I have been doing CrossFit for 10 years. Growing up playing soccer, CrossFit has given me the ability to keep active and competitive. I played Soccer in high school and at the collegiate level. I started CrossFit because I was tired of working out by myself in my basement. Joining the gym gave me a community I didn’t know I was missing. CrossFit keeps me healthy, in shape and provides me an opportunity to focus on myself and relieve some of the stress that comes with the day-to-day grind of the job. Body weight, Gymnastic Movements and Endurance WOD’s are my favorite.
Certifications: CF-L1
I have been active in athletics my entire life. Growing up I was active in Volleyball, Basketball, Golf and Track. I played all 4 years NCAA II Volleyball on a full Athletic scholarship at Goldey-Beacom College. After I had children I struggled to get back into shape. I began running half marathons but it was taking a toll on my body. I started doing CrossFit after Mike had been doing it for a year. It was love at first lift. My whole mindset changed. I love that my focus changed from weight loss to getting strong. There is nothing better than confidence through strength.
My favorite thing about the RIV is the Community. There are so many amazing people that come through the door. All there with one goal- to be healthy and fit. It’s an hour out of their day that they are dedicating to themselves to be healthy. It’s an hour away from work, home, etc to devote to themselves so that they are re-energized to go back out and crush it!
Certifications: CrossFit Level 2 (CF-L2), Adaptive & Inclusive Trainer
Throughout my life, I’ve always had a passion for health and fitness. Growing up, I was an active athlete playing soccer and a member of both track & field and swim teams.
As an athlete, I was always mindful of nutrition, an interest which led me to major in Dietetics at the University of Delaware, graduating with a B.S. in Dietetics.
Ten years ago, I gave CrossFit a shot, and have been hooked ever since. Most CrossFit athletes will tell you it is not only the physicality of the sport that keeps them coming back, but the community and camaraderie that drive them through tough workouts.
You don’t need to get in shape before arriving at Riv Athletics. We have such an incredibly diverse community with varied skills and abilities would love to support you in reaching your goals.
I look forward to welcoming you to our next class!
“Its never too late to become what you might have been.”
B.S. in Dietetics CF-L2
Certifications: CrossFit Level 2, Brand X Method Kids Certified, Adaptive & Inclusive Trainer
A vice that is healthy and addicting- that’s what I think about when people ask me, ‘why CrossFit as a go to fitness regimen?’
For me, it’s simple: I am a believer in staying fit. I have played competitive sports all my life and I like to try the next exercise wave, to stay updated, and connected to the exercise world. After giving my daughter part of my liver last year, I realized that I had taken great care of my body for a moment like that. Not only did it save my daughter’s life, but it served me well too. My healing process was remarkable. Naturally, I was anxious to start working out again, but was still cautioned to do so very slowly. I was looking for an exercise to match my intense desire for working out. I couldn’t lift heavy weights, so I needed something with modifications that was still challenging enough to give me that “high” that comes with the increase of endorphins during high-intensity exercise. That’s CrossFit.
I have also been an avid runner now for ten years. While running on a beautiful Thanksgiving morning, 8 years ago, I experienced my first runner’s “high”. I was never the same after that. I was hooked on running from that day on and at the age of 44, I’m still running.
I began kettle bell training 9 years ago and most recently at the YMCA. I have also taught several TRX classes. My running history has taken me all over the tri-state area and even to Washington DC, Baltimore, and Virginia. My addiction to running is so intense that my running sneakers are the first things that I pack when I am traveling (for business, or leisure).
A co-worker and CrossFit coach told me that I would become a “crossfitter” once I tried the first class. I started watching the Games on YouTube and thought he was crazy! Yet, I wanted to see the BOX for myself. Coach was right, I am a “crossfitter”.
With my passion for running and staying in shape, CrossFit has helped me tremendously. The coaches there have helped me to return to my pre-surgery running distance, speed, endurance, and stamina. This was done through their tailored, expert exercise modifications for me. They carefully modified my sit-ups, lunges, and other exercises through personalized techniques, so as not to cause me any further injuries to my healing body. Their endless encouragement and patience helped me to get where I am today!
Please do not look at CrossFit and think you can’t do it! Please look at it as a lifestyle challenge and a way for you to stay healthy and in shape for life! CrossFit is a key tool in providing athletes and other exercise enthusiasts with motivation to get fit and stay fit.
Come visit and you too will love the Riv.
Think energy. Think stamina. Think increasing health and self-confidence, one workout at a time.
I played several sports growing up – primarily baseball, wrestling and tennis. After high school, I became active in volleyball, and then rowing, which I still compete in. Over those years, I have also coached baseball, soccer, wrestling and rowing. It was while looking for a way to train for rowing during an extended vacation that I got involved in CrossFit and it’s been my focus ever since. As a masters athlete, I wasn’t sure if it was too late for me to start CrossFit. However, I was and am truly amazed at the support I got from the community and the progress I have been able to make as a result.
I personally love to compete and have been happy to find out that, in addition to the younger athletes you see on television, CrossFit has wonderful age-group competitions. However, coming to CrossFit later in life than most has made me understand that while that’s certainly a great part of CrossFit, it’s not the main point. Rather, it’s about improving your physical capability and capacity, regardless of whether you’re eight or eighty, and whether that improvement is squatting 500 pounds or getting your first push-up.
As a coach, while I do enjoy helping people hone their competitive skills, I’ve found that I get even more joy helping somebody simply acquire a skill that they thought they weren’t capable of. If you think you’re too old, young, big, small, uncoordinated or whatever to benefit from CrossFit, I encourage you to give us a try. I’ll bet you’ll find out you can not only do it, but have a great time and get in better shape than you thought possible.
Certifications: CF-L3, USAW L2
I’m originally from sunny San Diego, but made the trek to the East Coast in 2004 to attend the University of Pennsylvania. There I studied Mixed-Media Production and was a duel sport D-1 Athlete on the Women’s Basketball and Women’s Track & Field teams. After graduating from Penn, I trained as an amateur Muay Thai Kickboxer and served as captain and starting Quarterback for the Philadelphia Liberty Belles women’s semi-pro, full-tackle football team.
In 2010, CrossFit crashed into my life like a big mac truck. In less than a week of classes, I was obsessed!! In 2013 I earned my CFL1 and since then I have been a very proud coach at RIV Athletics, and an outspoken advocate of the amazing benefits that CrossFit and our many other programs can provide people of all levels of fitness! As a former division one athlete, I have a true PASSION FOR POWER. So, watch out all you new members… I will have you drinking the RIV Kool-Aid before you know it, and looking damn good doing it!
Teaches: CrossfitRivfitStrongmanWeightlifting
Certifications: CrossFit Olympic Weightlifting, CrossFit Football, Brand X Method Kids Certified
I wasn’t much of an athlete growing up. I was a gymnast from 2 to 14 years old, but honestly, I was terrible (don’t tell my mom, she still believes I could have gone to the Olympics). After my early retirement from that, I did not get into any other sports.
In 2011, I found Obstacle Course Racing and was determined to do a 12-mile Tough Mudder. I ran my first 5k that year and found out just how “fit” I wasn’t. After a year of running (hating every mile) and training on my own, I finished my first Tough Mudder and… ouch. But crossing that finish line is all it took for me to become hooked on OCR.
Over the next 4 years, the expectations I had for myself and my abilities transformed and I knew the typical gyms would not push me to the level I needed. CrossFit seemed to be all the rage, so I started doing some research. I wasn’t sold on CF but fell in love with the RivFit program. It took some convincing, but after 2.5 years of RivFit, I picked up a barbell and I have not wanted to put it down since.
My objectives and understanding of fitness have changed drastically over the past few years and my friends & coaches at Riv Athletics have been there every step of the way. I am beyond excited to be a part of this team and to pay it forward in helping others in developing, striving, and achieving their goals.
Certifications: Coach Crossfit L2, Brand X Method Kids Certified, Adaptive & Inclusive Trainer
My athletic background stems from swimming. I swam competitively for about 10 years. I had to quit all athletics for a brief period of time. Once I was cleared by my doctors, I was unable to find any other sport or fitness class that could compare swimming. I started attending CrossFit classes in 2014 and have been in love with fitness ever since. I compete at small competitions in Delaware and love to see the drive and determination of everyone around me. Once cycling was introduced, I could not stay away! I can always be found at the Riv either squatting, cycling or just sitting around petting all the dogs coming in.
Certifications: CF-L2, Stages Cycling Certification
My athletic background growing up was a diverse one. My first love was baseball, but at any point during my childhood you could catch me playing football with friends, swimming at the beach, or playing basketball alone in my driveway for hours on end. In high school I started weight training for baseball and from that point on I fell in love with fitness and started to live by some of the principles of CrossFit without knowing it. I taught myself how to do basic barbell movements, the Olympic Lifts, basic gymnastic skills on rings, kettlebell training, and conditioning that was hard and fast. This carried through my college years when I stopped playing baseball and started to take an interest in nutrition and bodybuilding. After I finished graduate school for Physical Therapy, I was looking for a new friend group and something to fill the competitive void that I missed after I stopped playing sports. A friend
introduced me to CrossFit in the spring of 2019. As a Physical Therapist, my job is to help athletes recover from injury not only in the physical sense, but in an emotional one as well. I invest a great deal of time and energy into my patients and in their recovery. With that, to say that I was cautious to start CrossFit is an understatement. I under the impression that it was an injurious sport, and directly at odds with what did as a Physical Therapist. It took me a few months to realize that it was the perfect community for me. People say that the magic of CrossFit is in the community, and that couldn’t be truer in my case. Some of my closest friends I’ve
met in this gym. I like data almost as much as a like fitness and ironically, the data says that CrossFit is no more injurious than other recreational sport and has similar (very low) injury rates to bodybuilding and powerlifting. I started coaching in 2021 because I want to share my experience with this community and hopefully change lives in the same way that mine has been changed by CrossFit. I love any workout with a heavy barbell or machine, but I can be convinced to do just about any workout. When I’m not coaching,
working, or CrossFit-ing I love to travel, hike, listen to live music, and spend time with friends. If you see
me at the gym, come say hi and let’s get a WOD in!
Teaches: CrossfitRivfitWeightlifting
Certifications: CF-L1
I swam competitively from the time I was 4 all the way through my college days at Lehigh University. During college, I first discovered my passion for coaching as a summer swim coach. I loved every second of it. After college, I had an abrupt lifestyle change when I commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Army. Despite being in shape from swimming, I struggled to meet Army physical standards which focused almost exclusively on running. I began running daily and training for distance races, working my way up to half marathons. My deployment in 2013 led to the discovery of my passion for both CrossFit and Indoor Cycling, as I was forced to move my workouts indoors. Both workouts challenged and pushed me to my limits in unique ways. When the cycling instructor at my location redeployed home, I stepped up and started teaching the classes myself. What started as a temporary fix became a passion that continues today.
When I returned from deployment, I got out of the Army and received a job offer from as a Human Resources Manager for DuPont, bringing me to Wilmington, DE. As a kid, I spent the majority of my formative years near Philadelphia, so it was great to be near “home.” Once settled in my new “day job,” I got my official Spinning certification from Madd Dogg and started teaching at the Central YMCA, where I still teach one day a week. When I found out RIV Athletics was adding a cycling program, I knew it was meant to be; a way for me to get reintegrated in the CrossFit world, while continuing my love for teaching indoor cycling.
In my “free” time, I love reading and being outdoors. I’ve dabbled in triathlons, and would like to complete a half Iron Man. My philosophy in both fitness and life is “if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” I firmly believe the harder you work at something, the greater the reward. I’m excited to get to know and challenge all of the athletes at the Riv!
Certifications: Stages Certification, Madd Dogg
Hi, my name is Majesta Valentine and I’m a North Wilmington native with my bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science. I started competing in artistic gymnastics when I was 10 years old. My continued drive and love for the sport allowed me to follow my dreams and compete in collegiate gymnastics at West Chester University from 2014-2017. During my time at WCU, I was captain of the varsity gymnastics team, NCAA Division 2 Gymnast of the Year in 2016, was National Champion of the USAG Collegiate Conference and alternate to the NCAA Championships in 2017.
After college I continued my passion for sports in a different way and became a competitive gymnastics coach as well as a level 1 certified CrossFit coach and athlete here at Riv Athletics. These two sports have been my life since 2017! Some highlights of my CrossFit career include qualifying to the MACC sanctional event as an elite athlete in 2020, qualifying to quarterfinals as an individual and team member every year since it started, and finishing 174th worldwide in the 2021 open.
I’m highly motivated to share my love for CrossFit and am excited to help mold athletes in and outside of the gym.
Certifications: CF-L1
While physical aesthetics were the original draw to the high intensity intervals and strength training that define most CrossFit workouts (aka, I wanted to look good in a bathing suit), a passion for health as a hedge against disease is what has kept me coming back for almost a decade. Movement IS medicine. Physical exertion forces us into the uncomfortable places that create stronger, better and more resilient versions of ourselves. This is true for every single person on the planet: our bodies, our minds, were intended to move and to be challenged; consistently and in varied ways. In a world where sedentary lifestyle related diseases run rampant, I see CrossFit as a beacon of hope – and not just because the workouts are hard. But because regardless of race, sexuality or physical ability CrossFit begs you to come as you are. Our community doesn’t judge someone because they can’t do a push up or a pull up or run 400 meters (yet), our community applauds them for TRYING. We applaud those brave enough to venture outside of the soft, comfortable places that modern humanity affords us. If you meet someone in a CrossFit gym who doesn’t embody that culture of positivity, they usually don’t last long. I have developed lasting and meaningful relationships with people at this gym because we suffer and grow stronger together. I am proud to be a small part of our member’s fitness journeys. Courtney Sendek is a working mom, wife, cold plunge enthusiast and pancreatic cancer survivor.
Certifications: CF-L1
My whole life I’ve identified as an athlete; it’s in my blood. Growing up, I played basketball, soccer, and swam.
Up until high school, the primary influence on my athletic development was my father, who coached most of my teams. A Division 1 college football player and a high school state champion in wrestling and football, he knows a thing or two about sports, and about life, not only teaching me about competition and tactics, but also determination, resiliency, and hard work.
From my perspective, it’s hard to find these lessons outside of sports, so after focusing so strongly on my athletic career in high school and playing club soccer at Boston College, I didn’t know what to do when that was no longer a part of my life. I was searching for something that provided a similar stimulus to my experience in that athletic environment.
Fast forward about 6 years, after dabbling with exercise programs, I found CrossFit. I fell in love with the competition, the variety, the pain, and, most of all, the community. CrossFit has been my safe space, my outlet for stress, my social group, my teacher, and a place where I’ve gained strength, not only physically but also mentally and emotionally.
As a coach, my goal is to create this same environment for our members. I want to coach members like my father coached me – not only technique, skills, and strategy, but also how to be mentally and emotionally strong.
This spirit, mind, and body connection instilled in me from a young age came to life while obtaining my master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, with a concentration in Athletic Counseling, from Springfield College in western Massachusetts.
At SC, I gained experience working with both teams and individual athletes on the mental components of performance enhancement and overall well-being. When working with clients, my goal is to help them better understand their internal world in order to navigate their external world in a more holistic and healthy way. By preparing individuals with the skills and strategies necessary to meet the demanding needs of their environment, they will achieve greater overall well-being and greater success at work, at home, at school, in their sport, or in the gym.
Some topics I’ve focused on with clients include, but are not limited to: mental toughness, emotional intelligence, mindfulness, stress management, anxiety regulation, resiliency, adaptability, confidence building, self-control, time management, motivation, goal setting, grief management, eating disorder awareness, psychological return to sport after injury, career and academic advising, relationship management, communication, role definition, and conflict resolution.
Certifications: CF-L1; National U.S. Soccer E Level Youth Coaching Certification
My fitness journey has been a lifetime development. As an athlete growing up I primarily focused around basketball and track, eventually walking onto the Men’s Basketball team at Boise State University. After stepping away from basketball I decided that my monotonous gym routine was not cutting it for me. I needed to find a gym space that fostered personal growth and had a large community focus. I found Verdant CrossFit in Boise, ID in 2018 and have been in love with the CrossFit lifestyle ever since. After graduating from Boise State University with a B.S. in Kinesiology I have been spending my summers working as a Wildland Firefighter and coaching in every moment between. Over the past four years as a CrossFit coach my goal has been to instill the concept of virtuosity as best as I can in every class I get to lead. I am beyond excited to have the opportunity to work with everyone at Riv!
Certifications: CF-L1