U SPORTS Alums 🤝 Olympic Ice: 10 Former U SPORTS Athletes Make Canada’s Bobsleigh Team
Guelph track star signs pro contract, UBCO vs. TWU recap 🏐, multiple running records broken,
(Seth Wenig / AP photo)
The U SPORTS winter Olympic pipeline continues to deliver.
Quick rundown: 10 of the 14 names on Canada’s Olympic bobsleigh roster have U SPORTS on their résumé, all of whom have transitioned from the previous sports they once competed in at university to the ice track.
The names include:
Luka Stoikos — University of Toronto, football
Jay Dearborn — Carleton, football
Keaton Bruggeling — Carleton, football
Taylor Austin — Calgary, football
Mike Evelyn O’Higgins — Dalhousie, hockey
Mark Zanette — McMaster, baseball
Cynthia Appiah — York, track and field
Melissa Lotholtz — Alberta, track and field
Dawn Richardson-Wilson — Calgary, track and field
Kelsey Mitchell — Alberta, soccer
Among these names is Kelsey Mitchell, who has joined an elite club, becoming the 14th Canadian Olympic athlete and the sixth bobsledder of all time to compete in both the Winter and Summer Olympics. The 32-year-old competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where she won gold in sprint cycling — she also raced in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
Canada has qualified three sleds in women’s bobsled, two in each of the women’s monobob, two-man, and four-man sled events. The Canadian squad consists of six veteran Olympians, with the other eight roster spots belonging to those making their Olympic debut.
What this means: U SPORTS talent competing on the international stage doesn’t just emphasize that the pipeline from U SPORTS to the Olympics exists. It also shows that there is a legitimate post-eligibility pathway for athletes to leverage the skills they developed in their U SPORTS careers and translate them into an appearance on the Olympic stage.
Guelph Track Star Inks Pro Deal With Brooks ✍️
Toronto’s own Guelph track and field star, Max Davies, has signed a pro contract with Brooks Running and will be sporting his new Brooks kit this weekend at the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University — in what will be his professional debut.
Quick rundown: The 22-year-old is in his fourth year at the University of Guelph and will be completing his final year, despite his now professional status.
His upcoming professional events include:
John Thomas Terrier Classic (Boston University)
Sound Invite (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Davies has his sights set on meeting the international 1,500m standard (3:36) with the ultimate goal of qualifying for this year’s World Athletics Indoor Championships in two months’ time (March 20–22) in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland.
Davies recently set a new U23 Canadian record at the 2025 Harry Jerome Classic in Burnaby, B.C., running a 3:35.04 in the 1,500m event, breaking a record that stood for 33 years.
Canada West Clash: UBCO vs TWU Match Recap 🏐
The UBCO Heat and Trinity Western Spartans delivered one of the most anticipated Canada West men’s volleyball matchups this past weekend in the Okanagan. The weekend concluded with both teams salvaging a win in five-set fashion and splitting the series.
Quick rundown: The Heat came into the weekend with a 4-44 all-time record against the Spartans. Their win Saturday marked just the fifth against the Spartans in program history. After the weekend, UBCO is now ranked third, trailing Trinity, who is ranked second in the national rankings. UBCO holds a 14-2 record, while the Spartans are 13-3. Both teams are ever so slightly behind the UBC Thunderbirds, who hold the top spot in the conference with a 15-1 record.
It was no surprise to see the two names that headlined this matchup also appear at the top of the stat sheet. Both UBCO’s Seba Manuel and Trinity’s Kaden Schmidt had 15-plus kills in both matches. Manuel racked up 16 kills in Game 1 and 19 kills in Game 2; his counterpart, Schmidt, posted 23 kills in both matches. Other standout performances included Trinity’s Cory Schoenherr, who put up a total of 18 kills between the two matches, with the Heat’s Thys Westrate recording seven kills in Game 1 and a monster 18 kills in Game 2. UBCO outside hitter Xander van Driel also had a massive weekend, amassing 31 total kills across both matches (Game 1: 15, Game 2: 16).
Both teams’ big names showed up.
A new era: Ever since the 2010 Trinity Western dominant era ended, there has been a shift in the broader theme that has defined the Canada West men’s volleyball landscape. In the past five years, we have seen teams like Mount Royal and Winnipeg transition from the bottom of the standings to the best records in Canada West. This year, we have seen much of the same. UBCO has gone from a team that went 3-21 in the 2023-24 season to now holding the second-best conference record.
The Canada West men’s volleyball landscape is shifting — and for the better.
Canadian Runners Rewriting the Record Books 🏃♀️
Multiple Canadian running records fell this weekend as Saskatchewan’s Haillie Woodhouse and Guelph’s Dianna Proctor both broke Canadian records that have stood for over 40 years.
Quick rundown: Woodhouse posted a time of 37.92 seconds, capturing first place in the 300m 2026 at the Knights of Columbus Games, breaking a U20 national record of 37.97 seconds that was previously held by legendary sprinter Angela Bailey and stood for 45 years. The first-year’s time was also the second-fastest 300m recorded in Huskie program history, with the fastest time belonging to Paige Williem, who set a time of 37.89 in 2024. Woodhouse is in her first year of eligibility — and her record-setting time came in only her third competition as a Huskie. 24 hours after her record-breaking performance, she claimed first place in the 400m event with a time of 55.07.
Down south, another Canadian name was making herself known on the track. Guelph’s Dianna Proctor broke the U23 300m women’s record at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. Proctor ran a time of 37.05 and broke a Guelph record previously held by Olympian Zoe Shehar, and broke the all-time U23 record of 37.10, which once belonged to none other than Angela Bailey — a record that stood for 43 years.
And by the way, Proctor is only in her second year of eligibility, and her credentials are already stacked.
400m — World Athletics U20 Championships: Silver medalist
4x100m relay - World Athletics U20 Championships: Bronze medalist
U SPORTS 2025: Rookie of the Year
300m — Canadian National Title: Clocked 37.68, the fifth-fastest time in Canadian U23 history
400m — 2025 Junior Pan American Cup: Gold medalist and set a championship record of 51.97
4x400m relay - 2025 Junior Pan American Cup: Gold medalist
Needless to say, the Canadian running future is bright.