OUR STAFF

MATT TITUS

• B.S. in Biology, concentration in Anatomy and Physiology
• CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
• ATA Adaptive & Inclusive Trainer
• USA Weightlifting and Sports Performance Coach
• CrossFit Olympic Lifting
• CrossFit Kids Trainer
• CrossFit Mobility & Movement
• Blackbird CrossFit Head Coach and Co-Owner

Matt developed a passion for CrossFit in 2009 that changed the way he viewed fitness. Never a gym rat or weightlifter, Matt played college rugby and is a life-long soccer player. He immediately recognized CrossFit as a way to combine all of the things he loved about being an athlete; the competition, the team camaraderie, the intensity, the fun and the skill. His experiences in the box changed the way he trained, the way he viewed nutrition, and the manner in which he attacked daily life.

Matt has been a part of three other CrossFit boxes in Balitmore City and Carroll County. He became a coach and opened up BlackBird CrossFit to help others in their journey to making long-term lifestyle changes. Regardless of a member’s starting fitness level, he considers every member an athlete. He believes in the importance of a varied strength and conditioning program, whether the athlete is training for The CrossFit Games or is an everyday person looking to improve their overall health. The most rewarding part of coaching for him is when a member has their “ah-ha moment” and releases all of their self-perceived limitations. That is when the real training and fun begins!

“I want BlackBird CrossFit to be an important part of my community and serve as an example of how to be fit, enjoy life and strive to reach your true and full potential.”

REBEKAH TITUS

• CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
• USA Weightlifting and Sports Performance Coach
• CrossFit Kids Trainer
• CrossFit Gymnastics
• CrossFit Mobility and Movement
• Healthy Steps Nutrition Coach
• Blackbird CrossFit Co-Owner

Rebekah Titus was first introduced to CrossFit after the birth of her first daughter in 2009. Matt had heard about CrossFit and talked her into doing Foundations together. She loved the WODs but wasn’t sold on the weightlifting aspect. She returned to her 4-5 day a week group fitness class regimen and running half marathons. After the birth of her second daughter, group fitness classes and running were not garnering any results. In 2013, CrossFit came back into her life. Within the first year, she lost 20 pounds, lost inches all over, saw muscle definition, had increased energy levels and confidence, and fell in love with weightlifting! The lifelong athlete and competitor in her had returned. A fire was lit and she never looked back.

“CrossFit was a game-changer for me. I want to bring that to others. It’s amazing to watch our athletes reach their goals both in the gym and in their daily lives. We work with every day people who just want to get stronger, have more energy, and be able to chase their kids around. It’s been amazing to be a part of their first unassisted pull up, graduate from knee push ups to toes, lose weight, change eating habits, and get healthy! Other than motherhood, opening up Blackbird CrossFit is the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done.”

MICHELLE MERSON

• ACE Certified Personal Trainer
• CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
• USA Weightlifting and Sports Performance Coach

She has always been an athlete, so she decided to turn her passion into her career. After 5 years of personal training, Michelle found CrossFit in 2012. She instantly became hooked. She believes in the value of CrossFit and strength training for individuals of all ages and backgrounds. Michelle has worked with a wide variety of individuals and groups ranging from high school athletes as a Sports and Performance Coach, adult amateur athletes, pre and post natal women, to the elderly.

Being a mom of young children, Michelle has a particular love of working with other moms. She understands the challenges of getting “your body ” back and finding the time to exercise with a busy family and work schedule. Through her personal training and CrossFit coaching, Michelle loves showing her athletes, moms in particular, that functional, high intense, interval training is the winning combo to reaching your fitness and health goals.

“My favorite thing about CrossFit is seeing people achieve things that they never thought they were capable of doing.”

STEVE WEATHERHOLT

• “B. S. in Health and Physical Education, minor in Exercise Science
• CrossFit Level 3 Trainer
• Blackbird Nutrition Coach
• USA Weightlifting and Sports Performance Coach
• ATA Adaptive & Inclusive Trainer
• CrossFit Kids Trainer
• CPR and First Aid instructor

Steve is P.E., Health, & Weightlifting teacher at Century High School right here in Eldersburg, MD. He also coached Freshman Boys Basketball and Varsity Football at CHS until 2017. Steve found CrossFit in 2012 when a group of teachers invited him to work out with them. After the first workout, he was sold. He began programming and doing WODs with other faculty members before school until joining the Blackbird coaching staff in June 2014. CrossFit was a turning point in Steve’s life. He began to make health a priority; constantly emphasizing proper nutrition and physical activity to himself, his colleagues, and most importantly his students.

Steve believes that CrossFit is a fitness methodology that spills over into everyday life. It can positively affect nutrition habits, work ethic, and overall outlook on life. The competitive atmosphere drives him to work hard during every WOD, constantly competing with others in his class and with himself to achieve better fitness. Besides CrossFit, Steve’s passion is working with people who struggle with their nutrition.

“My favorite aspect of CrossFit is looking over during a WOD and seeing the person next to me struggling just as much as I am. It’s through that struggle that we build a community of people working together to achieve lifelong health.”

JUSTIN METZGER

• Pose Certified Running Technique Specialist
• CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
• Aerobic Capacity Ambassador
• CrossFit Endurance Trainer
• CrossFit Kids Trainer

Justin Metzger is excited to bring his knowledge and experience of running and endurance training to his fellow athletes at Blackbird CrossFit, the Eldersburg Rogue Runners, and all who are interested in running with more efficient technique. His goal is to keep runners injury free for many years, while also helping them to run faster to achieve their goals.

Justin’s journey as a coach took an unexpected turn in January of 2011. A group of teachers invited him to start doing CrossFit with them in the school gym, which completely changed his outlook on fitness and training. He learned the importance of technique, began to appreciate running as a skill, and realized more effective ways to train besides just volume. From that moment on, Justin has continued to learn as much as he can about CrossFit, the Pose Running Method, aerobic training, endurance training, and nutrition.

Justin brings years of experience as a competitive endurance athlete himself. In his younger years, he competed on his high school and college Cross-County and Track & Field Teams. He has since channeled his love of running into coaching others, as the Head Cross-Country and Head Track & Field Coach at Carroll Community College, since their program began in 2019. Prior to that he was the Head Boy’s Cross-Country Coach at Century High School from 2011 to 2016.

Now, Justin coaches all athletes from middle-schoolers that are beginning their athletic journey, to adults that are looking to improve on what they have learned over the years. He looks forward to bringing his knowledge of running and endurance training to his fellow athletes as the only coach of Blackbird CrossFit’s PACER Program. Also, he works with Tri Sport Junction to design programming for the Sykesville/Eldersburg running and triathlete communities to help them achieve their goals of competing in all race distances from 5K’s to ultra-marathons.

Danny Lynch

• CrossFit Level 2 Trainer

Danny was born and raised in Eldersburg. After graduating Liberty High School, he attended Frostburg State University before eventually joining the Navy. In 2011 while serving as a medic, he was introduced to the Marine Corps version of CrossFit called Semper Fit. He immediately loved the CrossFit approach to fitness, especially the constantly varied aspect. When Danny and his wife Rachel moved back to Eldersburg in 2016 they found Blackbird CrossFit. He recognized that it was a completely different experience doing CrossFit in a gym with consistent programming and a great community to support you; and he found a true passion for it. Danny studied all the material he could get his hands on, even starting a podcast called Let’s WOD About It with fellow BBCF coach, Steve. He interned for a year at Blackbird and became an official coach in 2019.

“Converting my years of CrossFit experience and technical learning into coaching has been such a rewarding experience. I love being able to help people and watch them grow physically and mentally throughout the process.”
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KACIE NEMETH

• CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
• CrossFit Kids Trainer

Kacie grew up in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. She teaches mathematics at Century High School here in Eldersburg, with a bachelor’s degree in Middle School Mathematics Education from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and a masters degree in Educational Leadership from McDaniel College. She played Division II softball for four years at Clarion University as a first basemen.

Kacie has always been a blonde ball of energy, playing a plethora of sports growing up. Her main loves were gymnastics, field hockey, and softball. She had strong female gymnastics coaches that instilled a hard work ethic in her and taught her that attention to the basics is instrumental in becoming more successful in your craft. She now brings those lessons to her CrossFit classes each week.

From a young age Kacie knew that she wanted to be a teacher and a coach. Her natural ability to command a room, be a leader on the field, and her passion for helping others solidified her choice in education. Because of her background in sports, teaching always went hand-in-hand with coaching. She started her coaching career with the Century High School JV Field Hockey team for two seasons and one season with JV Softball. She then began her Coaching Internship at Blackbird CrossFit and became an official coach in 2019.

“Once becoming a coach, I quickly learned that CrossFit really isn’t about competitions, wearing the cutest gear, and where you end up on the whiteboard, but about being fit for life. It really put things into perspective and gave me an entire mindset switch. I love coaching CrossFit kids and working with other local athletes in order to help them train in the off-season. Being a coach is so rewarding and I am so very glad to be a part of the coaching staff at Blackbird.”

CHRIS RICHELDERFER

• CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
• USA Weightlifting Level 2 Coach
• Blackbird Barbell Club Coach

Chris is a Pennsylvania native and grew up outside of Harrisburg. After college at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD, he commissioned in the US Army and has spent the last 16 years living in various places in the US and abroad. During a deployment to Afghanistan in 2007, he was introduced to CrossFit but didn’t actively start following the CrossFit methodology until 2009 when his wife Ashley and he were stationed in Bamberg, Germany. After moving back to the States, he eventually joined CrossFit Fort Bragg in North Carolina and later CrossFit Syracuse in New York. While at CrossFit Fort Bragg, Chris competed as a member of the gym’s team at the Reebok CrossFit Games Mid-Atlantic Regional in 2013. During an assignment in Washington State and for about a year after Chris moved to Maryland, he spent about two years working out in his garage and focusing on Olympic Weightlifting. He was pleased with the strength he gained and earned podium positions in a few small, regional meets. But he realized he needed the community, variety, and intensity you can only find at a CrossFit Gym. So he joined Ashley at Blackbird in 2017 and decided to start working towards his goal of being a CrossFit coach. He began completed the Blackbird Coaches Internshipand obtained his CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Certificate in May 2018 and Level 2 in August 2019. Chris specializes in strength and Olympic Weightlifting coaching and customized program design. He has led five of Blackbird Barbell Club’s members to qualify and compete at the national level.

Ashley Richelderfer

• ACE Personal Trainer
• Senior Fitness Specialist Certification
• Blackbird Nutrition Coach
• CrossFit Level 1

Ashley was raised in Hampstead, MD and met her husband (and fellow BBCF Coach) Chris in college. They have 3 beautiful daughters and two crazy dogs that keep her busy. In 2016, after multiple stations around the country with Chris’s career in the ARMY, the Richelderfer’s returned to Maryland and Ashley joined Blackbird CrossFit a week later. She started both Nutrition Coaching and Personal Training at Blackbird in 2020.

“I honestly think being shy is what pushed me to start coaching after 9 years of CrossFit experience. I drove past my first CrossFit gym for a year before working up the courage to walk in. It can be really scary to take that first step. My focus is on those people who don’t have the confidence *YET* to walk through the doors – specifically women and seniors. My goal is help those who are nervous about fitness to build confidence in themselves and realize their potential.”

Mike Ruiz

• CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
• CrossFit Masters Trainer

Mike started his fitness journey in January 2018 here at Blackbird at age 40. Knowing nothing about CrossFit and only hearing about it from a friend, he tried one class and was hooked. After 8 months at Blackbird, he received orders to Hawaii where he continued doing CrossFit for the next 3 years. During that time he earned his CrossFit Level 1 Trainer certification in an effort to further his knowledge. In August 2021, he returned to the Eldersburg area and picked up at Blackbird right where he left off. Mike spent 4 months in our Blackbird Caching Internship and took over his own classes in December 2021.

Mike has been an active-duty service member for over 18 years and CrossFit has enabled him to stay physically and mentally fit to lead his people. He enjoys the camaraderie and welcoming community that makes CrossFit so unique. It has truly opened his eyes to how fitness and nutrition play a huge part in living a healthy lifestyle. It’s a Ruiz family fitness affair with Mike’s wife, Allyson and two out of his three sons also attending Blackbird.

“CrossFit has done so much for me in all aspects of life. In addition to the fitness and nutrition gains, the increased self-confidence and mental toughness helps me to continually strive to become the best version of myself. The CrossFit lifestyle carries over to work and family life, and helps to keep me balanced. As a coach, I am grateful for the opportunity to positively impact one’s approach and experience through their fitness journey.”