Athlete of the Year Contenders

[Sanjiv Gupta]

With the IAWA competitive season over and only two USAWA championships remaining between now and the 2026 National Championships, I have been pondering the contenders for athlete of the year.

2025 Nationals – 1st, 2nd, 3rd were Larry Traub, Chad Ullom, Michael Hanlein; Beth Skwarecki, Jessica Hopps and Nisha Gupta

2025 IAWA Worlds – Denny Habecker and me were the top USAWA athletes

2025 IAWA Gold Cup – Chad Ullom, Denny Habecker, Al Myers and LaVerne Myers were the top USAWA athletes

Heavy Lift Championship – 1st, 2nd, 3rd were Chad Ullom, Abe Smith, Nils Larson; Jessica Hopps, Mary McConnaughey

Presidential Cup – Beth Skwarecki won

Team Championship – Tony & Dave were the top M/M; Kim & Diya were the top F/F and Allison & Tony were the top M/F

OTSM Championship – 1st, 2nd, 3rd were Chad Ullom, Dave DeForest, Dave Glasgow

Postal Championship – 1st, 2nd, 3rd were Abe Smith, Barry Bryan, Dan Jones; Stacy Todd, Lisa Gore, Lilly Todd

Club Championship will be in February and Grip Championship will be in April.

Of course, there are plenty of other factors that could be considered and that is the beauty of the USAWA annual awards, they are voted on by the membership.

• This topic was modified 4 months, 3 weeks ago by Sanjiv Gupta.

Topic

[Sanjiv Gupta]

With the new Annual Awards Format, I wanted to highlight some of the women of the USAWA over the past year with club affiliation, age group, “newcomer” status, signature events attended and other fun facts. In alphabetical order by last name

**Lisa Gore – Clark’s – Masters, (313) individual records

**Nisha Gupta – High Country Vigour – Junior, newcomer, 2025 Nationals, Team Lift Champs, Ran for EB twice, Level 1 Official, (86) individual records

**Jessica Hopps – Frank’s Barbell Club – Masters, 2025 Nationals, Sanctions meets for Frank’s, Served as EB Secretary, Level 1 Official, (141) individual records

**Helen Kahn – No Club Affiliation – Masters, (17) individual records

Thank you all for competing and supporting All-Round Weightlifting.

**Allison Lupo – Clark’s – Masters, 2025 Nationals, Club Champs, Team Lift Champs, Level 1 Official, (247) individual records

**Beth Skwarecki – Habecker’s – Masters, 2025 Nationals, President’s Cup, Club Champs, Level 2 Official, (214) individual records

**Janet Thompson – Clark’s – Masters, Club Champs, (211) individual records

**Esmie Tseng – Per Aspera Strength – Senior, newcomer, Club Champs (1) individual record

**Kim Van Wagner – High Country Vigour – Masters, Club Champs, Team Lift Champs, Official in Training, (139) individual records

**Dylan Wenzel – Clark’s – Junior, newcomer, Club Champs, (28) individual records

[Sanjiv Gupta]

Please consider voting on the 2026 Annual Awards. Recipients are selected by the membership and an important part of recognizing individuals for their performance, leadership, integrity and courage on and off the platform.

Your voice matters, whether you are a veteran or new; local or traveling; young or old; male or female; casual lifter or serious lifter.

[Author]

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