TAYLOR MASCETTA: Michael Kriesel always wore a Miami Dolphins baseball hat to his workouts at CrossFit Dewitt. The gym’s owner, Tex Jones, never understood why.
TEX JONES: How he did it, why he did it, I’ll never know. But he did, and he loved it, and I hated it.
TAYLOR MASCETTA: Kriesel, a regular at the gym, died in a car crash in 2013. Every year on Kriesel’s birthday, Jones asks his athletes to work out with a hat on. Gym regular Nancy Hammond never met Kriesel, but says his memory brings the gym together.
NANCY HAMMOND: We know this is coming. We know it’s coming for a while because Tex lets us know when he posts it, and it just pays homage to somebody that died way too early.
TAYLOR MASCETTA: Hammond gave Kriesel credit for doing every exercise with a hat on.
NANCY HAMMOND: It was really uncomfortable, but again, when the cause is important, you just do it.
TAYLOR MASCETTA: Jones named the daily warmup after Kriesel to keep his memory alive.
TEX JONES: A lot of people have workouts. Not many people have warm ups.
TAYLOR MASCETTA: I’m Taylor Mascetta, N-C-C News.
DEWITT, New York (NCC News) – CrossFit DeWitt is honoring a fallen friend with the annual “Hats on for Mike” event.
Michael Kriesel of Manlius, New York, died in a car crash at the age of 22. This year marks the 10th anniversary of his death.
Tex Jones has owned CrossFit DeWitt since 2001. He said Kriesel was a beloved member of the gym’s community – even the warmup is named after Mike.
“He’ll be remembered for a long time,” said Jones. “A lot of people have workouts. Not many people have their own warmup.”
