University of Victoria track runners have gone the distance this season, leading them to New Brunswick where they’ll compete for national medals from Thursday to Saturday.
The seven student-athletes will compete in five races at the U SPORTS Track and Field Championships, hosted by the University of New Brunswick in Saint John. It’ll be the biggest stage for university track and field in two years after the 2021 meet was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Vaughn Taylor, a 2020 Vikes male athlete of the year finalist, will try to defend his 2020 national title in the 600 metres.
UVic claimed five medals at the Canada West Championships in mid-March. Brandon Vail took the gold in the 3,000 metres and will try to improve on his bronze medal he won in that event at the last nationals.
Also capturing top spot at the Canada West meet was the men’s 4 x 800-metre relay team of David Waller, Benjamin Seshadri, Anton Kuipers and Jack Boden. The relay team missed the podium at nationals by 0.07 seconds in 2020.
Boden will also try to improve to the top of the podium after a silver in the men’s 1000 metres at the Canada West competition. Also earning a silver there, in the 3000 metres, was Jennifer Erickson, the lone member of the Vikes women’s track team to qualify for nationals.
READ: UVic track earn two gold, five medals at Canada West Championships
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