A pair of Airdrie-raised university athletes are continuing to put their hometown on the map in western Canada's post-secondary track-and-field scene.
Third-year University of Calgary Dinos multi-event specialist Sienna MacDonald and second-year University of Lethbridge Pronghorns throws specialist Jinaye Shomachuk added a few more medals to their already jam-packed trophy cabinets thanks to their performances at the 2023 Canada West track-and-field indoor championships, which were hosted in Saskatoon on Feb. 24 and 25.
Shomachuk won her first Canada West gold in the women's 20-pound weight throw, thanks to a final throw of 18.90 metres (m). The 19-year-old was the event's clear champion, as the runner-up – Calgary's Alexis Johnson – threw the weight 16.08 m, nearly three metres shorter than Shomachuk's distance.
A Bert Church High School alumna, Shomachuk rounded out her Canada West championship meet with a fifth-place finish in the women's shot put, thanks to a finals distance of 12.35 m.
“Shot didn’t go quite how I wanted it to, but I’ve been sort of up-and-down when it comes to shot recently,” said Shomachuk, who was previously a stand-out throws specialist with the now-defunct Airdrie Aces track and field club. “I’m still trying to figure it out. It was nice [with the weight throw] after shot to bounce back from that.”
As a testament to the Airdronian's strong showing in Saskatoon, particularly in the women's weight throw, Shomachuk received Canada West's Outstanding Performance of the Meet award.
This year marks Shomachuk's second campaign as a U of L Pronghorn. Highlighting her growth in track-and-field this year, her first university meet in 2021-22 garnered a weight-throw distance of 15.15 m. A year and a bit removed from that initial exposure to university athletics, she's throwing more than three metres farther than that.
“The difference between last year and this year has been insane,” Shomachuk said. “I was looking back at my season-opener last year and I threw 15.15 m, so it’s been a huge jump, and I’m really happy about that.”
The 19-year-old touted the positive atmosphere within the Pronghorns track-and-field team as a key factor in her success this year.
“The Pronghorns team has been really good this year,” she said. “The atmosphere and the support within the team has been really well felt, and I think that’s definitely contributed to at least part of my performance this year.”
Shomachuk isn't the only Airdrie athlete on the Pronhorns' track team. Another local throws athlete, Parker Allen, finished sixth in the men's weight throw at last weekend's Canada West championships. Sprinter Oladipo Olatona, also from Airdrie, raced for the U of L, finishing 22nd in the men's 300-m sprint.
MacDonald claims silver in pentathlon
Showcasing her versatility as an athlete, Sienna MacDonald finished the weekend as the silver medalist in the women's pentathlon. Fresh off her induction as one of this year's Airdrie Elite Athlete Award recipients, MacDonald wrapped up the five-event competition with 3,638 points. The gold-medal winner was Madison Lawrence of the University of Manitoba, who picked up 3,898 points.
Her strongest event in the pentathlon came in the long jump – MacDonald topped the standings with a jump of 5.66 m to garner her 747 points. She also claimed third in the shot put event.
Despite the intense physical demands of competing in the five-event pentathlon, MacDonald also competed in the women's 60-m hurdles, finishing fifth with a time of 8.59 seconds in the finals. She also picked up silver in the women's long jump, thanks to a finals distance of 5.82 m.
The George McDougall High School alumna's two podium placements continue what has already been a stellar university track career for MacDonald, who won gold in the women's pentathlon at the Canada West championships last year.
Next up for both Shomachuk and MacDonald will be the U Sports national track-and-field championships, which take place at the University of Saskatchewan from March 9 to 11.
