Canadian Running and Under Armour have teamed up for the 2025 Canadian U Sports indoor track and field season to highlight some of the nation’s brightest talents. Each week, leading up to the 2025 U Sports Track and Field Championships in Windsor, Ont., in March, Canadian Running will select one male and one female athlete as the Under Armour Athletes of the Week.
The athlete of the week will be a male and female track and field athlete who achieved a standout performance, broke a school record or crushed a personal best. These athletes will be featured on the Canadian Running site and awarded the UA Infinite Elite running shoe. University of Manitoba’s Tyrell Davis and Université Laval’s Mia Larochelle have been chosen as this week’s Under Armour U Sports Athletes of the Week for their performances on Jan. 24-25.
Tyrell Davis, University of Manitoba (CanWest)
At Saskatoon’s Knights of Columbus Indoor Games last Friday, University of Manitoba’s Tyrell Davis secured his spot at U Sports, demolishing the 60m auto-qualifying time standard (Auto-Q) by five hundredths of a second. In the process, the 20-year-old took down his school’s 50m record with an outstanding 5.83-second performance. (Although the event is not an official U-Sports distance, the time is converted to an equivalent 60m time of 6.71.) Davis, the reigning U Sports silver medallist, now sits at the top of the national leaderboard.
“The race felt pretty good,” Davis told Canadian Running. “My heat and final looked very different. In my heat, where I ran 5.83, I got out of the blocks very well, but didn’t close as well. My final, when I ran 5.85, was the polar opposite–I was basically asleep in the blocks, but closed very well.” Both times convert to faster 60m runs than he achieved during the 2023-24 season. “I’m very excited to see the time when I put a full race together,” the Winnipeg native added.
Davis is eyeing the individual and team podiums at the upcoming championships. “My goals for the season would be to win both CanWest and U Sports in the 60m,” he said. “[I’d also like to] reclaim the CanWest banner for the fourth year in a row with my team, and win the U Sports team banner for the first time in almost 30 years.” Last year, the Bisons men’s team took second overall at U Sports.
Full results from the Knights of Columbus Games can be found here.
Mia Larochelle, Université Laval (RSEQ)
At last Friday’s McGill Team Challenge in Montreal, Université Laval’s Mia Larochelle automatically booked her ticket to March’s U Sports Championships in her first-ever race. The 20-year-old had never competed before, but clocked an astounding 9:28.54 in the 3,000m, winning by more than eight seconds and surpassing the Auto-Q standard of 9:30.38.
“I just ran without thinking too much–I still don’t fully realize what I accomplished,” she told Canadian Running. “I was focused on pushing myself to be first, as fast as I could. My only goal was to cross the finish line in first place as quickly as possible, so I did what I had to do.” Her debut performance launches her into the #2 spot on the U Sports leaderboard.
The following day, the Quebec native took second in the 1,500m, clocking 4:30.96. She now sits in the 11th spot for the event–still a contender to move on to the national championships.
Larochelle is a former NCAA DI soccer player at Nicholls State University in Louisiana, where she got injured during her fall season. Last month, she made the decision to move back to Quebec, shift her focus to running cross-country and track, and join the Rouge et Or squad. “Running has always been a part of my life,” she said. “Not just for fun, but as a regular practice.” Her father was also an avid runner.
Larochelle says she has lofty goals for the U Sports season and beyond. “I’m focused on winning a medal at provincials in the 3,000m,” she said. “I really want to take first place there and carry that momentum into the U Sports Championships, where I’ll aim to do the same.”
The first-year business student also revealed that a Canadian record could be within reach. “I have my eyes on breaking Ceili McCabe‘s U23 record of 8:50.44,” she revealed. “It’s a huge goal, but I’m definitely pushing myself to see how close I can get this season. Hitting that U23 record is definitely on my radar, but right now I’m prioritizing my race strategy and building consistency, so I can achieve those podium finishes,” she added.
Full results for the McGill Team Challenge can be found here.
