Canadian Running and Under Armour have teamed up for the 2025 Canadian U Sports indoor track and field season to highlight some of the nation’s brightest talents. Each week, leading up to the 2025 U Sports Track and Field Championships in Windsor, Ont., in March, Canadian Running will select one male and one female athlete as the Under Armour Athletes of the Week.
The athlete of the week will be a male and female track and field athlete who achieved a standout performance, broke a school record or crushed a personal best. These athletes will be featured on the Canadian Running site and awarded the UA Infinite Elite running shoe. Dalhousie University’s Aidan Goslett and University of Victoria’s Marisha Thompson have been chosen as this week’s Under Armour U Sports Athletes of the Week for their performances on Jan. 16-17.
Marisha Thompson, University of Victoria (CanWest)
At last Friday’s University of Washington (UW) Preview meet at Dempsey Indoor facility in Seattle, University of Victoria’s (UVic) Marisha Thompson demolished the 3,000m auto-qualifying time standard (Auto-Q) by exactly 10 seconds, running a massive personal best time of 9:20.38. Racing against NCAA athletes, the 22-year-old took eighth overall.
“I am still kind of in shock about it,” Thompson told Canadian Running. “I feel like I’m kind of living a dream. It’s going to be a race I’ll never forget.” The race marked Thompson’s return to the indoor track after years of injury–although the athlete is in her third year of her psychology degree at UVic, it’s only her first year using U Sports eligibility.
“The race went out harder than expected, but then settled into a good pace,” she continued. “I started to fade a bit going into the mile mark, but there was a bit of a switch that went off going into three laps to go–I just started to make moves.”
“I was shocked to see my time–I remember crossing the line and instantly getting emotional, because it finally felt like everything was coming together,” the UVic athlete said. Her run tops any other U Sports performance this season by more than eight seconds.
At the Mile City meet the following day, Thompson also ran in the Invitational Mile, clocking 4:46.58. The time narrowly missed the Auto-Q time for the 1,500m, but lands her the third-ranked spot on the U Sports leaderboard for the event.
Thompson said she’s excited for the rest of the track season, but wants to prioritize her health. “My number one goal for the season would be to stay mentally and physically healthy enough to show up on the U Sports start line to battle for a medal,” she said. “There are so many talented girls this year–I just want to stick myself in the mix and enjoy the process.”
For full results from the UW Preview, click here.
Aidan Goslett, Dalhousie University (AUS)
Toronto’s Aidan Goslett is back on top after a long battle with a plantar injury. At last Saturday’s Athletics NS Indoor Open at the Canada Games Centre in Halifax, the 23-year-old middle-distance runner dominated the 1,000m race, winning by nearly 8 seconds. His time of 2:22.73 (2:20.79*) broke his own Dalhousie Tigers program record and smashed the Auto-Q time of 2:22.97.
(Because the race was held on a flat track, official times are subject to conversion for the U Sports ranking system to make it comparable to times run on banked tracks, which are faster. Converted times are indicated with an asterisk*.)
“I’m happy with the race, considering it was my season opener and the first indoor race after my plantar injury,” Goslett told Canadian Running. “Training has been going well, so the goal going into the race was to hit Auto-Q, but I wasn’t expecting to run a PB.” His time currently marks the fastest time run this year in U Sports.
“I probably went out a little hot and paid the price a bit, but took away some things to work on over the next couple months leading up to USports,” he added. “Overall, the race was a big confidence booster after not really being able to compete last indoor season, and I’m looking forward to sharpening up as the season progresses.”
This indoor season marks Goslett’s final year competing in U Sports; he’s currently in his fifth year of eligibility, working towards his MBA. The Tigers athlete has lofty goals for his last season; he’s eyeing an assortment of hardware at March’s U Sports championships. He already holds a silver medal from the 1,000m at the 2023 championships in Saskatoon.
Avery Pearson and Michael Hussey named Under Armour Athletes of the Week
“It’s a pretty competitive year for middle distance, so my goals are ambitious,” he said. “Individually, I’d like to win the 1,000m, medal in the 1,500m and medal in the 4 x 800m at U Sports. I’d also like to dip under 4 minutes in the mile. [It’s my] last year, so I’ve got to make it count!”
For full results from the ANS Indoor Open, click here.
