OTTAWA, Ont. – In what was already an exciting weekend for the Huskie Track & Field program at the 2026 Canadian Track & Field Championships with a pack of current, future and former student-athletes competing, five athletes added to the thrill and represented the green & white on the highest podium Canada has to offer. 

Nathan Pinno, Brody McDonald, Michelle Harrison, Hailee Woodhouse and Avery Pearson all reached the podium at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility in the nation's capital, capping off a fantastic weekend for the program in which 28 athletes with ties to USask competed on the national stage. 

"Nationals was a great competition for our Huskie athletes with a ton of positive take aways. While we saw some stand on the podium and others get extremely close, seeing them challenge the nation's best is always a source of pride whether they are coming into the program, continuing to compete as Huskies, or taking what they learned into their post-Huskie careers," said Head Coach Jason Reindl.  

Nathan Pinno led the way as the lone current member of the program to return home with hardware. Set to enter his third season with the Huskies, the Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta product captured silver in the men's senior shot put with a throw of 16.71m. The toss, which he achieved on his final attempt of the event, proved to be 11cm further than his Canada West gold medal-winning throw and just two centimeters short of his fifth place throw at the U SPORTS Championships.  

Pinno had been steadily increasing his distance over several events heading into the weekend's championships and continues to chase a career-best mark of 17.41m he achieved at the Bison Classic in January. 

Of the several soon-to-be rookies competing in Ottawa, Brody McDonald led the way with a silver medal finish in the U20 800m. An incoming recruit out of Lumsden, Saskatchewan, McDonald posted a time of 1:52.51, finishing just eight hundredths of a second off the winning pace and setting a new personal best by five hundredths of a second.  

Of the remaining three podium finishers, all represented the University of Saskatchewan (USask) as alumni, with their time as members of the program proving pivotal in their development as athletes. 

In her return to national competition since becoming a mother, 2024 Olympian and three-time Canadian Champion Michelle Harrison put on a strong performance, capturing silver in the women's 100m hurdles. Her time of 13.03 seconds proved to be just 1.9 tenths of second back of the winning run and three hundredths short of her 13 second dash during the prelims 

Hailee Woodhouse also left the Championships a national silver medalist after posting a time of 54.35 seconds in the U20 400m while battling difficult weather conditions. In the pouring rain, the reigning U SPORTS Rookie of the Year completed the race just nine hundredths of second behind first place and improved upon her prelim time by 1.18 seconds. 

Finally, Avery Pearson rounded out the former Huskies to reach the podium, achieving third place in the women's senior 800m. With a time of 2:02.34, the former All-Canadian and U SPORTS Champion improved by 2.36 seconds from the prelims to the finals and crossed the finish line just 4.2 tenths of a second off the winning pace.  

For the complete results from the 2026 Canadian Track & Field Championships, head to athletics.ca.