Our Team

CHAD BENKO

Chad grew up in a family where work ethics, morals, and honesty were highly respected and he now brings those values to his work life at SYNERGY. Chad loves working with members and seeing their progress and achievements as he is very passionate about making a difference in peoples lives. Chad is thankful for the people who have influenced and empowered him to continue to learn and reach higher within the field of health & wellness. Chad firmly believes SYNERGY has the greatest community, members, and coaches.

IAN MACDONALD

Ian admits he wears many different hats…husband, father, brother, friend, volunteer, business owner, coach, athlete, and corporate businessman…and he loves every minute of it! Ian’s positive and upbeat attitude is the result of a variety of influences. Ian’s rural roots instilled in him a strong work ethic and the value of respect. Playing sports on the Provincial and National scene taught Ian to appreciate the importance of dedication and the pursuit of excellence. Becoming a Chartered Accountant reinforced the values of honesty and integrity. Last and not least, being a husband and father has shown Ian the strength of family and community. With a personal motto of “always make a difference”, Ian is appreciative of the opportunity to help make a difference in the health and wellness of others.

ALEX MACKENZIE

Alex began his journey as a baseball player for Team Ontario when he found his passion for improving and pushing the level of the human potential. He then attended Canisius College an NCAA Division I school where he continued towards his goals of professional baseball. An injury along his journey brought him to chiropractic care where he discovered his new passion. Alex graduated from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and has since decided to aid athletes in avoiding common injuries and performing at the next level. He is very humbled to be joining an excellent and charismatic team at Synergy Strength.

BROOKE ALLEN

Brooke grew up in a small town playing sports such as fastball and ringette, where there was always a strong sense of community and teamwork. These traits are what attracted her to Crossfit and later inspired her to become a trainer. Brooke runs the kids crossfit program at Synergy, and her two kids can be often found hanging out at the gym playing on the rings or running through an obtacle course. She hopes to inspire the next generation of crossfitters, and is proud to be part of a community full of happy and fit role models.

CLAIRE HOPKIN

Claire biggest passion is olympic weightlifitng. Between her three jobs including coaching at Synergy you can find her playing around in the lifting corner trying to better her lifts. She is always excited to watch people improve and gain strength and agility. Claire thinks the best part about being a coach is watching peoples eyes light up when they accomplish something they once thought was not possible.

CRYSTAL DERRY

Crystal has a great passion for personal wellbeing and fitness and enjoys sharing this with others. She grew up in Saskatoon, playing a wide variety of sports, soccer being her favorite. After a soccer injury that required knee surgery and extensive physiotherapy, Crystal became fascinated with exercise mechanics and functional movement. That fascination led her to become certified in Functional Movement Systems (FMS), which helps her to identify and resolve dysfunctional movement to reduce the potential for injury. Crystal loves working with all ability levels and sees fitness as an essential element to improving the quality of life. She is grateful for and values the Synergy community and personally embraces Synergy’s objective to focus on all aspects of heath and wellness.

COURTNEY BATHGATE

Courtney’s greatest joy in life is making other people happy. Synergy has allowed her to do that day after day as she assists people to reach their goals. There is a certain excitement that she feels every time someone gets their first pull-up, as she can remember exactly how that felt. Helping others has always been a passion of Courtney’s and she’s so grateful that she has been given the opportunity to do this in a fun, fitness oriented atmosphere. Courtney’s carefree attitude is what makes people want to ask for assistance or guidance. She goes above and beyond for her Synergy family and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

DAWN CIONA

Dawn grew up in Blaine Lake, SK learning invaluable lessons and skills from her family’s business. She proceeded to attend the U of S completed a Hon. Biochemistry degree, focused on human energy metabolism, and a M. Sc. in Nutrition, focused primarily on the nutritional requirements for high intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE or HIIT). Throughout her education, Dawn became heavily involved in teaching group fitness and the sport of body building. Her competitive involvement in body building, and physical and mental struggles following competition, granted her experience and further understanding of nutrition’s importance to the human body. Dawn looks forward to sharing her knowledge and experience with her clients, helping to obtain their desired health and wellness goals.

JEANA PENNO

Born and raised in Saskatoon, Jeana has always been involved in sports and staying active. She has never been as intimidated as she was when walking through Synergy’s doors for the very first time though, knowing virtually nothing about CrossFit. That didn’t last long! Meeting so many new people and making great friends, all while learning about the sport that is CrossFit made her want to become an even more involved part of such a great community! So after less than six months of being a member, she jumped at the chance to work here too! So now she gets to work and workout at a place she loves and do it all with a great bunch of people! Laugh, love and WOD!!

JASON TRINH

At a younger age, Jason was not given the chance to commit to sport and regrets his lack of opportunity to see how far he could go. CrossFit has not only improved his fitness and overall health, but it has given him an avenue to pursue sports again, such as Olympic Weightlifting and the Reebok CrossFit Games. Jason’s growth, and that of the Synergy members, gives him the initiative to work hard and is something to which he looks forward everyday. Jason is thankful that he has been given the opportunity to do what he can to instill in others the passion he has for health and fitness.

JESSICA GRANT

Jessica became a part of our administrative team in early 2013. She comes to us with a background in management and enjoys being an integral part of the inner workings of Synergy. Aside from being busy behind the desk, Jessica is a Registered Massage Therapist through NHPC (National Health Practitioners of Canada). She completed the 2200 hr Massage & Hydrotherapy program at Mckay Career Training in July 2012.
“I am fortunate to be apart of such a wonderful community. Being here, among so many people who care about their health & fitness makes me strive to expand my knowledge and be the best I can be for my clients”

MATT BATHGATE

Matt is a competitive CrossFitter who brings his background and experience in team sports (Rugby, Hockey, etc) into the gym setting to provide strong leadership with clear cueing and feedback. Matt has a thirst for knowledge that leads him to continually learn new and useful perspectives on sport, training, nutrition, and health that positively benefit his clients and the Synergy culture as a whole. Matt has a good eye for movement and his education in the natural sciences provides him with an understanding of physical systems that aids his understanding of human bio-mechanical efficiency.

MATT WALZ

Matt played a variety of sports from a young age through high school and then spent the next several years searching for that feeling that comes during competitive sport: The feeling of satisfaction that comes from physically and mentally giving your all and the pursuit of bettering oneself. He found that feeling again in Crossfit and after four years of Crossfiting decided he wanted to help others find their own sense of satisfaction by sharing his enthusiasm for the sport of fitness as a coach.

SARAH HILLS

Sarah’s passion is teaching and coaching; whether it is in a classroom or in the gym, she loves working with people to help them reach their goals and experience personal success. Sarah strives to make everyone she works with feel welcome and at ease because no matter what your fitness level, she truly feels the Synergy community has a place for
everyone!

SCOTTY BUTCHER

Scotty has had a passion for exercise and sports his whole life. With a background in rugby, wrestling, and football, Scotty’s experience with high-intensity resistance and interval training were very important in forming his beliefs around exercise prescription for optimal function. Now, as an Exercise Consultant for Synergy and a Professor in Physical Therapy at the University of Saskatchewan, Scotty has brought this passion and experience into his teaching, research, and strength and conditioning advising. Scotty strives to develop and enhance the knowledge base and skills of exercise professionals and clients related to the idea that quality of exercise prescription is vastly more important than quantity.

TIM MCLELLAN

Having been introduced to strength and conditioning at a younger age, Tim has always been interested in learning and using various methods and principles. He has been fortunate to work with and learn from some highly-talented coaches and looks forward to continuing his growth and development at Synergy Strength and Conditioning. He truly believes that with hard work and dedication, ALL goals are obtainable. Tim is excited to be a part of the Synergy training staff and hopes he can help each and every individual reach their goals.

“Sometimes the greatest thing to come out of all your hard work isn’t what you GET for it, but what you BECOME for it.” – Steve Maraboli