Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Action photo of a York Lions track athlete, with a blue gradient over the photo, and the OUA Track & Field Championship logo in the corner with the event date below.
C/O Edwin Tam
February 19, 2026

Banner Season: provincial standouts gear up and get set for championship weekend

Burlington, Ont. - All eyes will be on the Toronto Track and Field Centre at York University this weekend, as student-athletes from across the province look to claim top spot on the podium at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Track & Field Championships. The Western Mustangs are the reigning champions and hope to capture their third straight women’s team banner, but the top-ranked Gryphons - the defending men's champions - have their eyes set on a potential podium sweep.

EVENT DETAILS

When: Friday, February 20 to Saturday, February 21 
Where: Toronto Track and Field Centre (York University)
Participating Schools (14): Brock Badgers, Guelph Gryphons, Lakehead Thunderwolves, Laurentian Voyageurs, McMaster Marauders, Ottawa Gee-Gees, Queen’s Gaels, Toronto Varsity Blues, TMU Bold, Waterloo Warriors, Western Mustangs, Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, Windsor Lancers, York Lions (host)
OUA Sport Model: Open Sport
Watch: oua.tv 
Defending Champions: Western Mustangs (W), Guelph Gryphons (M)

STUDENT-ATHLETES TO WATCH

David Adeleye, Western Mustangs | Adeleye joined Western in 2024 as a former U SPORTS medalist with Toronto and made an immediate impact, opening the 2024–25 season with a 7.98 in the 60m hurdles to break the meet record. His year was cut short by a full achilles rupture, but he returned in 2025-26 and ran 7.94 in his first race back. Not only was that time faster than his pre‑injury best, it instantly moved him to No. 1 in both the OUA and U SPORTS rankings.

Tristan Boateng, York Lions | Boateng has quickly emerged as one of the nation’s top jumpers. He set a new Lions high jump record this season by clearing 2.18m at the Can‑Am Classic, improving on his U SPORTS qualifying standard and ranking first in Canada. After finishing fourth at last year’s OUA Championships, the second-year student enters this year’s event as a strong contender for his first provincial podium and possibly the title.

Logan Duley, Toronto Varsity Blues | Duley, from Richmond, B.C., placed fourth in the 60m last season and earned his first OUA medal as part of Toronto’s silver‑winning 4x200m squad. He recently set the program’s 60m record with a 6.75 and currently holds the third‑fastest time in the OUA this season, positioning him as a major threat in the sprint events.

Gloria Etim, Toronto Varsity Blues | Etim earned OUA bronze in both the 60m and 4x200m relays during her first year and has continued her upward trajectory in 2026. She posted the second‑fastest 60m time among OUA athletes during the invitational season (7.49) and looks poised to improve on last year’s provincial results.

Ella Foster, York Lions | Foster is one of York’s most experienced athletes, competing in her fifth straight OUA Championships. She has improved her placing each of the past three years and earned bronze in 2025. As a senior pole vaulter and team leader, she will be central to York’s push for another top‑five team finish on their home soil.

Lisa Franchett-Ngandu, TMU Bold | Franchett‑Ngandu enters the provincial championships following a TMU record‑setting performance in the 4x200m relay alongside her Bold teammates. The social work major continues to elevate her performance and will look to make a significant impact on the provincial stage.

Isabella Goveia, Windsor Lancers | Goveia has had a fantastic year to date. She was part of the Lancers’ 4x400m team that set a new Lancer Team Challenge meet record (3:51.77) to clinch a spot at the national championship. The engineering student also moved into the Lancers all-time top-10 list in the 600m with a 1:29.61 time at Penn State and set a personal best in the 800m (2:06.60) at Notre Dame to clinch her spot at the U SPORTS finale. The St. Catharines, Ont. native now brings that momentum to the provincial stage.

Michael Ivanov, Brock Badgers | The defending OUA and U SPORTS pole vault champion remains dominant, entering the championship as the No. 1 vaulter in Canada by a significant margin (28cm). After an ankle injury sidelined him in summer 2025, Ivanov has returned stronger, most recently clearing 5.10m at the Windsor Team Challenge, higher than at the same point last season when he won both provincial and national titles.

Ben Lemon, Waterloo Warriors | Lemon has climbed to second on Waterloo’s all‑time 600m list and currently ranks third in the OUA. Originally a pole vaulter in his first year, he transitioned to long sprints upon arriving at Waterloo and has since become one of the program’s top men's sprinters.

Nicole McKenzie, Guelph Gryphons| McKenzie, the 2024 OUA and national gold medalist in the 300m, also contributed to Guelph’s double‑gold 4x200m and 4x400m relay teams last year. This season, she broke the Canadian 600m record at State College with a time of 1:26.95, surpassing the previous national mark from 2022, and also improved upon her own school record earlier in the year.

Dianna Proctor, Guelph Gryphons | Proctor was the OUA and U SPORTS Rookie of the Year in 2025, winning provincial and national gold in the women's 300, 4x200 and 4x400m relay teams. The music student represented Team Canada at the 2025 World Athletics Relay Championships in China and also represented Canada this past summer in Tokyo at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. In Albuquerque on January 28, Proctor clocked a time of 37.05s to set a new school and Canadian record in the women's 300m. She became the Canadian U-23 record holder in the women's 300m, breaking a 43-year-old record which was set by Angela Bailey.

Liv Sands, Western Mustangs | Sands owns the Western record in both shot put and weight throw. She has rewritten Western’s school record in shot put a total of seven times. At the championships, she is looking to break the OUA shot put mark of 17.49m. With a  breakout season last year, Sands has built on her momentum qualifying for multiple national teams over the summer and gaining international level experience. With lots of hardware to her name, Sands is a force to be reckoned with on the provincial stage, as she is currently ranked first in the OUA by nearly four meters and first in U SPORTS by just over three meters.

AJ Stanat, Windsor Lancers | Stanat is among Canada’s top throwers. He set a personal best and Lancer record with an 18.44m shot put at the Can‑Am Meet, won weight throw at Can‑Am, and took shot put gold at Eastern Michigan. He also established a Team Challenge meet record with an 18.32m throw, showcasing his strong form entering the championships.

Keon Wallingford, Laurentian Voyageurs | Wallingford leads the Voyageurs men and will compete in the 3000m, 1500m, and 4x800m. The fifth‑year psychology student continues to anchor Laurentian’s distance program and enters the meet as their top‑ranked athlete.

Chloe Zaraska, Brock Badgers | Zaraska transferred from the University of Guelph, where she competed for four years. She is a nursing student balancing rotations in the hospital with her training for the pentathlon. She managed to set a personal best in the high jump earlier this season and is currently ranked second in Canada therein, positioning her as a strong medal contender.

BURNING QUESTIONS

  1. The Badgers enter the provincial championships with a sharpened competitive edge and maturity - can they convert last year’s proximity to the podium into definitive medal finishes
  2. Possessing a strong combination of proven veterans and impressive newcomers, will the Varsity Blues men be able to jump past fourth-place, where they've landed in each of the last two seasons?
  3. The Windsor Lancers women’s 4x800m relay team currently has the best time in the country - can they maintain that level for gold on the banner season stage?
  4. Will home track advantage help the Lions fight their way into a spot on the podium?
  5. Can the Western women translate the momentum they have built late in the season into a third straight provincial title?
  6. Entering as the nation's top-ranked teams, can the Gryphons add to their season bests and bring home two OUA banners?

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

"This year’s squad represents the next phase of our program’s evolution. We have moved past the "building" stage and are now focused on execution and results. By blending the battle-tested composure of our veterans with a now-experienced group of rising student-athletes, we are poised to improve upon last year’s standings. We look forward to seeing the dividends of a full year’s worth of preparation as our athletes compete for hardware and personal bests at this year’s Championships." - Jonathan Younker, Head Coach, Brock Badgers

"As a team, we know we have business to take care of. Everyone has their own goals — whether that’s hitting a personal best, breaking a school record, or qualifying for U SPORTS but we’re all locked in and focused. OUAs are always competitive, so we know we have to stay sharp and bring our best." - Lisa Franchett-Ngandu, Student-Athlete, TMU Bold

"There is a special energy on the team right now, defined by the synergy between our graduating athletes and our first-year talent. We have seniors who have spent years building a culture of resilience, and a group of fearless first-years who have stepped in and immediately raised the bar. That mix of veteran composure and rookie hunger is exactly what we need to turn this momentum into success at the OUA Championships." - Kate Bickle-Ferth, Associate Head Coach, Waterloo Warriors

"We are now seeing the fruits of our labour, especially with the senior athletes on both teams. They have put in the work for the past four seasons and it's their time to shine at this year's version of the OUA Championship. We are ready to defend the 'Lion's Den!'" – Ray Rudder, Head Coach, York Lions