The U of M hosted the 2026 U SPORTS track and field championship from March 5 to 7 in the James Daly Fieldhouse.
This year, the men’s and women’s Bisons teams combined for 75 points overall. The men’s team finished fourth in the standings with 55 points and the women’s team placed 12th with 20 points. The Western Mustangs topped both standings, with 64 points for the men’s and 105 for the women’s divisions.
In the men’s triple jump, Daxx Turner earned the gold medal for the Bisons. In the women’s high jump, Lara Denbow tied against the Brock Badgers to win gold for the herd. Tyrell Davis, Noah Curtis, Roy Tambal Musa and Gavin Moore captured the gold medal in the men’s 4×200 metre relay for the Bisons. Davis also achieved gold in the men’s 60 metre event.
Reflecting on his wins, Davis said, “last time we hosted here in 2024, I was second to my teammate Jordan Soufi, so carrying on that tradition of keeping the gold in the 60 metre here in Manitoba feels really, really good.”
In a separate interview, Davis spoke about overcoming injury throughout the season and his contribution to the men’s 4×200 metre relay team. “We’ve been working together since the beginning of the year. We’ve developed a lot of trust in our team, we got used to our handoffs and stuff, it feels good.” he said.
For the triple jump, Turner won gold with a distance of 16.17 metres, while fellow Bison Adebare Adegbosin came second with 15.68 metres.
According to Turner, the win was bittersweet. “I wanted the championship record. I was so, so close. Some part of me is not entirely satisfied, but I’m very, very proud of the day I had, the career I had, the year I had […] I’m very happy.” On his mindset during the jumps, Turner said he was nervous for the first round but focused on removing mental barriers.
Adegbosin’s jump of 15.68 metres was a personal best. According to him, jumping in front of a home crowd made it special. Adegbosin said his focus for the next year is simple, “Just jump further.”
Denbow reflected on her high jump win, saying, “I’m just so happy to have done it with Daxx and just to have done it, period, with all of our family and friends here. Daxx and I have been training partners for years.” Denbow said she loved competing in front of the home crowd. When asked to describe her emotions in the moment, Denbow said she was “just grateful.”
Bisons track and field head coach Claude Berube described the event as a great weekend for the team. “[There were] lots of great results, pretty much what I was expecting, [and] some nice little surprises […] It’s always great to perform well at home,” said Berube.
Berube commented on Davis’s experience, saying, “He had a pretty bad injury in the summer and has fought back, and [the win was] well-deserved for him. As far as I know, he might be heading to Poland in a couple of weeks for the World Indoor Championships.”
On Turner winning gold in his final year, Berube said, “He’s had a wonderful career as a Bison, and to finish it at home in front of friends and family and everything is just wonderful for him.”
The men’s 4×200 metre was protested, allegedly because of a foul by one of the Guelph Gryphons athletes. Guelph was ultimately disqualified from that event. With that, the Bisons were awarded first place in the event.
Berube commented, “I’m not even sure what happened, to be honest. It just went back and forth. It’s not something that I’ve seen before […] I’m glad for our guys, because they were pretty down after they thought they were going to be second, but they were pretty excited with the gold.”
The U of M has been listed as the host for the U SPORTS track and field championships in 2027. With many members of the herd set to return, it will be interesting to see how it fares.
