USAWA

Look up ‘leadership’ in the dictionary and you’ll find “the action of leading a group of people or an organization”. This describes the Women’s 2026 USAWA Leadership Award winner, Jessica Hopps. She’s a competitor in any meet or quarterlies and has a couple meet wins this year, including the Second for Women Only meet back in May. She’s currently 9^th overall in USAWA women’s division records with 157. She even made the 1000+ mile trip to Columbia MO to compete at the 2026 USAWA Nationals. She’s also won USAWA Lifter of the Month. And in August of 2026, she will be inducted into the New England All Round Weightlifting Hall of Fame. But, there’s much more to Jessica than her athletic ability. To me a leader is someone who gives their time and energy to their unit without asking for anything in return. Jessica loves working with and challenging people and is very good at it. And the Frank’s Barbell Club members appreciate all she does for them. “She takes care of all of us with our lifting needs and paperwork, I can’t say enough about her”. She brings to the Club the great atmosphere that made Frank’s one of the club of the year winners last year. They all agree she is deserving. And she does all that while working a great many hours in her day jobs, one of which is serving the mental health community in the Boston area and the other is teaching at a local college in the same area. Congratulations to Jessica Hopps our Women’s 2026 USAWA Leadership Award winner.   

Posted by Tony Lupo – Written by Jeff Wenzel, Meet Director

We came up with the 250 Challenge after I had heard another gym was challenging people to bench 250 lb.  I pitched a crazy idea to Abe Smith and Tony Lupo, and instead of telling me I was crazy, they added layers of more insanity.  We consulted with Bill Clark, Sanjiv Gupta, and others on how this could be presented to the USAWA.  

The final product was simple, each person find a way to celebrate the 250 years of the USA in their own unique way, and boy did you all ever deliver!!!  I am so grateful to this family of lifters who took this crazy idea and made it a great!

Although I would bet this event resulted in the most raw weight ever lifted in a USAWA event, it is the stories that go with these lifts that really make this event special to me.  Please allow me to share a few while announcing placement.

First women:

In 4th place is Lisa Gore.  Lisa came into the gym with the intent to set a few records. Some illnesses had kept her away for a few months, so she wanted to ease back into gym life. In typical Bill Clark fashion, he asked Lisa to do a few reps of 250 lb Hip Lifts.  A few reps turned into 100 which turned into 250 reps. And then she did 50 more for good measure.

Third goes to Allison Lupo.  Allison was the only individual brave enough to do 250 reps of bench press. And she added the extra difficulty by doing it with feet in the air.  250 reps of 15 lbs in 29 minutes!

Second place goes to RJ Jackson.  She turned in an impressive 250 lb Lurich Lift!  

First place goes to Jessica Hopps.  Jessica completed 250 reps on the Hip Lift at 250 lbs in under 10 minutes!  

Men:

Third place goes to Bill Clark. Bill came into the gym to count my reps.  My plan was to do 10 rounds of sets of 5 on 5 different lifts.  After the second round, Bill informed me that he was not spotting me on the bench nor going to be in any hurry to call for help.  During the third set, Bill said he was going to join me.  Bill hadn’t competed in over a year, but he knocked out 250 reps of 250 lbs in the Hip Lift within 30 minutes.

Second is Abe Smith. Abe came in with the plan to do drop sets and alternate between Trap Bar Deadlift and the Hack Lift.  After 100 reps, he texted me and said ‘this is harder than I thought’.  But he stuck through and finished in just over 100 minutes.

First is Randy Smith. Randy did 250 Hip Lift reps with 250 lbs in under 250 seconds! Impressive, but he didn’t stop there.  He said that went easier than expected, so what about 250 kg?  He did this in under 500 seconds, but is pushing to do it in under 250 seconds. 

Top gym honors goes to Frank’s Barbell Club.  They had 5 entries with most doing 250 Hip Lift reps with 525 lb or 250 lb.  That means each of them moved over 60 tons!!!

While the challenge is complete, I welcome you to continue to share your stories.  I have heard from a few that they plan to retry with a different approach.  I will plan to do the same as soon as Missouri weather cools down. Send your stories to: Jeff at: hzwst27@aol.com.

The Results: USAWA American 250th Birthday Challenge

This year’s 2026 USAWA Athlete of the Year for Women is Kim Van Wagner. Kim is a longtime USAWA member who competes when she can. She also brings with her a little mystery (See picture below). She may be from Krypton or the Marvel Universe because when she competes, she puts up big numbers in the USAWA. She ranks 11th all-time in the Women’s division with 146 records all-time. In addition to being an All-Round Weightlifter, Kim competes in Grip Sport and Strongman. She holds (11) top 3 master’s women’s records in grip sport.  She also plays organized lacrosse and hurling which is the National Sport of Ireland if you haven’t heard of it.

A couple of competitions stand out.  At the 2025 Team Lift Championship, she became a last-minute pairing with Diya and did a great job. Kim and Diya were 1st place in the women’s overall and the only team for the women’s masters division. They were not far off from a 3rd place finish when men’s teams were included. The second standout meet was the High Country Vigour Cup. She set or tied records in all three lifts, as she does very well with the overhead lifts. Also a fun fact: Her sister is named Piper and she decided to attempt a Piper Squat.  After she put up an astounding 80 pounds, Jarrod Fobes and Sanjiv Gupta were inspired to try the lift. Congratulations to Kim Van Wagner!