Canadian Running and Under Armour have teamed up for the 2024 Canadian U Sports indoor track and field season to highlight some of the top homegrown talents across the country. For the past eight weeks, we’ve put a spotlight on some of the best up-and-coming collegiate athletes, and finally, we’ve reached the biggest meet of the U Sports season: the 2024 U Sports Indoor Track and Field Championships in Winnipeg.
Throughout the season, hundreds of U Sports athletes have crushed their personal bests, but this final award will go to a male and female U Sports track and field athlete who achieved a breakthrough performance at the U Sports championship. Sprinter Emmett Bravakis of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and multi-event athlete Sienna MacDonald of the University of Calgary will receive top honours for the 2023-2024 season.
These athletes will be featured on Canadian Running and awarded an Under Armour prize pack including the new UA Infinite Elite training shoe.
Guelph Gryphons win sixth straight U Sports Track and Field Championships
Female Athlete of the Week: Sienna MacDonald–women’s pentathlon
When it comes to MacDonald’s accolades from the U Sports Championships, it’s tough to know where to start. The 21-year-old from Airdrie, Alta., won the women’s pentathlon by a margin of 370 points, setting a new personal record of 4,164 points. She did this while also competing in the women’s long jump and women’s 60m hurdles—two other events she also won outright (in 8.20 seconds in the hurdles and 6.02 metres in the long jump). MacDonald racked up three individual gold medals, earning 30 of her school’s 87 total points to help the Calgary Dinos secure a team bronze medal.
“I knew going into the meet that I had an opportunity to get triple gold, but it was going to be pretty difficult,” says MacDonald on her result. “I was a little shocked.”
For MacDonald, she says her main goal was to compete hard and come out of the championships healthy. “I know how taxing the meet is on the body,” she says. “I knew [triple gold] was a possibility, but I wasn’t going into it with added pressure or expectations.”
When asked if MacDonald’s weekend went perfectly, she said no. “I really wanted to get that 60m hurdle record, but for how tired my legs were, I’m happy with how it all went down,” she says. “My main goal is to be consistent.”
MacDonald is enjoying some downtime to cap off her record-setting indoor season but plans to get back to the track soon. “I’m looking into some international meets at the moment,” she says. “Trying to do some events outside of Calgary; as much as I love competing here, I need to see new faces and compete against different girls.”
Male Athlete of the Week: Emmett Bravakis–men’s 300m
Last weekend, University of Toronto sprinter Emmett Bravakis experienced every runner’s championship dream. Bravakis, not considered the favourite to win the men’s 300m event at the 2024 U Sports Track and Field championships, shocked the field by delivering a personal best performance in the heats. He then added another personal best 33.72-second run in the final, winning U Sports gold. This victory marked a significant achievement for Bravakis, who had previously won silver in the same event last year, and bronze in 2022.
His time of 33.72 seconds stands as the second-fastest 300m time in Varsity Blues program history. “I knew I was fit, because I didn’t have to push through the line in the heat, and I PB’d anyway,” says Bravakis. “I knew after the heats, I just had to go run my race, and I could win.”
The moment Bravakis found out he won gold was everything he could have asked for. “I thought it was a perfectly executed day,” he says. “I planned my season out to peak for this.”
Bravakis’s goal for the upcoming outdoor season is to maintain the momentum and continue running fast. He told Canadian Running he is aiming to break his 400m personal best of 46.51 outdoors, a feat that could potentially position him for selection on the Canadian 4x400m team at the Paris Olympics alongside Christopher Morales Williams.
You can view the full list of Athlete of the Week winners from the 2023-2024 U Sports Track and Field season here.
