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The Mustangs men’s track and field team clinched their second straight national championship after three days of intense competition at the University of Manitoba for the U SPORTS finals March 6 to 8. The men’s team finished first with 64 points, just 3.5 points clear of the Alberta Golden Bears. The women’s team placed fourth, ending the competition with 66 points. “I’m incredibly proud of the grit. This is a close-knit, scrappy team that will fight until the very end for one another. There’s no telling what a team can’t do when their source of motivation is one another,” said head coach Caroline Ehrhardt. In addition to back-to-back U SPORTS titles, the men’s team took home a trio of the top national awards. Ehrhardt is the winner of the Bob Boucher Award as men’s Coach of the Year, Jackson Mackay is the U SPORTS Men’s Rookie of the Year and Aaron Thompson is the U SPORTS Student-Athlete Community Service Award winner. “At the beginning of the year we knew the men’s team would be a strong one, but with a few injuries and mishaps throughout the season, we ended up being ranked fourth heading into the championships,” said Ehrhardt. “I told the team we were chasing nothing but the shadow of opportunity being cast by our own potential. We weren’t chasing others, but simply trying to do our absolute best. By the end of day three, everyone was crunching the numbers and it was getting more and more real that we were in it. Definitely an unforgettable day of people stepping up, using the momentum we were generating and the stars aligning for us.” The men’s team dominated their preliminary round in the relays, qualifying first with a new school record of 1:26.84.The roster included Thompson, Thomas Helland, Deandre Williams and Ayden Blain. Mackay took first place in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.04 – setting a U SPORTS record – and tied for the top spot with Emanuel Desilets in pole vault, each clearing 4.60 metres. Mackay took the gold medal for the overall event, finishing with a new U SPORTS record of 5607 points. In the field, Arman Shahzadeh produced one of the most dramatic moments of the day in the men’s long jump. Sitting in second place entering the sixth and final round, Shahzadeh improved from 7.29m to 7.56m, leaping into first place and securing the national title. “Coming into U SPORTS ranked eighth after a frustrating season, it meant a lot to secure the win on my final attempt,” said Shahzadeh. “The belief my coaches and teammates had in me gave me the confidence to keep fighting until the end, and I’m extremely grateful for that support.” Liv Sands added another national title with a dominant performance in the women’s shot put, throwing a school record of 17.67m to claim gold. “Ending my U SPORTS career with a record and a couple of medals is really special. I’m proud of the performance, but what means the most to me is the team that stood behind me every step of the way,” said Sands. “I’ve been lucky to have such an amazing family of support here, and that’s something I’m going to miss as I move forward in my athletics career.” Learn more about how Western is preparing future leaders and global citizens.