Earlier this month, Airdrie-born track athlete Sienna MacDonald was awarded with the prestigious Fred Tees Memorial Trophy for Canadian University Athlete of the Year.
Last March, MacDonald, an athlete with the University of Calgary, won three gold medals for 60 metre hurdles, the pentathlon, and long jump at the 2024 Canada West USports Track and Field Championships, earning her the 2024 USports Athlete of the Meet and the 2024 USports Track Athlete of the Year awards.
The Fred Tees Trophy caps off a remarkable year of athletic accomplishments for MacDonald, who said she was shocked to hear she won the award.
“When Athletics Canada reached out and notified me that I had won this award I was genuinely shocked and beyond excited that my achievements had been recognized by their committee,” MacDonald said. “When I first read the email I was almost in tears, just overwhelmed with emotions.”
MacDonald was one of 16 individuals recognized by the sport's national governing body, which awards athletes across the country by highlighting the best athletic performances across Canada from the past competition calendar year.
A 2023 inductee of the Airdrie Elite Athlete Program whose accomplishments are enshrined on the ‘Elite Athlete Wall’ at Genesis Place, MacDonald said she was really proud of what she accomplished last season.
“You put so much effort into your sport and to be recognized by Athletics Canada is truly very special. Looking back through the winners of this award in past years I quickly realized just how special it was,” she said.
The three-medal performance at the Track and Field Championships by MacDonald was the first time a University of Calgary athlete had won that many medals at a single meet since 2007 when Jessica Zelinka, the former University of Calgary track star and current Dinos Track and Field head coach, won four medals.
MacDonald’s performance at nationals lifted her Dino’s team to a bronze finish and cemented her status as one of the University of Calgary’s all-time track athletes. Indeed, this marks the seventh time a Dino’s athlete has been named the Canadian University Athlete of the Year by Athletics Canada.
MacDonald joins recent Dinos Hall of Fame inductee Sam Effah, who was honoured in both 2008 and 2010, and current Dinos head coach and two-time Olympian Jessica Zelinka, who won the award four years in a row from 2004-2007.
“Every single athlete who had gotten this award has made a name for themselves in Canada as a track and field athlete,” MacDonald said. “Hopefully I can continue that trend and make a name for myself. Definitely the highlight of my athletic journey thus far.”