Bench-A-Thon 2026 Recap!

The Austin Simply Fit community showed up and showed out for our eighth annual Coach DJ’s Memorial Bench-A-Thon! 

In record-breaking fashion, 65 lifters lifted a total of 11,174.5 lbs in their best bench! We loved seeing the returning faces of those people who lift with us every year, and we are especially thrilled to welcome those who take the leap and join us for the very first time. PRs were hit, goals surpassed, and even when lifts were missed, the energy never dropped.

Best of all, we SMASHED our fundraising goal for the ASF Student Athlete Scholarship Fund! Thanks to great participation and some big last-minute donations, we raised a record $14,000! We will be giving $2,000 scholarships to seven exceptional AISD student athletes on April 7.

Thanks as always to DJ Chorizo Funk, who had us moving and grooving with hype-up walk-on songs. MC Krista Bergeron reminded us about Coach DJ’s legacy and the reason we celebrate Bench-A-Thon each year. And once again, our friends at Chris Gets U Fit brought a whole crew to support the cause.

We trainers love the opportunity to lift alongside our clients – this year 14 of our trainers competed. We saw some BIG numbers from this strong crew, including a lifetime PR from Niamh McWalter of 215 lbs! From coaching, spotting and loading, and competing, our trainers help build this community, too.

We couldn’t be more grateful to every single person who participated, came out to support, or donated to the Fund. Giving back to the community is a big part of who we are at ASF. Using our collective power for the good of others is how we help bring the light in the world. 

Bench-A-Thon 2026 winners:

Youth (13-17) Boys

1 – Sagan Meyers

Young Adult (18-29) Women

1 – Niamh McWalter
2 – Sianna Decarli
3 – Alyssa Hansen

Young Adult (18-29) Men

1 – Daniel Taylor
2 – Matt Webb
3 – Jules Garrett

Adult (30-49) Women

1 – Sierra Nevels
2 – Krista Bergeron (tie)
2 – Alex Meyers (tie)

Adult (30-49) Men

1 – Chris Tejeda
2 – Eric Brooks
3 – Patrick Leaton

Adult (30-49) Nonbinary

1 – Ash Wood
2 – Cari Barrentine

Masters (50-69) Women

1 – Sekethia Tejeda
2 – Rebecca Brown
3 – Ann Lichti

Masters (50-69) Men

1 – Jeffrey Cohan
2 – Scott Powers
3 – Jeremy Meyers

Super Masters (70+) Men

1 – Scott Stemper