Momentum Builds: McGill Track & Field Fall 2026 Update
Dear McGill Track & Field and Cross Country Athletes, Alumni & Friends,
With the fall season underway, we wanted to share a short update on where the reinstatement effort stands, how the teams finished 2025-26, and a well-deserved honour coming this October.
Thank you, as always, for your steady support. It continues to make the difference.
Reinstatement Efforts
FOMTF, working alongside the McGill Team Captains, continues to engage with the McGill Athletics & Recreation Strategic Planning Task Force and the Provost’s Office. The Task Force is co-chaired by the Chancellor, the Provost, and the Interim Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning), and is advised by an External Advisory Board of former McGill coaches and alumni. Conversations remain constructive, and our discussions are active.
The department also has new leadership. On April 11, Dr. Benoit Gentil became Interim Senior Director of Athletics and Recreation. As interim senior director, he oversees McGill’s varsity athletics, recreation programs and sport services. Dr. Gentil is an associate professor of kinesiology and physical education, directs the Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute, and has spent more than twenty years at McGill studying human performance and motor development. We are encouraged to have a performance scientist in the chair, and we are grateful for the time and openness we have been given.
We’re Getting Closer: Help Us Reach the Finish Line
Thanks to the incredible support of the McGill Track & Field community, we are now approaching $200,000 in pledges toward our $300,000 goal.
Our discussions with McGill continue to be positive, and we are encouraged by the opportunity to keep working together to support the future of Track & Field at McGill.
But we’re not there yet.
Every pledge, large or small, brings us closer to our goal and demonstrates the strength of the community behind this program. This is an important moment for one final push.
If you’ve been considering making a pledge, now is the time. A pledge is a non-binding commitment for future giving, and nothing is collected unless the program is reinstated.
Pledge today and help us reach $300,000. Let’s get this across the finish line together.
Where the Program Stands Nationally
The athletes have continued to do their part.
In the U Sports year-end team rankings for 2025-26, the McGill men finished ninth in the country with 33 points, ahead of Laval, in a top ten led by Guelph, Alberta and Manitoba.
At the 2026 U SPORTS Track and Field Championships, held March 5 to 7 at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, the Redbirds placed 10th with 33 points and the Martlets finished tied for 20th of 25 teams with 6 points. Those are national results from a program fighting for its future.
2026-27 Cross Country Schedule
The new season is already here. Five meets are on the calendar:
- September 12: Invitation ETS/UQAM, Parc Marcel-Laurin, Montreal (6 km)
- September 26: Capital Cross-Country Challenge, Parc Mooney’s Bay, Ottawa (6 km)
- October 10: Invitation Vert & Or, Université de Sherbrooke (8 km)
- October 31: RSEQ Championship, Plaines d’Abraham, Quebec City (8 km)
- November 14: U SPORTS Championship, McMaster University, Hamilton (8 km)
Start times are still to be confirmed. The full schedule is at mcgillathletics.ca. If you are near any of these courses, please come out. Alumni in the crowd made a visible difference last season, and they will again.
Dr. Sarah McCuaig Enters the McGill Sports Hall of Fame
Dr. Sarah McCuaig (2009-2013) has been named to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026.
- Cross Country: Three straight RSEQ individual titles (2010, 2011, 2012) and RSEQ female athlete of the year in 2010-11, leading the Martlets to the first of three consecutive Quebec team championships.
- Track & Field: Three straight RSEQ golds in the 1,500m, three consecutive 4x800m relay titles with a conference record, and a bronze medal at the 2010 CIS Championships.
- Academics: Five-time Academic All-Canadian, honours BSc in microbiology and immunology, and the 13th McGill varsity athlete to win a Rhodes Scholarship.
- Leadership: Captain of both teams and winner of the Muriel V. Roscoe Trophy, only the third distance runner to receive it since 1949.
Sarah went on to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and is now a pediatric rheumatology fellow at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is exactly what a varsity cross country and track program at a research university is meant to produce.
The induction ceremony is Friday, October 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Taverne Moderne 1909 in the Bell Centre, as part of McGill Homecoming 2026. If you ran with Sarah, coached her, or simply watched her race, we hope you will be there.
Looking Ahead
Our focus has not changed: maintain momentum, keep the community connected, and continue making the strongest possible case for reinstatement. The athletes have done their part on the track. Now, as we enter this important next phase, we need the community behind them to be equally strong.
Thank you again for your continued support.
Friends of McGill Cross Country & Track & Field
friendsofmcgilltrack@gmail.com
Since 1899. Legacy in Motion.