EDMONTON – It was another strong weekend for the University of Calgary Dinos track & field program at the 10th annual Pandas Open hosted by the University of Alberta inside the Butterdome.
The Dinos women finished the two-day meet with 100 points, behind only Saskatchewan for the top spot at this year's meet. Meanwhile, the men's team also finished runner-up, racking up 121 points – a mere 11 behind host Alberta for the top spot.
One of the most exciting races of the weekend happened right out of the gates on Friday.
Sienna MacDonald breezed through prelims in the 60m hurdles but had her closest race in a Canada West meet all season as she crossed the line first in 8.10 – just ahead of Saskatchewan's Nicole Ostertag at 8.12 for a thrilling race. MacDonald's prelim time of 8.03 is the fastest in the nation so far this year.
MacDonald would go on to finish runner-up in the open 60m race with a season-best time of 7.44 seconds. She also finished fifth in the open shot put with a toss of 12.42m.
Sarah Feschuk finished second overall in the pentathlon with 3503 points.
It was another big weekend for
Ethan Meyer. The third-year mid-distance specialist topped the field in the 1000m with a winning time of 2:24.83 to establish a new meet record. Meyer also finished fourth overall in the men's 600m in 1:19.80.
In women's action,
Tatum Wade (2:50.02) and
Jenna Conrad (2:50.25) went 2-3 in the the 1000m, before the rookie Conrad continued to turn heads in her debut season with a fourth-place finish in the 600m with a time of 1:32.84.
Calgary took three of the top-four spots in the men's high jump.
Dominic Anamali cleared the bar at 2.03m on his second attempt to claim gold, while
Noel Vanderzee (2.00m) and
Colby Sych (1.90m) finished second and fourth, respectively.
Reagan Bliss continued that dominance on the women's side, bringing home the silver medal after clearing the bar at 1.68m.
Michael Akintunde soared to the win in men's long jump. The Dinos newcomer leapt 7.34m on his third approach before shutting it down as that mark held up for the win.
River Sanoy also did well, going 7.15m on his final approach to take fifth on the day.
In women's triple jump,
Sierra Sweeney continued to shine, finishing runner-up with a jump of 11.25m.
It was another strong showing for the men's throwers. In weight throw,
Matthew Minchin placed second with a toss of 16.88m.
Tristan Friesen led the way in shot put with a heave of 15.25m, while Minchin was sixth at 13.97m and
Alex Wahl was seventh at 13.45m.
A pair of Dinos finished in the top-five in the women's 300m, with
Kristen Fox taking third overall in 40.20 while rookie Bisi Okikkiolu placed fifth in 43.66 seconds.
Calgary is now less than two weeks away from the 2026 Canada West Championships. This year's meet is hosted by Saskatchewan Feb. 20-21.
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