SASKATOON – The USask Huskies opened their season at home with the annual Huskie Sled Dog Open – an 8km course for both the men and women. This year, the Huskies hosted the Manitoba Bisons, Calgary Dinos and Alberta Golden Bears/Pandas.

The men started off the day and they were looking to make a statement after scoring their first team at a Canada West Championship since 2014 last season. 

The Huskies top male finisher was Anthony Antaya placing 6th overall. On the team scoring side the Alberta Golden Bears took home the win the team score of 23 points. The Huskies finished second scoring 73 points. The Alberta Golden Bears very own, Riley Stuemer, took home the win on the men's side in a time of 25:55.4. 

On the women's side the Huskies were looking to do some damage and make their return to the Canada West podium. 

The Huskies very own Jenna McFadyen would go on to lead from the gun running a time of 30:11.6 to take the win. Kaitlyn Harrison would not let McFadyen run alone finishing second just 11 seconds behind. The Huskie duo put Canada West on notice after opening a 30 second margin on the field in the first race of the season. Allison Grajczyk-Jelinski finished in 5th to round out the Dogs top 3 finishers. 

In the team scoring, the Huskies women won, finishing with 51 team points. The Pandas finished in second scoring a team total of 54. 

Huskies head coach, Jason Reindl, was impressed with the team's performance – "Our athletes are looking good and working as a team." 

Riendl commented on the Huskies continued dominance at home. "It was a solid team effort to copy last year's results, and I think we ran a little bit better this year as well which is great to see." 

The Huskies are back in action October 15th in Calgary, Alberta.