you mean check-in? Can they do that, switch the first leg to CR1 on the day of?
Yes, they can, but it isn't always easy. They need to remove all upgrade requests from your record, then put in the individual requests. Make sure they do this before you get to the gate at EWR. I've had mixed success with this action - the system already has the SWU applied. Some agents seem to be able to do it, and others just get frustrated.