Airdrie-born athlete Sienna MacDonald ran the 17th fastest time in the entire world in the 60m hurdles earlier this month.
MacDonald, a fourth year for the Calgary Dinos track and field program, initially ran the 12th fastest time in the first day of competition at the ninth annual Pandas Open, but slipped down to a still impressive 17th global ranking, having clocked in at 7.97 seconds.
The competition took place at the Universiade Pavilion, better known as the Butterdome, on Feb. 7.
That time is a mere 0.03 seconds shy of the qualifying standard for the World Athletics Indoor Championships scheduled for March 21 to 23 in Nanjing, China.
"I felt really good heading into the weekend," MacDonald recounted. "Everything was clicking and I knew I was going to run a great race, I just didn’t think it was going to be as good as it was."
MacDonald later clocked a winning time of eight seconds in the 60m hurdle finals, and reached the top of the national leader board in long jump with a winning leap of 6.23 m – the top mark in U SPORTS so far this season and well above her own school record of 6.04 m.
In order to achieve such a standard, MacDonald said she spends countless hours on the track and in the gym, which results in a rewarding experience seeing all of that hard work translate onto competition wins.
"I currently train five days a week and usually compete on the weekends," MacDonald explained. "I’ve been training like this for about seven years now. I’m with one of the best coaches, Les Gramantik. He’s got a wealth of knowledge and I feel like I’m constantly learning new things."
MacDonald most recently competed at CanWest in Regina, where teams for eight Canadian universities vied for the top spot on the conference podium in both team and individual events. She competed in a variety of different events, including the pentathlon, open hurdles, open long jump, open high jump, open shot put and the 60 m.
"It was an extremely long weekend for me and it took a lot out of me both mentally and physically," MacDonald explained. Ultimately, the Saskatchewan Huskies from the University of Saskatoon took the championship title.
McDonald earned double gold, winning the 60-metre hurdles in a Canada West record time of 8.16 seconds, as well as taking top spot in the pentathlon. McDonald earned "Women's Performance of the Meet" honours for her record-setting time in the hurdles.
Despite the accolades, MacDonald, much like a track and field athlete must do during competition, has her eyes forward for what's coming next.
"This run came at the perfect time in my career," she said. "I’m currently looking to try and make athletics Canada's indoor worlds team, which will be chosen on march 10th. That run placed me well below athletic Canada's standard, so there’s a potential that I’ll get to compete against some of the fastest 60m hurdlers in the world."
MacDonald is currently the reigning Canada West Women's Track Athlete of the Year, earning the coveted Fred Tees Memorial Trophy in 2024. In 2023, she became an inductee of the Airdrie Elite Athlete Program whose accomplishments are enshrined on the ‘Elite Athlete Wall’ at Genesis Place.
