Saskatoon teen athlete breaks Sask. hurdle record

SASKATOON -

Savannah Sutherland, 17, recently set a new provincial record in her best track event - the 400 metre hurdles.

“It's exciting,” said Sutherland. “I've been training hard all throughout COVID, and so it's nice to see that it's finally paying off and we're seeing some results now.”

One of her coaches, Jason Reindl, said Sutherland now holds the most provincial records in the history of Saskatchewan track and field athletes.

“She's ranked seventh in the world right now for her age, breaking a 39-year-old provincial record for Saskatchewan,” said her other coach Lee Wolfater.

In November, Sutherland committed to the University of Michigan on a full athletic scholarship, where she’ll balance track and field with a major in biochemistry.

“I was wanting a good academic school as well as athletics,” she said. “As soon as I started talking to the coaches and some of the girls on the team at Michigan, it just kind of clicked and I decided that was where I wanted to go.”

“It's kind of been a thing that's always helped us get through the COVID, without being able to compete,” said Wolfater.

Sutherland is looking to land a spot on Canada’s team for the Junior Pan Am games this September in Colombia, and beyond that, potentially making a career out of being fast.

“Being on the professional circuit, competing globally, representing Canada,” said Reindl. “Pan American Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships, and ultimately the Olympics.”