Thank you, Dinos Track & Field / Cross Country

Ahloy's own track career began in Grades 1 and 2 when she ran cross country in Vermillion, Alberta and Armstrong, B.C. During this time, she also started running with her dad every morning before he would go to work. While in Grade 5, Ahloy was at the library in Lac La Biche, Alberta with her mom when an impromptu cross country race took place.

“An elementary school pulled up and they were starting a cross country race outside the library and my mom just went up and asked if I could run with these kids,” Ahloy recalled.

“So, I ran with the rest of these fifth graders in my jeans and whatever else I was wearing that day and I ended up getting fifth place out of 60 runners.”

It was from this experience Ahloy decided to join the cross country team in Grade 7. Fast forward a few years, after going undefeated in the Battle District high school zone in track and cross country, she was able to represent Team Saskatchewan in the 2013 Canada Summer Games. A few years after that Ahloy began her post-secondary experience at Lethbridge College in the fall of 2015. She was named a CCAA Second Team All-Canadian in her two years there and helped the women’s team finish third in her final year – a major accomplishment for her and the program. After graduating in April 2015 with honours with distinction, Ahloy came to UCalgary to pursue a chemical engineering degree with a biomedical specialization.

Becoming a Dino meant trading in baby blue for red and joining a much larger athletic community. She joked it also meant learning how important tanning is to look good in red! Being a Dino elevated her university experience, which included being part of the red backpacks and yellow hoodies walking around campus, something she still teases her husband about – who she met while attending UCalgary.

There were challenges along the way, though. Student-athletes face the daily internal struggle of deciding whether to sleep so they have the energy for a practice or stay up and study longer. She also battled many injuries throughout her career.

“The lowest of the lows was after the cross country season in 2017. I was in the best shape of my life and I was looking forward to track. I got a stress fracture in my foot that actually ended up lasting about 14 months,” explained Ahloy. “Right when I was starting to do return to run, I had a seizure and got a concussion. I was out for another few months.

“Because your varsity career is so short compared to your life if you’re injured it feels like so many experiences are being taken away from you. It is always hard to be at home when all your teammates are sending snapchats at competitions and stuff like that.”

The loss of the university sports season in 2020-21 meant a more peaceful transition for Ahloy. She admits there was a lot of ‘false hope’ as the year started until the Butterdome in Edmonton was converted into an emergency hospital.

As her transition away from varsity athletics continues, she teased that a victory lap may be in order, but instead has started focusing on finding a new hobby and what is next in her life.

“Hopefully one day instead of waking up to six rejection emails, I’ll wake up to an email from someone who wants to hire me. I would love to work in an environmental or alternative energy type of role, or pharmaceuticals are also really of interest to me.”

The feeling of stepping on the line before a race and knowing how hard she had worked to be there was what drove Ahloy during her running career, but outside of competition, it was the bonds, connections, and lessons learned that made everything worth it.

That is demonstrated by some of her favourite memories: watching the men’s cross country team win conference and national championships.

“That was so amazing, to see them get that banner and to be there for them, to be cheering them on, and counting the scores,” she recalled. “That was just so amazing, like you feel the excitement, overflowing even though it wasn't our woman's team, just to see the guys win it.

“I didn't break any records or have my picture hanging up anywhere, but my academic career at U of C wasn't just an academic career because of that sense of belonging.”

Dinos Women's Cross Country / Track & Field Graduating Athletes: Mikaela Ahloy, Stephanie Blom, Sophia Poscente, Emily Simpson