CrossFit Oakland was crowned the 2008 CrossFit Affiliate Cup Champions. After a rocky start in the stadium event this year, they were unable to close the gap for a berth in Sunday's final, despite an 8th place finish in the run event. Mike Minium, owner and coach of CrossFit Oakland, breaks down the weekend, and the changes his team will make for next years competition.

"We got hung up on the wall balls (in the stadium WOD) which cost us a lot of time." The weights were standard, but the target was set higher. All four athletes had to complete 30 reps before moving on. Mike was expecting to make some serious ground in the stadium event, but good plans often deteriorate when the clock starts. "What are you gonna do? That's competition."

The team managed to roll with the punches as well, despite their disappointment. "I'm proud of my team, after the first workout it would've been easy to give up... but in the very next workout we took first in our heat."

Going into the North Pad Event, Team Oakland knew their strategy was to just 'hang in there' as it was an area where they needed to develop more. They managed to finish the event with 764 points, keeping them right in the center of the competitor field.

On moving forward, Mike spoke like a wise competitor. "Weaknesses were exposed so we're gonna go back to the drawing board and figure out how to make us better as a team."

Video from, "In Pursuit Of Sunday," by Again Faster.

CrossFit Oakland Mike Minium Interview ... [wmv] [mov]