BURNABY, B.C. – Despite cool weather and high altitude atop Burnaby Mountain, the UBC Thunderbirds produced some very promising results in their first competition of the Track and Field season at the Simon Fraser High Performance meet Saturday.

Multiple NAIA top ten and 'B' standard provisional national championship qualifying marks were set as the blue and gold officially rang in the Spring Equinox with hints of what should be expected to be another tremendous season ahead.

"There were some very encouraging early results today which not only bodes well for the string of upcoming competitions but also builds a base of confidence in our student-athletes," said UBC Head Coach, Laurier Primeau, now into his 11^th season with the blue and gold.



Bella Hall is the owner of the number one ranked NAIA women's hammer throw this season by reaching 53.60 metres, well over 'B' standard. Hall's throw took first by more than three metres over runner up and teammate Katelyn Putz.

2025 NAIA men's triple jump silver medallist Lyle Lo had a terrific start to his junior season making 'B' standard reaching 14.80 metres on Saturday.

Sarah Pimblett had a solid first meet of her senior year, winning women's high jump by clearing 1.67 metres, good for NAIA 'B' standard.

In her first meet as a Thunderbird, sophomore transfer Gwyn Katics earned a first place finish in the women's 400 metres with a time of 57.70, currently the seventh fastest time in the NAIA this season. Fellow T-Bird Mia Cameron's 58.01 was good for second place among the 14 total entries.



Paul Ude and freshman Luc Primeau finished third and fourth, respectively, in the men's 400 metres just one one-hundredth apart, Ude crossing the line slightly ahead in 51.21.

Junior T-Bird Amelia Cha started her third season with the blue and gold putting up a personal best 14.50 in women's 100 metre hurdles, just four one-hundredths of a second ahead of teammate Tanya Dhanoa to claim first on Burnaby Mountain. Alessandra Ionescu-Zanetti claimed third in 15.44.

Dhanoa came just shy of meeting her personal best in the 200 metres, claiming fifth place by crossing the finish line in 25.63.



Debbie Suleman finished in sixth place out of 19 competitors in the women's 100 metres, clocking in at 12.44. Audrey Vennesland earned eighth with a collegiate personal best time of 26.27.

"Bella Hall, Katelyn Putz, Sarah Pimblett and Lyle Lo all came out of the gates well in their respective field events and Amelia Cha's and Tanya Dhanoa's hurdles performances were superb March efforts," Primeau said. "We look forward to hosting next weekend and are monitoring the weather in the hopes of seeing blue skies and warm temperatures."

The T-Birds are indeed set to compete on home turf for the only time this season next Saturday and Sunday, March 28 and 29, hosting the annual UBC Open meet at the Rashpal Dhillon Oval. A full schedule of events can be found HERE.
 
COMPLETE SFU HIGH PERFORMANCE RESULTS