LOS ANGELES – The UBC Thunderbirds' annual mid-season trek to southern California once again didn't disappoint as the defending NAIA men's and women's Track and Field National Champions put up a combined 16 personal best performances along with several new program records.
Competing at a trio of meets in the greater Los Angeles area, the 'Birds also amassed a handful of further national championship qualifying marks with the 2026 NAIA meet now just over a month away.
"It's so blatantly obvious why we seek out these meets in particular," said UBC head coach,
Laurier Primeau, thrilled with the opportunities taken and run with by his athletes. "The Bryan Clay has become a mecca and each year many of North America's best collegiate athletes descend on Los Angeles not to try to win, but to get into an environment in which running fast, jumping high and far, and throwing things a long way is the raison d'être. It's a combination of air temperature, wind conditions, the Wave Light system and thousands of athletes, coaches, parents and fans cheering each other onto personal bests. Athletes can't help but feed off the energy of the collective."
PACIFIC COAST INVITATIONAL
Hosted by Long Beach State University, the Pacific Coast Invitational kickstarted UBC's spectacular southern California week in mid-20 degree weather on Thursday.
Freshman
Catarina Bell hit 'A' Standard in women's javelin with a new personal best throw of 43.61 metres. Finishing seventh in a field predominantly populated by NCAA Division I athletes, Bell's mark is now the number three ranking in the NAIA this season.
Sonya Urbanowicz cleared four metres in women's pole vault for the fourth time this season, her best attempt of 4.06 good for a third place finish in a field of 39 athletes.
LEOPARD INVITATIONAL
Hosted by the University of La Verne, the Leopard Invitational saw the T-Birds dominate women's hammer throw with
Lauren Curtis and
Bella Hall claiming a 1-2 finish.
Curtis' winning throw of 56.61 metres surpassed her previous personal best set just last week by over two metres, and is now the new number one ranked mark in the NAIA. Hall reached 54.36 metres to meet 'A' Standard for the first time this season, clinching her spot alongside Curtis at next month's NAIA National Championship.
Tanya Dhanoa ran sub-14 seconds in the women's 100 metre hurdles for the first time, setting a new personal best with a first place time of 13.98. Meeting 'B' Standard, Dhanoa's mark is the new number nine ranking this season.
Haley Martin and
Gwyn Katics finished first and second in the women's 400 metres, both setting new lifetime bests in the process. Martin improved her existing 'B' Standard time by nine one-hundredths with a 55.72, Katics crossing the line two tenths of a second later.
Nickolas Sebastianelli took second place in the men's 400 with a season best time of 48.51.
James Kerr set a new personal best in the men's 200 metres with a first place time of 21.63.
Debbie Suleman won the women's 100 metre dash in 11.86.
Chase Haagensen made it a T-Birds 100 sweep, winning the men's final with a time of 10.91 while
Callum Hansen claimed second in 11.15.
BRYAN CLAY INVITATIONAL
One of the biggest meets of the season, and one which has historically leant itself to season best performances out of the blue and gold once again didn't disappoint.
Senior
Elysse Fleming ran a blistering new personal best in the women's 3000 metre steeplechase Thursday evening with a final time of 10:10.86. Finishing fourth out of well over 100 competitors, Fleming improved her existing NAIA number one ranked time this season by 34 seconds.
Maximilien Filion laid down a new NAIA number one men's 3000 metre steeplechase, his time of 8:55.62 shaving nearly 18 seconds off his existing 'A' Standard time from last month's UBC Open.
Filion closed out his meet with another 'A' Standard in the men's 1500 metres, clocking in at 3:49.54, currently the eighth fastest time in the NAIA.
Kai Martland produced a new lifetime best with a 3:52.86. Freshman
Andrew Corbeil set a new lifetime best by posting a 3:54.11.
Mackenzie Campbell took seven one-hundredths off her previous season best in the women's 1500 metres, finishing Saturday's heat in 4:26.90, further solidifying her position as the number two ranking.
Fleming added another 'A' Standard to her name with a 4:27.19 in the 1500, now with the number three ranked time just behind Campbell. In her first 1500 entry of the season,
Sarah MacGillivray also met 'A' Standard with a 4:27.51 as the Thunderbirds now own the second through fourth best times in the NAIA.
Campbell and MacGillivray both set new personal bests in the women's 800 metres. Campbell, the reigning NAIA 800 metre champion, ran a 2:07.10 to bump herself up to the number two ranking. MacGillivray's 2:10.42 earned 'A' Standard, her second national championship qualifying mark this season having clinched a berth in the 5000 metres at last month's UBC Open. The senior now holds the number two ranked 5000 metre time as well as the fifth ranked 800.
James Kerr made it a multiple PB weekend, breaking his own 400 metre hurdles program record by more than a second, crossing the finish line in 50.95 to take second place. The junior from Ontario now holds the NAIA's number one ranking by more than half a second.
The very next event on the track saw yet another program record smashed as
Haley Martin broke her own mark in the women's 400 hurdles with a second place time of 58.95, improving her own number two ranking.
Mia Cameron also set a new PB, meeting 'A' Standard with a 1:01.36, the new ninth ranked time this season.
Catarina Bell made it two new personal bests in three days in southern California as she threw for 44.23 metres to claim the new NAIA women's javelin number one ranking.
Amelia Cha matched her previous season (and personal) best performance in women's long jump reaching 6.25 metres. The junior from Calgary continues to boast the number one ranking by ten centimetres.
Sonya Urbanowicz completed her final southern California swing as a Thunderbird with another terrific pole vault result, clearing 4.10 metres Saturday afternoon, taking third place in the women's invitational division.
UBC's 4x100 metre men's relay improved their season best performance by eight tenths of a second, setting a new program record as
Chase Haagensen,
Nickolas Sebastianelli,
Callum Hansen and
James Kerr clocked in at 41.35.
The women's 4x100 team of
Debbie Suleman,
Amelia Cha,
Tanya Dhanoa and
Gwyn Katics also ran their best time of the season, improving their 'B' Standard performance with a 46.99.
Later on Saturday, Suleman made 'B' Standard in the 200 metres, crossing the line in 24.45.
Bridgette Hansen cleared 1.63 metres in women's high jump for a second place finish, just one centimetre off her lifetime best.
"
Elysse Fleming's steeplechase performances deserves a special mention because of how disgustingly fast it was and
Lauren Curtis' jump to NAIA number one in the hammer with a personal best of over two metres was also a highlight," Primeau noted. "Max's steeple performance dovetailed nicely with Elysse, making for a great Thursday evening and start to the weekend. At the risk of leaving someone out,
James Kerr and
Catarina Bell both move to the top of the rankings lists in the 400 metre hurdles and the javelin, respectively."
Competing much closer to home next weekend, the T-Birds will be off to Bellingham for Western Washington University's annual Ralph Vernacchia Invitational taking place Friday and Saturday.
PACIFIC COAST INVITATIONAL RESULTS
LEOPARD INVITATIONAL RESULTS
BRYAN CLAY INVITATIONAL RESULTS
