EDMONTON – After breaking two school records on Day 1, the University of Calgary Dinos track & field team continued its outstanding showing with two more record-breaking performances to wrap up a tremendous team effort at the 2024 Canada West Championships, hosted by the University of Alberta inside the Butterdome.

The highlight of the entire weekend came in men's high jump, where Noel Vanderzee put on a show. The first-year Dino electrified the crowd with a school and CW record leap of 2.22 metres, shattering the previous record of 2.17m. His jump not only broke the Dinos and Canada West records, but also took down a 34-year old Alberta indoor record and now ranks him 31st in the world this season. Vanderzee was joined on the podium by two-sport star Dominic Anamali, who cleared the bar at 2.01m for bronze.

Calgary blazed the track in the showdown of the fastest athletes in Canada West. Dawn Richardson Wilson successfully defender her title, breezing to a win in prelims before bringing home her second-straight conference crown in 7.40 seconds. Georgia Oland came in sixth at 7.64 seconds. On the men's side, rookie Junior Imoukhuede announced his presence by claiming silver, clocking in at a blistering 6.76 seconds in the very tight race. Tyler Milev added more points and finished eighth overall in 6.87 seconds.

Alexis Johnson also brought home a gold medal Saturday. The fifth-year who claimed her fifth conference medal with a silver in shot put on Friday added a sixth Saturday and her first gold medal. Johnson topped the weight throw field with a toss of 16.24m, while rookie Dayley Reimer finished eighth for more valuable points for the Dinos.

Jaxon Turner brought down the school record in the heptathlon. The two-sport athlete won three of the seven disciplines over the two days of competition and finished with 4815 points to demolish the previous school record and bring home the silver medal.

Stephanie Okhiria battled through a tough indoor season to repeat as the CW silver medallist in women's triple jump with a season-best leap of 11.74m - moving from fifth to second with that performance on her final approach. Skylar Sanoy also did well, taking fifth at 11.53m.

Tatum Wade - yet another two-sport athlete for the Dinos - brought home the silver medal in the women's 600m. The Kelowna, B.C. product just ran out of real estate in chasing down conference champ Avery Pearson, crossing the line in 1:29.83 - a mere two-tenths of a second shy of Pearson's winning time.

Chloe Turner brought home her second medal of the weekend in the women's 1500m. The rookie finished in 4:30.40 for third place overall after bringing home the gold in the 3k on Friday.

Calgary also saw a big final throw in the men's shot put from Tristan Friesen, going 15.11m on his final throw to move from sixth to fourth.

The Dinos relay squads also shined Saturday. The women's 4x200m squad of Richardson Wilson, Oland, Natasha Gatzke and Emma Parnetta took it down to the finish line and just settled for silver with a time of 1:39.79 - well below the U SPORTS standard of 1:41.55. The women's 4x400m team of Aly Edwards, Oland, Parnetta and Wade also finished runner-up, clocking in at 3:53.12.

The men's 4x200m relay added yet another medal for the Dinos in the dominant final day of action, as Devon Zuchotzki, Milev, Isaac Owusu and Imoukhuede combined for a runner-up time of 1:29.43.

Calgary finished the two-day championship meet in second place on the women's side with 166 points, while the Dinos men placed third with 79.5 points. Saskatchewan won the women's title, while Manitoba captured the men's banner.

Following the meet, the Dinos earned three of the four athlete of the year awards, after supplying some of the most iconic performances in Canada West history. Sienna MacDonald was named the conference's track athlete of the year, while Vanderzee and Johnson both were named the field athletes of the year. MacDonald and Vanderzee would also go on to be named the most outstanding performers of the meet, while Johnson added another award by being named the recipient of this year's student-athlete community service award. Chloe Turner also brought home another specialty award for the Dinos, winning her second conference rookie of the year honours after also earning that recognition during the cross country season.

All attention will now shift to Winnipeg, as the Manitoba Bisons will host the 2024 U SPORTS Championship, March 7th to 9th. 

2024 Canada West Standings
 
Women's Standings (Elanor Haslam Trophy)
 

Pos.	Team	Points
1	Saskatchewan	206.5
2	Calgary	166
3	Alberta	105.5
4	Manitoba	51
5	Victoria	36
5	Trinity Western	36
7	Regina	27
8	Lethbridge	23

 
Men's Standings (R.E. DuWors Trophy)

Pos.	Team	Points
1	Manitoba	160.5
2	Alberta	149
3	Calgary	79.5
4	Regina	76
5	Saskatchewan	73
6	Trinity Western	63
7	Victoria	37
8	Lethbridge	21

2024 Canada West Award Winners

Men's Coach of the Year: Claude Berube - Manitoba
Women's Coach of the Year: Jason Reindl - Saskatchewan
Men's Assistant Coach of the Year: Jamie Sinclair - TWU
Women's Assistant Coach of the Year: Karlyn Wells - Saskatchewan
Men's Student-Athlete Service Award: Evan Essapa - Alberta
Women's Student-Athlete Service Award: Alexis Johnson - Calgary
Men's Rookie of the Year: Nicolas Martin Huerta - Trinity Western
Women's Rookie of the Year: Chloe Turner - Calgary
Men's Track Athlete of the Year: Justin Rose - Alberta
Women's Track Athlete of the Year: Sienna MacDonald - Calgary
Men's Field Athlete of the Year: Noel Vanderzee - Calgary
Women's Field Athlete of the Year: Alexis Johnson - Calgary
Men's Co-Performances of the Meet: Noel Vanderzee - Calgary & Justin Rose - Alberta
Women's Performance of the Meet: Sienna MacDonald – Calgary

DAY 2 RESULTS (SATURDAY, FEB. 24)

Men's Triple Jump
1. Daxx Turner, Manitoba (15.63m)
2. Lauchlan Irish, Lethbridge (15.29m)
3. Tegra Jan-King, Alberta (15.25m)

Women's 600m
1. Avery Pearson, Saskatchewan (1:29.61)
2. Tatum Wade, Calgary (1:29.83)
3. Grace Cook, Alberta (1:31.70)

Men's 600m
1. Dawson Mann, Manitoba (1:19.23)
2. Tristan Allen, Manitoba (1:19.72)
3. Daniel Eiswerth, Regina (1:20.18)

Women's 60m
1. Dawn Richardson Wilson, Calgary (7.40)
2. Paige Willems, Saskatchewan (7.50)
3. Grace Igbiki, Saskatchewan (7.52)

Men's 60m
1. Jordan Soufi, Manitoba (6.67)
2. Junior Imoukhuede, Calgary (6.76)
3. Kenny Blackmon Jr, Trinity Western (6.78)

Women's 4x200m Relay
1. Saskatchewan (1:37.52)
(Selena Keyowski, Paige Willems, Timi Adelugba, Grace Igbiki)
2. Calgary (1:39.79)
(Dawn Richardson Wilson, Georgia Oland, Natasha Gatzke, Emma Parnetta)
3. Regina (1:43.17)
(Shelaine Pritchard, Kaidyn Keith, Katelyn Kichula, Sara Kozan)

Men's 4x200m Relay
1. Alberta (1:27.71)
(Evan Essapa, Josh Li, Justin Rose, Jake Sawatzky)
2. Calgary (1:29.43)
(Devon Zuchotzki, Tyler Milev, Isaac Owusu, Junior Imoukhuede)
3. Manitoba (1:29.52)
(Jordan Soufi, Graham Hutchison-Campbell, Adam Andres, Jared Heibert)

Women's Weight Throw
1. Alexis Johnson, Calgary (16.24m)
2. Priscilla Boakye, Alberta (15.89m)
3. Lauryn Morris, Lethbridge (15.48m)

Men's Heptathlon
1. Jake Neufeld, Saskatchewan (4882 pts.)
2. Jaxon Turner, Manitoba (4815 pts.)
3. Regev Stilman, Alberta (4572 pts.)

Women's 1500m
1. Olivia Cooper, Alberta (4:29.67)
2. Elise Coates, Victoria (4:30.15)
3. Chloe Turner, Calgary (4:30.40)

Men's 1500m
1. Jonathan Podbielski, Regina (3:47.45)
2. Brayden Mytopher, Regina (3:52.06)
3. Nicholas Cook, Alberta (3:52.90)

Women's Triple Jump
1. Olamide Olaloku, Saskatchewan (11.85m)
2. Stephanie Okhiria, Calgary (11.74m)
3. Larissa Bishop, Alberta (11.73m)

Women's High Jump
1. Lara Denow, Manitoba (1.71m)
2. Kianna Cadman, Saskatchewan (1.68m)
3. Chelsea Ells, Saskatchewan (1.65m)

Men's Pole Vault
1. Nicolas Martin Huerta, Trinity Western (5.02m)
2. Jaime Eduardo Martin, Trinity Western (4.40m)
3. Benjamin Zubaly, Trinity Western (4.40m)

Men's Shot Put
1. Wesley Eze, Alberta (16.09m)
2. Myles Quick, Saskatchewan (15.66m)
3. Joshua Suelzle, Manitoba (15.14m)

Men's High Jump
1. Noel Vanderzee, Calgary (2.22m) *New Canada West Record
2. Daxx Turner, Manitoba (2.04m)
3. Dominic Anamali, Calgary (2.01m)

Women's 4x400m Relay
1. Saskatchewan (3:48.22)
(Sarah Schwab, Jenica Swartz, Avery Pearson, Paige Willems)
2. Calgary (3:53.12)
(Aly Edwards, Georgia Oland, Emma Parnetta, Tatum Wade)
3. Alberta (3:55.95)
(Cayla Smith, Ethne James, Grace Cook, Thabiso Vela)

Men's 4x400m Relay
1. Alberta (3:17.38)
(Josh Li, Clay Grattidge, Tyler Sharpe, Justin Rose)
2. Manitoba (3:17.48)
(Noel Kendle, Keenan Allen, Dawson Mann, Tristan Allen)
3. Regina (3:21.31)
(Logan Stachowich, Idris Idowu, Daniel Eiswerth, Jonathan Podbielski

-UC-