THE FRONT ROW WITH BRUCE BOURQUIN: Jan. 31, 2014

While some 13-year-old girls are texting their friends planning their next shopping trip, Shay Carlock can be seen at CrossFit CDA lifting heavy kettle bells.

While your average 13-year-old girl may be taking a break by watching a couple hours of television or logging on to the Internet, Carlock is hitting the rowing machine.

And while some 13-year-old girls are getting prepared for their next practice of whichever sport they participate in, Carlock is lifting weights and doing as many pullups as she can in a minute.

DON'T GET me wrong. Carlock, of Rathdrum, enjoys some of those other activities as well. She just does some things most 13-year-olds don't necessarily do.

Carlock, an eighth-grader at North Idaho STEM Charter Academy in Rathdrum - STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - last Sunday tied for first place in the women's novice division in a CrossFit competition at CrossFit Bellevue in Bellevue, Wash., despite it being her first competition in the sport.

Carlock, who will turn 14 on March 7, performed six different WODs, or workouts of the day. They ranged from rowing 750 meters, to doing 40 thrusters, or weighted bar bell movements, and doing as many pullups as possible. She performed this in 3 minutes, 3 seconds and finished first in that specific WOD.

Carlock also had to throw a medicine ball 20 feet, doing a handstand walk that earned her points after every six feet, to doing a shuttle run, which she did in 11.82 seconds. She also performed power snatches, where someone will stand over a large barbell, pull the bar up off the floor, extend their arms and drop the barbell onto the floor.

"It's just the workout of the day," Carlock said. "Each day they'll more than likely have a different one," Carlock added. "At Bellevue, there were several different WODs we had to perform throughout the day. There was an hour to rest between them. It was difficult to do WODs in one day."

Carlock went up against five other competitors at the Brand X Varsity Teen Gaunlet at the Bellevue CrossFit gym. Two of them were also 13 years old, one was 22, one was 30 and the other was 31. Carlock was the only one from Idaho.

"My ultimate goal is to be on the team that goes to regionals," Carlock said. "My favorite event is weight training, because I'm good at it. After I did CrossFit, I did better at sports than I previously did and that was one of my goals was to get better at sports."

The competition was held on the same day in 15 locations worldwide, including the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. Carlock is fifth in the worldwide standings in her division.

CARLOCK'S COACH is Meagan Mylan and the co-owners of CrossFit CDA are Derek Hutchison and Jonathan Burns.

Hutchison sees a lot of potential in Carlock in CrossFit, especially since she's only been performing for nearly two years. Hutchison said he has some CrossFit athletes as young as 5 years old.

"She's a natural," Hutchison said. "She's got good body awareness where there's so many things to master. She's got a lot of drive. She posted on her Facebook page that she got new shoes for CrossFit for Christmas ... most 13-year-olds wouldn't want that for Christmas. It's good to see that."

Hutchison's gym will, at times, have their participants lift weights one day, perform rowing exercises the next, then another time they'll perform gymnastics.

"She's very strong for a girl her age," Hutchison said. "She seems like she's pretty competitive. She is into things most girls aren't into."

CARLOCK ALSO plays tackle football with boys with the Lakeland Junior Tackle football program - she is the only girl and she plays quarterback - and is a post on the girls basketball team at Lakeland Junior High.

"It was scary at first," Carlock said. "But my team took care of me. They said just do what you do and you'll be fine."

Carlock started to compete at the age of 12, when she started taking fitness classes through her mom's workplace.

"I started CrossFit because my mom was going there," Carlock said. "I was playing tackle football with the boys and I wanted to get stronger, because they started to grow faster than I was. After that, I just kind of fell in love with it. I did it to get more experience and see what other kids are doing."

Carlock's mother, Vicki Carlock, enjoys seeing her daughter getting to do something she loves.

"It's a tough sport," Vicki Carlock said. "It's great for kids. She's very excited."

CARLOCK LIKES the fact you don't necessarily have to be a naturally skilled athlete to take part in CrossFit.

"The thing I like about CrossFit is anybody can do it," Carlock said. "Even if you're not a gymnast or a weightlifter, anybody can do it."

But Carlock is not just anybody in general, of any age, and she's not your average 13-year-old girl.

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013, or via email at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @bourq25