LA GRANDE, Ore. – The UBC Thunderbirds are off to a solid start at the 2026 Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships in La Grande, Oregon as the defending NAIA champion women sit in third place with the men holding fifth through day one at Eastern Oregon University.

Powered by superb performances both in the field and on the track, UBC's women have amassed 81 total points, just one behind second place College of Idaho and 11 back of the host Mountaineers.

The T-Bird men earned a combined seven pole vault points in Friday's final event to leap up to fifth, one point ahead of Lewis-Clark State and just two behind Oregon Tech.

"In some very challenging wind conditions, we had some strong finishes," said UBC head coach, Laurier Primeau. "This has been a good opportunity to experience the difference between our regular season and championship competition. The emphasis changes from personal bests to going after points."



One of several impressive jump performances on the day, Amelia Cha came through to be crowned the 2026 Cascade women's long jump champion after reaching 6.04 metres. Holding the number one ranking in the NAIA for well over a month, the junior from Calgary set a new CCC Championship meet record.

Along with Cha's 10 points, Audrey Vennesland gained another four for the T-Birds taking fifth place with a personal best of 5.54 metres.

For the fourth straight year, Sonya Ubranowicz is the Cascade women's pole vault champion. The senior and three-time defending NAIA champ cleared 4.10 metres Friday afternoon, the fifth time she's made good at the height – or better – this season. Ranked number one in the NAIA once again, Urbanowicz gained another ten points for her team.

Sophomore Lucia Rueppell added another five points for UBC with her fourth place pole vault finish. The sophomore from Edmonton safely cleared 3.58 metres for a new personal best and a share of the 20^th ranked mark in the NAIA.



Sam Weston set a new personal best in men's pole vault for the second time in the last three weeks, clearing 4.61 metres for a fourth place finish Friday evening. Bryce White earned another two points for UBC in seventh place, successfully making 4.51 metres.

Junior James Kerr ran a blistering new personal best 400 metre time of 47.09 as the Ontario native was crowned CCC champion. The 'A' Standard time is the new 13^th ranked mark in the NAIA this season and breaks his own previous program record by more than four tenths of a second.

Racing in his final conference meet, Chase Haagensen also set a new lifetime best in the 400, claiming fourth place with a 48.28. Nickolas Sebastianelli made it three T-Birds in the counting as he earned four points with a fifth place time of 48.52.

Gwyn Katics is the conference women's 400 metre silver medallist having posted a time of 56.77. Teammate Mia Cameron earned another four points for UBC with her fifth place time of 58.72.



The first gold medal for UBC on the track Friday afternoon came courtesy of the women's 4x100 metre relay. Vennesland, Katics, Debbie Suleman and Tanya Dhanoa combined for a 'B' Standard and season best time of 46.76, squeaking past Eastern Oregon by one one-hundredth of a second. The time stands as the new 17^th ranking in the NAIA as the 'Birds improve their chances to earn a berth at the upcoming national championship.

UBC's men's 4x100 comprised of Haagensen, Sebastianelli, Kerr and Callum Hansen took fourth place with a finishing time of 41.55 and another five points.

While not counting toward the team point totals for the Cascade Championship, Lowell Solmes earned a first place finish in the men's 5000 metre racewalk, crossing the finish line in 21:23.08. The defending NAIA champion currently holds down the number three ranking heading into the upcoming national championship having completed a personal best time of 20:33.56 at the UBC Open.

The men's 4x800 metre relay won with a season best time of 7:45.04 in the final non-counting event of the weekend. Will Lesyna, Kai Martland, Max Holmes and Andrew Corbeil bettered the squad's top time of the season by 25 seconds.

It was a silver-bronze finish for UBC in women's hammer throw with Katelyn Putz and Bella Hall combining for 14 points. Putz' third attempt of 52.07 metres stood up for the second longest of the day while Hall hit 50.60 metres to take third place, her third consecutive top-three finish at the conference championship.



Sophomore Rachel McDonald set a new personal best with a second place 1500 metre time of 4:40.60 and eight points for the defending conference champion T-Bird women.

Alessandra Ionescu-Zanetti had already contributed four points toward the women's total score with her fifth-place finish in the heptathlon at last month's CCC multi-event championship. The junior helped the cause yet again Friday with another four points thanks to her personal best 100 metre hurdles time of 14.96.

Freshman Miles Graham claimed sixth place in the 3000 metre steeplechase, clocking in at 9:42.78.

With 10 events still to come Saturday, the UBC women's lead over fourth place Southern Oregon is a significant 43 points while the men are in a tight battle as third through seventh are separated by just 10 points total.



The women's team has 23 entries between the remaining 10 total events Saturday, including the NAIA's number one ranked triple jumper in Nunu Ishaka who will be attempting to claim the conference crown in her freshman season.

UBC's men have 18 entries on the final day of the meet, all on the track, including the number one ranked 400 hurdler, James Kerr, fresh off his stellar record setting performance on Friday.

Both teams have plenty of opportunity to continue to battle for a podium finish while also maintaining the focus on continuing to ramp up performances toward the NAIA National Championships which loom large, now less than two weeks away.
 
CCC Championship Results