Canadians impress at U.S. collegiate champs

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) track and field championships ended on Saturday and many Canadian talents finished in the medal positions among some of the best U.S. athletes.

Headlining the Canadian finishers was Windsor, Ont., native Brandon McBride. Running for Mississippi State, he won his first NCAA outdoor 800m championship. McBride led the race from start to finish in his usual front-running style, finishing in 1:46.26, narrowly ahead of University of Florida athelte Ryan Schnulle, who ran 1:46.26. He also won the 2014 indoor 800m championship and will be heading to Glasgow, Scotland, to represent Canada at the Commonwealth Games.

McBride wasn’t the only Canadian on the men’s 800m podium. Surrey, B.C., runner Keffri Neal, competing for the University of Kentucky, finished third, in a personal best time of 1:46.39, making for a very tight finish between the medal-winners.

Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catharines, Ont., competing for the Wisconsin Badgers, finished third in the men’s 10,000m with a time of 28:43.82 and finished fifth in the 5,000m in 13:28.45.

In the sprint events, Aaron Brown of Toronto took home two medals, finishing second and third in the 200m and 100m races, respectively. Brown, a student at the University of Southern California, ran a personal best of 10.07 in the 100m and raced to a 20.02 200m time, faster than his 20.16 Canadian record, but the wind was too strong to be eligible for a record.

The NCAA represents some of the best track and field competition there is aside from professional circuits. Athletes who succeed in the U.S. collegiate system often go on to do very well on the world stages.