Incoming Trinity Western University middle distance runner Mirelle Martens made Spartans history over the weekend, as she won a silver medal in the 3000m at the 2015 Pan American Junior Championships in Edmonton.
In doing so, she became the first TWU-bound track and field athlete to win an individual medal at the biennial meet.
Martens, who will arrive at TWU this fall after transferring from Grande Prairie Regional College, crossed the line with a time of 9:41.20.
Two days after Martens took silver, TWU’s Caleb DeJong just missed out on earning a medal himself, as he finished fourth in the 3000m steeplechase with a personal best time of 9:17.35. DeJong was coming off a gold medal-winning effort at the Canadian national junior championships where he won the steeplechase in 9:18.05.
While Martens and DeJong competed on the track, in the field Spartans pole vaulter Madison Evans finished sixth after clearing 3.50m.
Like DeJong, Evans also earned a gold medal at the national junior championships and entered the Pan American junior championships with an outdoor personal best of 3.80m.
Nathan George is the only other TWU athlete to win a medal at the Pan American Junior Championships as he earned a bronze medal with Canada’s 4x400m relay team in 2013. That year, he also finished seventh in the 400m while fellow Spartan Regan Yee was seventh in the 3000m steeplechase.