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Saskatchewan’s Savannah Sutherland runs Canadian best over 400m

Sutherland had a weekend to remember at NCAA conference championships, breaking three school records in three different races

Photo by: Michigan Photography

Over the weekend at the Big Ten Conference Championship in Geneva, Ohio, University of Michigan runner Savannah Sutherland of Borden, Sask., ran the fastest Canadian indoor 400m time in history, clocking 51.41 seconds to place second behind her Michigan teammate, Ziyah Holman.

University of Michigan’s Ziyah Holman (left) and Savannah Sutherland (right) battle to the line in the women’s 400m at the 2023 Big Ten Championships in Geneva, Ohio. Photo: Michigan Photography

Sutherland smashed her previous 400m personal best of 52.23 from earlier this season. Her 400m result was one of three University of Michigan school records Sutherland set on the weekend; she also broke the school’s 200m record in 23.58 on her way to a fourth-place finish in the women’s 200m, and helped her team win gold in the women’s 4x400m, in a new school record of 3:30.63.

Although her 400m time was faster than the current Canadian indoor record of 51.53 held by Ottawa’s Lauren Gale, her time is ineligible for Canadian record purposes, due to Athletics Canada Rule 222: “Performances established on tracks whose lap size exceeds 201 metres shall not be recognized as Canadian indoor records.”

Spire Institute, the indoor track and field facility where the Big Ten Championships were being held, has an irregular-sized track of 300m, meaning all times and records are ineligible for indoor records. 

Sutherland has represented Team Canada twice at the U20 level, winning bronze at the 2021 U20 World Championships in the 400m hurdles (her main event) and helping the U20 women’s 4x400m relay team fifth place at the 2022 World Championships in Cali, Colombia.

Savannah Sutherland in the women’s 400mH at the 2021 U20 World Championships in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo: Athletics Canada

In two weeks, Sutherland will represent the University of Michigan at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., where she will compete in the women’s 4x400m relay and the 400m.

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