Queen’s University signs one of North America’s top high school prospects

Queen’s University made a historic signing on Wednesday landing one of the nation’s all-time best high schoolers.

Brogan MacDougall signed a letter of intent to attend the Kingston, Ont.-based university beginning in September 2018. The Queen’s women’s cross-country team is ranked No. 1 in Canada and with the addition of a second MacDougall – Branna is in her first year at Queen’s after transferring from Iowa State and is among the team’s top runners – the Gaels are on track to become even better.

“We’ve never had an athlete of this calibre, really because there has never been an athlete of this calibre come into U Sports,” says head coach Steve Boyd. “Brogan has been my athlete since Grade 8, she’s out of our local club, the same as Branna, and she joined the group a few years after her sister did. I had the inside track as far as recruiting her, but we tried to do what was best for her, and she decided this was the best decision for her for running.”

MacDougall has PBs of 4:47.16 for the mile (1,609m), 9:21.84 (3,000m) and 16:06.75 (5,000m). The 16-year-old’s 5,000m best came from the Penn Relays in which she beat a field of collegiate athletes as a Grade 11 student. MacDougall is one of top, if not the No. 1 prospect in North America.

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As Queen’s University Athletics writes, here’s a rundown of MacDougall’s accomplishments to date:

– Pan Am junior cross-country champion
– Commonwealth Youth Games bronze medallist (3,000m)
– Canadian U20 champion (3,000m)
– Canadian youth cross-country champion
– 29th at the IAAF World Cross-Country U20 Championships
– Penn Relays Collegiate 5,000m champion (as a Grade 11)
– Fastest youth performer over 5,000m in Canadian history
– Fastest Grade 11 in North America over 5,000m in 2017
– OFSAA senior girls silver medallist (as a Grade 10)
– OFSAA junior girls champion and record holder over 3,000m

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The signing is particularly noteworthy as historically some of Canada’s developing runners have opted to attend university in the United States on athletic scholarships. She considered Princeton and Michigan as NCAA Division One options. MacDougall, currently a Grade 12 student at Marie-Rivier Catholic High School in Kingston, will continue to train under Boyd, who has been her coach since Grade 8.

“I’m just really excited to make this next step in my running career,” MacDougall says. “It means a lot to have everyone coming out to support me. I’m looking forward to training with her (Branna) again so we can keep pushing each other to new limits.”