Welcome to Bench Press!

Bench Press provides consistent coverage of high school sports in Durham, Orange, Chatham and surrounding areas. Through game coverage, photos, interviews, podcasts and features, we’re at the forefront of stories taking communities by storm while also bringing light to storylines flying under the radar.

With the purpose of producing quality and detailed reporting to meet the needs of local readers, Bench Press was founded by Asheebo Rojas in 2026.

Rojas has worked as a sports writer in North Carolina since 2020. He previously covered sports in Chatham County (Chatham News & Record) for three years, telling stories in print and serving as a cohost to a weekly local sports podcast. He also has published work in HighSchoolOT, Winston-Salem Journal, The Charlotte Post and The Daily Tar Heel. Rojas earned a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Journalism from UNC Chapel Hill. In 2024, he won a first place award for NCPA Sports Feature Writing (Division B).

Follow us on X and Instagram at benchpressnc and Facebook at Bench Press. We post links to the latest stories, videos and other content across our social media pages.