New Year begins with Dinos shining in Edmonton

EDMONTON – The University of Calgary Dinos track & field program kicked off 2026 in fine fashion, winning an impressive seven events at the Golden Bear & Panda Preview meet Saturday afternoon inside the Butterdome.

The Dinos swept the men's and women's 600m races, turning in some impressive early-season times to boot. Tatum Wade won the women's event in an 1:31.04, which is by far the fastest time in the nation, thus far. On the men's side, Ethan Meyer topped the field in 1:19.75 – also the best time in all of U SPORTS in the early going.

Sienna MacDonald continued to shine. The fifth-year turned in an eye-popping season-opening leap in long jump of 6.29m – by far the farthest in the nation. On the men's side, newcomer Michael Akintunde narrowly settled for second place with a season-opening leap of 7.18m to also rank him in the top-three nationally.

MacDonald also lowered her early 60m hurdle time down to 8.24 seconds in prelims before blazing the track in 8.20 seconds in finals – ranking her second in U SPORTS in that event.

Calgary also swept the high jump competition on the afternoon. Reagan Bliss took the top spot after clearing the bar at 1.60m. MacDonald cleared the same height and settled for second. Rookie Jade Gauthier came in fourth in 1.55m, while Sarah Feschuk was sixth at 1.55m and Zaria Huq placed eighth at 1.50m.

On the men's side, Noel Vanderzee soared over the bar at 2.04m for the win, while Dominic Anamali and Colby Sych went 4-5 after clearing 1.90m.

In throws, Tristan Friesen topped the shot put field with a toss of 16.09m – ranking him third in U SPORTS. Matthew Minchin came in runner-up in weight throw with a season-opening mark of 16.02m on his sixth and final throw of the day.

Up next, the Dinos are off to Saskatoon for the annual Sanderson Classic on Friday and Saturday.