After being forced to medically retire following a spate of injuries over the first two years of her NCAA Div. 1 career at Arizona State, Salmon Arm's own Glynis Sim has found her perfect athletic and academic fit with the UBC Thunderbirds. (Vid Wadhwani photo property of Vid Wadhwani 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Cross Country

UBC’s Glynis Sim: After injuries forced her into medical retirement almost four years ago, ex-Salmon Arm harrier back on track at Canada West XC championships Saturday!

VANCOUVER — There were times when Glynis Sim didn’t want to look over her shoulder for fear that she may well have left her competitive running career too far behind in the rearview mirror.After all, when you cut bait and walk away from a promising career in the manner she was forced to almost four […]

UBC hammer-thrower Rowan Hamilton is hoping a return stateside to the NAIA nationals in 2022 will give him a chance to repeat his gold-medal form as a freshmen from 2019. (Photo by Jeff Sargeant property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Track and Field

UBC track and field: Two years after its greatest day ever, head coach Primeau & his ‘Birds undaunted in belief that more golden days are ahead!

VANCOUVER — As a student in UBC’s School of Applied Plant and Soil Sciences, Rowan Hamilton is learning the ins and outs of helping to sustain all that is essential within our fragile eco system.Something of a towering tree himself at 6-foot-3, Hamilton is also a key reason that the eco system of a UBC […]

UBC Thunderbirds' middle distance star Kieran Lumb, a Lord Byng graduate, has transitioned from a national-level cross-coudntry skier (right) to future Olympic hopeful. (Photos by Jeff Sargeant, UBC Athletics and David Lumb. All Right Reserved. Photo graphic by Gabriel Lynn)
UBC Thunderbirds track and field coach Laurier Primeau. (Photo by Jeff Sargeant property of UBC athletics 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Track & Field University Track and Field

Varsity Letters podcast 06.04.20 edition: UBC Thunderbirds track and field coach Laurier Primeau on the power of sport to effect positive change

Welcome to the Varsity Letters podcast for Thursday, June 4.  Today we welcome UBC Thunderbirds head track and field coach Laurier Primeau back to the podcast to chat about the state of the sport and the loss of the spring season following his program’s dual win at the 2019 NAIA national championships. Laurier also reflects […]

Feature Podcast

Varsity Letters PODCAST visits with Laurier Primeau of UBC track, Ray Moon of Sun Devils football & Tom Lowndes of UFV men’s soccer

Welcome back, loyal listeners, to another episode of Varsity Letters — The Podcast, Canada’s only weekly podcast dedicated solely to the coverage of provincial and university high school sports. This week, our three guests are: *UBC’s Laurier Primeau, the head coach of Thunderbirds’ cross-country, and track and field, reflecting on last spring’s dual national championships, […]

Born to jump, Claremont's Rebecca Dutchak has a ceiling as high as any incoming university freshman in the nation. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Track & Field University Track and Field

The Natural: Still raw and untested, Claremont’s UBC-bound Rebecca Dutchak looks ready to jump off the charts

Rebecca Dutchak always suspected she had been given the gift of jump, but it wasn’t until she took a leap of faith that she discovered her grace over gravity.

For the first time in program history, the UBC Thunderbirds track and field team won two national titles on the same day. (Photo by Jeff Sargeant property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
UBC Thunderbirds' sophomore Jamie Hennessey (55) posted the fastest NAIA time this season in the 3,000m steeplechase, despite her Type 1 diabetes. (Photo by UBC athletics copyright 2019. All rights reserved).
Feature University Track and Field

UBC’s Jamie Hennessey: Despite her Type 1 diabetes, Thunderbirds’ courageous sophomore sits among the NAIA’s steeplechase elite

VANCOUVER — If you had asked Jamie Hennessey five years ago if she was capable of having a day like the one she had last month, she would have nodded a decisive “No.”

Brentwood College's Sion Griffiths battled injury and some pretty tight scheduling this past weekend to win silver medals at both the B.C. high school rugby, and track and field championships. (Photos by Jeff Sargeant (left) and Howard Tsumura property of UBC athletics, VarsityLetters.ca)
After a late start to her university track career, Salmon Arm's Sandra Kilmartin wraps up her career this weekend with her third straight trip to the NAIA national championships in Alabama. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics)
Feature University Track and Field

UBC’s Sandra Kilmartin: From humblest of beginnings to NAIA nationals, ‘Birds runner has her own recipe for success

VANCOUVER — There is an old saying about how a favourite recipe, in some way, can tell the story about the family from which it came.That’s especially true, as you will discover, in the case of UBC Thunderbirds’ senior middle-distance runner Sandra Kilmartin.Yet if you ask the dietetics major — a foodie with a pay-it-forward […]