Avery Pearson and Michael Hussey named Under Armour Athletes of the Week
The pair of Saskatchewan Huskies dominated at last weekend's Sanderson Classic in Saskatoon
Photo by:
Rachel Albertson/Jackson King
Canadian Running and Under Armour have teamed up for the 2025 Canadian U Sports indoor track and field season to highlight some of the nation’s brightest talents. Each week, leading up to the 2025 U Sports Track and Field Championships in Windsor, Ont., in March, Canadian Running will select one male and one female athlete as the Under Armour Athletes of the Week.
The athlete of the week will be a male and female track and field athlete who achieved a standout performance, broke a school record or crushed a personal best. These athletes will be featured on Canadian Running and awarded the UA Infinite Elite running shoe. Star middle-distance teammates at the University of Saskatchewan, Avery Pearson and Michael Hussey, have been chosen as the first Under Armour U Sports Athletes of the Week of the 2025 season for their performances at the Sanderson Classic in Saskatoon on Jan. 10-11.
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Avery Pearson (Saskatchewan Huskies)
Over the weekend, reigning U Sports 1,000m champion Avery Pearson claimed her spot on the line at March’s championships in two events. The 21-year-old snagged two victories at the hometown meet, winning the 600m and 1,000m. “I went into the weekend aiming to hit the Auto-Q (auto-qualifying time standard) in both of my events, so I’m glad I executed my race plans,” Pearson told Canadian Running.
Last Friday, she clocked 2:46.83 (2:45.03*) in the 1,000m event. (Because the race was held on a flat track, official times are subject to conversion for the U Sports ranking system to make it comparable to times run on banked tracks, which are faster. Converted times are indicated with an asterisk*.)
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“The 1,000m was especially fun because my teammate, Jenica Swartz, and I both ran the Auto-Q,” Pearson said. She out-leaned Swartz by six-hundredths of a second. With their converted times, both runners dipped under the standard of 2:45.91 and secured the top two spots on the U Sports leaderboard. “We push each other in training every day, so sharing that success on race day was very rewarding,” Pearson added.
Swartz also qualified for U Sports in the 1,500m event.
Pearson was also dominant in the shorter, three-lap event on Saturday, running 1:29:34 (1:28.26*) to win by more than a second; her time crushed the 600m U Sports standard of 1:30.71 by more than two seconds. “I wanted to go out hard and get a sense of where I’m at,” she continued. “So I was happy with the race and excited to continue building on this performance moving forward.” The Meadow Lake, Sask., native’s performance launched her into the top spot on the national leaderboard.
Pearson has her eyes on championship season, which begins near the end of February. “I just want to build on my training and refine my approach with each race, so I can be mentally and physically prepared for the championship races,” she revealed. The Huskies squad also stands as reigning champions in the 4 x 400m and 4 x 800m relays–titles which Pearson plans to defend. “Ultimately, I want to contribute as much as I can to my team’s success at both CanWest and USports,” she said.
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Michael Hussey (Saskatchewan Huskies)
Rookie athlete Michael Hussey also turned heads at the Sanderson Classic when he punched a ticket to his first-ever U Sports championships. The 18-year-old won his first collegiate race with a shiny 600m personal best of 1:19.74 (1:18.56*)–the fifth-fastest run in Huskies program history. The performance smashed the auto-qualification time of 1:18.80 and, thus far, marks Hussey as the fastest first-year athlete in U Sports.
“I felt a bit nervous and a lot of anticipation,” Hussey told Canadian Running. “But once I got on to the line, that bit of nervousness turned into excitement–I felt totally psyched and ready to run.”
“I took it out a little fast, but was able to hold on for a solid finish,” he said.
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The kinesiology student performance still finds himself adjusting to the collegiate lifestyle. “My first year of university has definitely been fun and exciting, but there have also been a few surprises and a strong need for balancing school and track,” he revealed.
Hussey’s sights are now set on his 600m run at March’s national championships. “With the strong team we have this year, I also want to attempt to take down the Huskies’ 40-year-old 4 x 800m record,” he said.
Click here for full meet results.
If you would like to nominate a Canadian U Sports athlete for Under Armour Athlete of the Week, send @canadianrunning a message on Instagram or email cameron@runningmagazine.ca.
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