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 the Canadian Running site and awarded the UA Infinite Elite running shoe. Western University’s Sophie Coutts and Trinity Western University’s Daniel Earles have been chosen as this week’s Under Armour U Sports Athletes of the Week for their performances on Feb. 14-15.
Sophie Coutts, Western University (OUA)
At last Saturday’s Boston Valentine Invitational, Western University’s Sophie Coutts raced to a jaw-dropping 14-second personal best in the 3,000m. The fourth-year athlete clocked 9:10.40 at the Boston University track, a time that stands as the fastest in U Sports this year by nearly 10 seconds.
“I felt really good about my race,” Coutts told Canadian Running. “It’s the most relaxed I’ve felt in a race since I can remember! I was happy with how I handled my tactics in such a stacked heat.”
The 21-year-old fell less than two seconds short of Olympian and former Western Mustang Kate Current‘s school record of 9:08.92. Coutts earned the 3,000m bronze medal at last year’s U Sports championships and silver in 2023. As a first-year athlete in 2022, she also contributed to the Mustang’s 4x800m relay national title.
The conference championship races begin this weekend, with OUAs set for Windsor, Ont. Coutts undoubtedly has her eye on completing the 3,000m medal collection. “My goal is to help my team win OUAs and U Sports, and be proud of my races this championship season,” Coutts said. She also holds the #5 spot on the U Sports leaderboard in the 1,500m.
Daniel Earles, Trinity Western University (CanWest)
At the Whitworth Invitational in Spokane, Wash., last Friday, Trinity Western University (TWU) athlete Daniel Earles made a statement with a blazing 21.47 over 200m, catapulting himself into the #1 spot in the U Sports rankings. His performance marks an indoor personal best by more than 1.5 seconds.
(Although the event is not an official U Sports distance, the time is converted to an equivalent 300m time of 33.70.) Earles now leads the national field by 0.15 seconds, a considerable gap over the sprint distance.
“It was a great way to continue my season, and I felt strong throughout,” Earles told Canadian Running. “While it wasn’t a school record, it was the second-fastest time in school history, which is an exciting milestone.” The five-year-old TWU school record of 21.15 belongs to Praise Olatoke, now an NFL wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers. “Being up there with him is an honour,” Earles added.
“For the rest of the track season, my goal is to keep building on this momentum,” the 23-year-old said. “I want to keep lowering my times and put myself in a strong position heading into championship season.”
