VANCOUVER – The Thunderbirds put together yet another strong day of results to successfully conclude the UBC Open for another year.
Another three NAIA 'A' Standard automatic national championship qualifications were set Sunday for a total of nine on the weekend, marking a strong early start to the outdoor track and field season leading up to the conference and national championship meets in May.
"Particularly considering the way nationals qualifying is structured now, those standards are extremely difficult," said UBC head coach,
Laurier Primeau, following the conclusion of the two-day meet, the program's only home competition of the season. "For us to already have that many in the books means there are a number of athletes who don't have to chase performance and can now get into different phases of training as opposed to worrying about competing every weekend and that's a really advantageous place to be."
With rain holding off for a second straight day and the sun making brief appearances over Point Grey's Rashpal Dhillon Oval, the 2026 UBC Open was one of the best weather related home meets in recent memory, only adding to the success across the board.
"These things from a management perspective are a lot more enjoyable and a lot easier to conduct when we're not battling sleet, snow and rain so that was a huge benefit and I think from a performance perspective it also has its advantages," Primeau added. "So, glad we're done hosting for a year and now it's really time for us to see what the rest of the season holds and what further standards we can reach as we are on the road to nationals."
A day after securing 'B' Standard in the men's 5000 metres,
Maximilien Filion claimed first place in the 3000 metre steeplechase with an 'A' Standard time of 9:13.27. The 2025 NAIA steeplechase silver medallist will now have the opportunity to go for gold at this years national championships set for Asheville, North Carolina in late May.
Calvin Brain and
Miles Graham finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Last year's women's NAIA steeplechase champion,
Elysse Fleming, set a new number one ranked result this season, laying down a 10:45.58 on Sunday, well clear of 'A' Standard to get the opportunity to repeat her national title.
Three-time defending NAIA women's pole vault champion
Sonya Urbanowicz set a new UBC Open meet record Sunday by clearing 4.15 metres, easily making 'A' Standard and setting a new number one ranking to boot. The Nanaimo native will now officially have the opportunity to become the first ever four time national pole vault champion.
Bryce White won the men's pole vault Sunday having cleared 4.40 metres.
Entering the second day of the grueling decathlon in second place, sophomore T-Bird
Samuel McGee had an excellent final five events to win with a point total of 5550. The Vancouver native took first in the 110 metre hurdles (16.56) and javelin (44.55m) to win by a 445 point margin over Cole Neufeld from Trinity Western. McGee is now ranked eighth in the NAIA so far this season as a result.
Alessandra Ionescu-Zanetti won the heptathlon with 4235 points, a margin of 138 over TWU's Claire Nichol. The junior from Berkeley, California now holds the third ranked point total in the NAIA and second in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
Sophomore
Kayden U-Ming took first in men's javelin Sunday by nearly three metres, his first attempt reaching 61.47 metres to stand up as the winner and now the fifth ranked throw in the NAIA and just 98 centimetres short of 'A' Standard in the cool, early season conditions.
Freshman
Catarina Bell earned second place in women's javelin with a top throw on the day of 42.04 metres to make 'B' Standard with the eighth ranked mark in the NAIA.
Sarah Snell also make 'B' Standard with a third place throw of 41.26 metres.
UBC ran two entries in the women's 4x800 metres, the winning squad of
Alexandra Smith,
Rachel McDonald,
Sarah MacGillivray and
Mackenzie Campbell combining for a 'B' Standard time of 9:17.84 to earn provisional qualification to nationals.
"I liked seeing some depth across the men's steeplechase, I thought
Calvin Brain is really on his way to a good performance off an injury year, so that was really good to see. I think there are elements of the 4x800 that look really good.
Mackenzie Campbell came away with 'B' standard in a pretty uniquely structured 1500 and I expect she's going to have a breakthrough in the next few weeks.
Sarah MacGillivray meeting 'A' Standard in her first 5000 metre entry on the track was very impressive. Those I think are really important milestones for those athletes for sure."
While there's no doubt the results for the Thunderbirds over the weekend are major highlights for the program, so too was the support from families, friends, alumni and supporters who took advantage of the lone home meet of UBC's season to cheer on the blue and gold.
"I was really heartened to see people who help us administratively like
Natalie Hargott who helps us with recruits and admissions – it's such a big portfolio and for her to come out and watch our athletes compete after all the behind the scenes work that she does, it really makes us feel valued. For (UBC Athletic Director)
Kavie Toor to come out here with all the other sports that are going on to make time to get to the track, that really doesn't go unnoticed."
While the UBC Open is officially in the books for another year, the T-Birds' track and field season is just getting off the ground. Many athletes will be headed south to Arizona next week for the ALTIS Spring Tune-up event on Thursday, followed by the UNLV Rebel Elite meet in Las Vegas starting Friday.
COMPLETE UBC OPEN RESULTS
