Robert Gerstner and Samuel Hepworth secured silver medals for McGill University at the U SPORTS indoor track and field championships in Winnipeg. The Redbirds broke school and conference records in the 4x800-metre relay while placing 10th overall in the men's division. Western Mustangs claimed the national title after a protest disqualification altered the final standings.
The U SPORTS indoor track and field championships wrapped up after three days at the James Daly Fieldhouse in Winnipeg. McGill's men's team earned 33 points to finish 10th, marking their first multiple silver medals since 2015. Robert Gerstner, a second-year master's student in physics from East St. Paul, Manitoba, took second in the long jump with a leap of 7.46 metres, narrowly missing his own school record of 7.56 metres set earlier at the same venue. Gold went to Arman Shahzadeh of the Western Mustangs, who jumped 7.56 metres.
Samuel Hepworth, a third-year psychology student from Montreal, placed second in the 1500 metres with a time of 3:49.62, earning second-team All-Canadian status. Teammate Sacha Dernoncourt from Metz, France, finished fourth in the same event at 3:49.91. The middle-distance group contributed further points in the 1000 metres, where Dernoncourt was fourth in 2:24.86, Hepworth seventh in 2:25.36, and Sean Adams 12th in 2:29.71.
McGill's 4x800-metre relay team of Adams from Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Ben Gates from Regina, Saskatchewan; Hepworth; and Dernoncourt set new school and RSEQ conference records with a fourth-place finish in 7:31.54, improving on their previous mark of 7:32.71 from two weeks earlier. The 4x400-metre relay, featuring Luca Nicoletti and Jay Yetman from Ottawa, Adams, and Gates, placed ninth in 3:18.40. The 4x200-metre relay did not finish due to a medical issue for William Sanders.
Nicoletti also reached the 10th position in the 300-metre preliminaries with 34.43 seconds. Overall, Western Mustangs won the men's title with 64 points after Guelph's disqualification from first in the 4x200-metre relay due to obstruction, dropping Guelph to third with 56 points. Alberta took second at 60.5 points, boosted by Ryder Rattee, who was named athlete of the meet for golds in the 300 metres, 600 metres, and 4x400 relay. Laval finished ninth with 34 points as the top Quebec team. McGill qualified nine athletes, one of their highest totals: Adams, Dernoncourt, Gates, Gerstner, Hepworth, Krescyn Moonsamy, Nicoletti, Sanders, and Yetman.
