Aug. 1 .
