The extremely anticipated U Sports activities finale is lastly right here, with collegiate athletes from throughout Canada heading to Windsor, Ont., to battle for the nationwide title. Over an thrilling two months of competitors, marked by unprecedented breakthroughs, we witnessed standout college athletes of their pursuit of greatness–a journey that continues at these championships. Beginning Thursday, listed below are the highest 5 storylines to observe at U Sports activities.
1. MacDonald on monitor for triple gold
The College of Calgary’s Sienna MacDonald is on monitor to defend her triple U Sports activities gold medals, and is heading into the weekend holding the highest spots within the 60m hurdles, lengthy soar and pentathlon. In February, MacDonald blazed to 7.97 seconds within the hurdles occasion, and on the nationwide championships, she hopes to dip beneath eight seconds once more to crush her personal program document.
MacDonald’s sub-eight efficiency established her as a menace on the world stage. Though she missed the qualifying customary for the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, by 0.03 seconds, with solely 4 days left within the qualifying interval she falls effectively throughout the quota of 48 athletes who’re eligible to compete.
2. A 600m showdown
Western College and the College of Saskatchewan’s 600m stars have been in a fierce battle all season, vying for the highest spot within the U Sports activities rankings. Favour Okpali and Avery Pearson, final yr’s nationwide champion and runner-up, respectively, have clocked the quickest two occasions in Canada this yr, however have but to go head-to-head.
Pearson’s strengths lie in middle-distance; final yr, she captured U Sports activities 1,000m gold and anchored her faculty’s 4x400m and 4x800m groups to nationwide titles. Okpali, in distinction, excels in velocity, securing bronze within the 300m. It’s not solely a matter of who will take the title–it’s whether or not one (or each) will dip beneath Aurora Rynda’s nationwide document of 1:27.05. As of now, Pearson’s 1:27.34 and Okpali’s 1:27.35 mark the second and third-fastest performances in Canadian historical past.
3. Will Davies make it three in a row?
The College of Guelph’s Max Davies has a strong monitor document at U Sports activities Championships, holding back-to-back 1,500m titles and championship information in each the 1,000m and 1,500m. This season, the middle-distance specialist has as soon as once more gapped the sphere within the rankings for each occasions, improved his mile private finest from 3:59.24 to three:57.26 and damaged his personal faculty document twice. One other 1,500m victory for Davies will make him the primary man in historical past to carry three U Sports activities (or CIS) titles within the occasion.
4. Jonathan Podbielski’s iconic quadruple
Perfecting the long-lasting middle-distance triple on the CanWest championships wasn’t sufficient for Regina Cougars athlete Jonathan Podbielski. At this weekend’s U Sports activities championships, the third-year athlete is about to tackle the mid-D quadruple–the 1,000m, 1,500m, 3,000m and 4 x 800m relay–a complete of 6.3 km of racing. Podbielski is the reigning U Sports activities 1,000m silver medallist and 1,500m bronze medallist. Final yr, he additionally anchored the Cougars crew to silver within the 4 x 800m relay. This season, Podbielski holds a top-four spot on the nationwide leaderboard in all three particular person occasions, and has his eyes on at the least one gold medal.
5. Can West snag the Canadian document?
Western College’s leaping phenom Kenneth West has been on a rampage this season, shattering the OUA document and the Mustang’s long-jump program document–twice–in just some weeks. The 23-year-old leapt to a close to 10-cm private finest of seven.99m, marking the third-best soar in Canadian historical past; his efficiency falls simply six centimetres shy of Olympic Champion Damian Warner‘s 8.05m nationwide document.
West leads the U Sports activities rankings in each the lengthy and triple soar by a commanding margin, posing a severe menace to the 15-year-old championship document of seven.88m.
watch
The ultimate schedule for the competitors is out there right here. Reside streams for the occasion will probably be obtainable on CBC Gem (on-line or in-app), CBCSports.ca, or YouTube.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
CRM want to thank Beneath Armour for his or her continued help of our 2025 U Sports activities T&F protection.