McKenzie, Shomachuk, Davies, Grout named U SPORTS track and field Athletes of the Year
Guelph’s Nicole McKenzie and Max Davies, Lethbridge’s Jinaye Shomachuk and Toronto’s Aiden Grout have been named the U SPORTS Track and Field Athletes of the Year. The announcement was made Thursday morning, as the national season award winners were celebrated prior to the start of the 2026 U SPORTS Track & Field Championships
On the women’s side, McKenzie was named the outstanding Track Athlete of the Year, Shomachuk captured Field Athlete of the Year, Saskatchewan’s Hailee Woodhouse earned the Rookie of the Year and Windsor’s Chloe Vidamour took home the Student-Athlete Community Service Award.
In men’s competition, the recipients include Davies (Track Athlete of the Year), Grout (Field Athlete of the Year), and Western’s Jackson MacKay (Rookie of the Year) and Aaron Thompson (Student-Athlete Community Service Award).
The Assistant Coaches of the Year are Karlyn Wells of Saskatchewan and Marks Cocks of Alberta. The Head Coaches of the Year are determined at the conclusion of the championship, along with the Athletes of the Meet. All-Canadians are determined by performance at the championships, with event gold medallists becoming First Team All-Canadians, while second-place finishers earn Second Team All-Canadian honours.
The 2026 U SPORTS Track and Field Championships, hosted by the Manitoba Bisons, begin Thursday at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT and run until Saturday. Tickets can be purchased at usportstickets.ca and the entire championship will be webcast live on CBC digital platforms in English and Radio-Canada’s digital platforms in French.
WOMEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Nicole McKenzie, Guelph
Nicole McKenzie takes home the Women’s Track Athlete of the Year award following a marvelous season which saw her etch her name into the Canadian record books. McKenzie, a fifth-year history major, set a new all-time Canadian record in the women's 600m while competing at the Penn State National Open on January 30, 2026, clocking in with a time of 1:26.95. McKenzie broke a record previously held by Aurora Rynda (All-American runner for the Michigan Wolverines) set in 2022. The time was also the fastest U SPORTS time recorded in the women’s 600m. In the process, the 22-year-old from Mississauga broke her own school record in the women's 600m which she set at the Wolverine Invitational, while also setting a meet record and Michigan facility record in the process with a time of a 1:28.11.
At the 2026 OUA Track and Field Championships in Toronto, McKenzie took home a pair of gold medals, winning the women's 600m while also contributing to a win in the women's 4x200m relay. She also reached the auto standard mark in the women's 300m with a time of 37.85. McKenzie becomes just the second Gryphon to be named U SPORTS Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, joining Lindsay Carson (2008-09).
Other nominees: Marisha Thompson (Victoria), Julia Valée (Montreal), Caroline Ash (STFX)
WOMEN’S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Jinaye Shomachuk, Lethbridge
Jinaye Shomachuk was named Canada West Female Performance of the Meet at the conference championship, after winning gold in shot put and weight throw – a pair of events she went undefeated in during the 2025-26 season. The fourth-year public health student from Airdrie, Alta., registered four weight throws higher than the current U SPORTS record of 19.66m in competition, throwing 21.67m at the Jim Daly Bison Classic, 21.35m at the Golden Bear Open, 21.22m at the Pandas Open and finally 20.77m at the CW Championships. She is also the third-ranked woman all time in the weight throw. In the shot put, she finished first at the CW meet with a throw of 13.89m.
Shomachuk is the first member of the Pronghorns to earn the Women’s Field Athlete of the Year award.
Other nominees: Rebecca Parker (Guelph), Aisling Tcheutchoua (Laval), Ashley Morrow (UNB)
WOMEN’S ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Hailee Woodhouse, Saskatchewan
Hailee Woodhouse earned a pair of gold medals, as Saskatchewan captured their eighth consecutive CW Championship. The Dilke, Sask., product and kinesiology major finished first in the 300m in a time of 38.84, and then helped the Huskies win the 4x200m relay in 1:35.75, besting the Canadian record (1:36.10), and CW record (1:37.52) in the process.
Heading into the national championship, she ranks second in the 300m with a time of 37.92, a Canadian U20 record, beating Angela Bailey’s 45-year-old U20 mark. Woodhouse is undefeated this season in the event, along with the 400m, and 4x200m races this season and has set Canadian senior and U23 records in the latter.
Woodhouse becomes the second Huskie to win the award after Avery Pearson in 2021-22.
Other nominees: Paige Zinger (Guelph), Morgane Drouin (Laval), Audrée LeBlanc (Moncton)
WOMEN’S STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Chloe VidAmour, Windsor
Chloe VidAmour won a bronze medal in triple jump at the OUA Championships with a season best jump of 12.09m, helping Windsor finish third overall in the team standings. The fourth-year hometown product and human kinetics major has served as an Adapted Physical Exercise (APEX) program coordinator, volunteering in the one-one-one program on campus for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She also launched the APEX-STEPS Initiative, adapting the program for a school-based setting with physical activity programming for secondary schools across the Greater Essex County District School Board.
In addition, VidAmour has been a jumps coach at Holy Names Catholic High School and Sandwich West Public School, and spent a semester abroad participating in a hands-on internship and track and field coaching opportunities while overcoming language barriers.
She is the first Lancer to earn the award in program history.
Other nominees: Georgia Oland (Calgary), Lyanna Roy (Laval), Claire Langille (Memorial)
MEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Max Davies, Guelph
For a third consecutive season, Max Davies has been named U SPORTS Men’s Track Athlete of the Year. The 22-year-old from Toronto contributed to another conference banner for Guelph at the 2026 OUA Track and Field Championships, where Davies took home an individual OUA gold medal in the men's 1500m while setting a new meet record in what was his lone competition at the conference championship meet.
The University of Guelph management major also turned heads earlier in February south of the border during his performance at Boston University at the 2026 David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Feb. 13, where he set a new school and U SPORTS record in the 1500m. Davies set the new national record during the Mile race in Boston, where En Route cameras clocked his 1500m time at 3:37.27. Davies is currently the top-ranked U SPORTS runner in the men’s 1500m, and the second-ranked U SPORTS runner in the men’s 3000m.
This represents the first time a Gryphon track athlete has won three consecutive U SPORTS Men’s Track Athlete of the Year awards. In the 28-year history of the U SPORTS Men’s Track Athlete of the Year award, Davies becomes just the third individual to become a three-time recipient, joining four-time winners Ryan McKenzie (Windsor Lancers, 2001-04) and Sam Effah (Calgary Dinos, 2008-11).
Other nominees: Ryder Rattee (Alberta), Émile Toupin (Laval), Lukas Rudaitis (Dalhousie)
MEN’S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Aiden Grout, Toronto
Aiden Grout capped off his U of T career with a fourth OUA gold medal, winning the high jump event with a best leap of 2.17m. A two-time national champion in the event, he was the only competitor in the field of 17-entrants to clear the height on Day 2 of the OUA Championships.
Grout also placed seventh in the men's 60m hurdles on Day 1. A standout across all five seasons as a Varsity Blue, Grout will enter the 2026 U SPORTS Track & Field National Championships with the best high jump from across the country this season, having cleared 2.23m. He achieved the height while also recording the second-highest heptathlon score of season, reaching 5567 points during the Charlie Thomas Invitational at Texas A&M in early-February. The 2.23m also ties the third best high jump in U of T program history, and the 5567 points ranks second best among Varsity Blues heptathlon results.
Grout is the first Varsity Blue to capture the award in program history.
Other nominees: Daxx Turner (Manitoba), Robert Gerstner (McGill), Rylan Murphy (Dalhousie)
MEN’S ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jackson MacKay, Western
Jackson MacKay claimed gold in the long jump at the OUA Championships with a jump of 7.31m and silver in the pole vault at 4.85m, helping the Mustangs finish in second place in the team standings.
The London, Ont., product and first-year management and organizational studies major also ranks first in the heptathlon with 5,753 points (the top point total in U SPORTS and fourth all-time in Canada by a U23 athlete), fifth in U SPORTS in the 60m hurdles (with a time of 8.01 seconds), third in pole vault (4.85m), and 12th in high jump (2.02m).
A dual-sport athlete also competing for Western’s football team, MacKay is the second Mustang in as many years to win the award, following Keon Rude last season.
Other nominees: Nico Claramunt (Alberta), Édourd Winter (Montreal), Jacob White (Dalhousie)
MEN’S STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Aaron Thompson, Western
Aaron Thompson captures the men’s Student-Athlete Community Service Award for the second consecutive season. A fourth-year medical student from Waterloo, Ont., he won gold in the 300m at the OUA Championships and is ranked fourth in the country in the event, while also being part of the eighth-ranked team in the 4x200m.
Thompson serves as a Mustangs varsity athletics mental wellness representative, overseeing 45 wellness leads with each varsity team at Western, while also acting as the mental wellness rep for track and field. He is also a London Western Track and Field coach, working with youth athletes aged 7-11 and introducing them to the sport and promoting a healthy lifestyle.
In addition, Thompson is an independent med school application and interview prep mentor, helping applicants navigate the process and preparations, while also acting as a Surgically-Oriented Anatomical Prosectors (SOAP) Executive - coordinating with the Western University anatomy lab and with surgeons to plan times where students can attend and witness surgical procedures done to cadavers.
Thompson’s second straight honour follows Calgary’s Eric Lutz who accomplished the feat in back-to-back seasons in 2019-20 and 2021-22, and is the only Mustang besides Randy McAuley in 2007-08 to win the award.
Other nominees: Joshua Tam (Saskatchewan), Charles Poulin (Laval), Elijah ford (Saint Mary’s)