T&F: Saskatchewan women continue dynasty, Alberta claims first men's title since 2018

Recap provided by University of Saskatchewan Sports Information

SASKATOON, Sask. – The University of Saskatchewan Huskie women extended their dynasty to eight consecutive team titles, while the University of Alberta Golden Bears captured their first conference banner since 2018 at the 2026 Canada West Track & Field Championships held over the weekend at the Saskatoon Field House.

After three gold medal performances on Friday from Hannah Hagerty, Nicole Ostertag, and Hailee Woodhouse, the Huskies secured two more individual titles Saturday. Kailee Woitas captured first place in the 60m dash, finishing atop a clean sweep of the podium for the Huskies in the event, while Olamide Olaloku earned gold in the triple jump. Olaloku’s winning jump of 12.73m also broke an 18-year-old conference record previously held by Regina’s Janine Polischuk.

The Huskies also swept the Saturday relay events, with a squad of Hailee Woodhouse, Emma Egert, Selena Keyowski and Grace Igbiki first securing 4x200m gold with a time of 1:35.75, breaking both the conference and Canadian national records. Jaedyn McLaughlin, Hannah Hagerty, Igbiki and Egert then took the 4x400m crown to close out the championships.

Following the meet, Hailee Woodhouse was named the Canada West Women’s Rookie of the Year after securing two medals in her first appearance at the conference championships. Individually, she captured gold in the 300m before contributing to the first-place 4x200m relay team.

Saskatchewan finished with a total of 186 points on the women’s side, 72.5 more than the second-placed Alberta Pandas, extending their already record-breaking Canada West dynasty.

On the men’s side, after four gold medals Friday, the Golden Bears added two more on Saturday. In the 600m, Ryder Rattee and Clay Grattidge finished one-two, coming within eight hundredths of a second of each other, before Alberta’s 4x400m squad also claimed gold. Contributing a fantastic anchor leg, Grattidge, along with Jaffar Phudjo, Tyler Sharpe and Nicolas Claramunt, combined for a time of 3:16.09 to best the Manitoba Bisons by just over a second.

The Golden Bears totalled 143.5 points over the two-day meet, narrowly beating out the Calgary Dinos for the title, who finished just nine points behind the victors. Alberta’s championship also saw the end of a dynasty for the Manitoba Bisons, who saw their streak of four consecutive titles come to an end.

Alberta took home two major awards, with Ryder Rattee being named the Canada West Men’s Track Athlete of the Year and Nico Claramunt the Men’s Rookie of the year. Rattee secured double-gold with wins in the 300m and 600m while Claramunt earned two medals as a member of the Golden Bear 4x200m and 4x400m relay teams.

The Female Track Athlete of the Year went to Victoria’s Marisha Thompson who enjoyed a fantastic weekend securing four medals. Earning gold in the 600m and 4x800m, she also took home silver in the 1000m and bronze in the 1500m.

Manitoba’s Daxx Turner and Lethbridge’s Jinaye Shomachuk were each recognized with two major awards, with the pair taking home both Field Athlete of the Year and Outstanding Performance of the Meet. Turner did so after securing gold in the triple jump with a Canada West record-breaking performance and bronze in the high jump. Shomachuk meanwhile, earned double-gold with wins in the shot put and weight toss with the latter also coming in record-breaking fashion. Her weight toss of 20.77m was over five metres farther than any other competitor on the day and bested the previous conference record of 19.89m, set in 2011 by fellow Pronghorn Heather Steacy.

Other gold medal winners on the women’s side included Manitoba’s Lara Denbow in the high jump and Alberta’s Olivia Cooper in the 1500m. On the men’s side Manitoba’s Tyrell Davis (60m), Saskatchewan’s Nathan Pinno (shot put), Victoria’s David Waller (1500m), Calgary’s Noel Vanderzee (high jump), and Manitoba 4x200m relay team rounded out the winners.

In the heptathlon, Trinity Western’s Dejean Clarke took home the title with 5,010 points. Clarke won the 60m, long jump, and high jump events and finished top three in six of seven to claim gold.

Teams will now turn their attention to the 2026 U SPORTS Track & Field Championships, set to take place March 5-7 at the James Daly Fieldhouse in Winnipeg. ​

Major Award Winners

Women’s Track Athlete of the Year: Marisha Thompson, Victoria

Men’s Track Athlete of the Year: Ryder Rattee, Alberta

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Women’s Field Athlete of the Year: Jinaye Shomachuk, Lethbridge

Men’s Field Athlete of the year: Daxx Turner, Manitoba

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Women’s Rookie of the Year: Hailee Woodhouse, Saskatchewan

Men’s Rookie of the Year: Nico Claramunt, Alberta

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Women’s Outstanding Performance of the Meet: Jinaye Shomachuk, Lethbridge

Men’s Outstanding Performance of the Meet: Daxx Turner, Manitoba

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Women’s Community Service Award Winner: Georgia Oland, Calgary

Men’s Community Service Award Winner: Joshua Tam, Saskatchewan

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Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year: Karlyn Wells, Saskatchewan

Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year: Mark Cocks, Alberta

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Women’s Coach of the Year: Jason Reindl, Saskatchewan

Men’s Coach of the Year: Wes Moerman, Alberta

Women’s Team Standings

Men’s Team Standings