Huskie athlete makes quick rise
in track and field
By Darren
Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex
 |
| Hannah Hagerty takes to the air during a meet on June 15. |
These days the 24-year-old Regina product is a star for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Track and Field Team in the long jump and the 4 X 200-metre relay. Back when she was a Grade 11 student at Regina’s Campbell Collegiate, Hagerty was trying the sport for the first time just for fun participating in high school competitions.
She had taken part in dance for a lengthy stretch of time
before testing out her skating stride in ringette. When she finally tried track
and field, Hagerty found a space that she felt she belonged in.
“I, obviously, really liked it,” said Hagerty. “Then, I
joined a club.
“I joined Excel (in Regina). I did that for two years, and I
found a really big passion for it, especially with long jump.”
The 2024-25 campaign was a memorable one for Hagerty. With
the Huskies, she claimed the Canada West Conference title in the women’s long
jump with a leap of 6.17 metres at the conference championships held February
21 and 22 in Regina.
At that meet, she proceeded to help the Huskies capture gold
in the 4 X 200-metre relay in a time of one minute and 39.82 seconds. Hagerty’s
performances helped the Huskies Women’s Track and Field Team claim a seventh
straight conference title.
She then took part in the U Sports Track and Field
Championships that ran March 6 to 8 in Windsor, Ont. Hagerty placed sixth in
the long jump with a leap of 5.97 metres and helped the Huskies finish second
in the 4 X 200-metre women’s relay with a time of 1:36.67. The Huskies placed
third in the women’s team standings at that event.
Thanks to her steady performances, Hagerty will compete in
the long jump at the track and field competition that will be part of the FISU Summer World University Games
that run July 16 to 27 in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany. She will be joined at the World
University Games by Huskies women’s teammate Paige Willems (400-metre race),
Huskies men’s teammate Jake Neufeld (decathlon) and the head coach of both
Huskies Track and Field Teams in Jason Reindl.
Hagerty was pumped to get the chance to head to the World
University Games.
 |
| Jason Reindl, left, and Hannah Hagerty go over video of a jump. |
“With that dedication and hard work, I know that I am capable of competing at those higher levels and wearing that Team Canada gear. I feel like it will add a whole other level of excitement. I’m very thankful and very honoured, and I’m excited to see what I can kind of produce while I’m there under those pressures.”
On top competing at the World University Games, Hagerty will
experience being in another country. She thought it might be a bit overwhelming
for the first few days just being in Germany. Hagerty added it will be
different seeing athletes wearing the team gear of their respective countries
adding to the importance of the event, but she believes she can show she
belongs there.
“I think there will be added pressure, but I think it is
just all exciting, and I’m excited to see what comes from it,” said Hagerty.
After graduating from Campbell Collegiate in 2019, Hagerty
first joined the University of Regina Cougars Women’s Track and Field Team and
studied in kinesiology. Before the start of the 2022-23 campaign, she
transferred to the Huskies and became a business major at the Edwards School of Business at the U of S. She made
the move to get a fresh start in both athletics and academics.
Reindl has enjoyed coaching Hagerty with the Huskies as the
program’s head coach and recently took on the role of being Hagerty’s primary
coach in the long jump.
“As a head coach,
I’ve kind of been working with Hannah for three years now, but as her primary
coach, I really just started working with her in the last three months,” said
Reindl. “It has been a unique change, but a pretty exciting one in terms of her
enthusiasm for training and just excitement for pushing herself to be better.
“When we look at
long jump as her primary event, it is speed, it is power and the ability to
have a strong dynamic takeoff and some leverage. She has some long levers. She
is a taller gal.
“Whether it was
her development at Regina, what initial coaches here at USask in Kevin Cumming
and Jayden Wiebe have been able to do with her, she just has a knack for the
event and is able to do quite well and develop positively.”
Reindl said it
will be a great opportunity for Hagerty, Willems and Neufeld to represent
Canada on the international stage at the World University Games.
 |
| Hannah Hagerty works on her speed during a July 2 practice. |
“The maximum age
is now 25-years-old. It is kind of an international (competition) amongst their
peers and student athletes. The opportunity to put on a Team Canada singlet
(and) compete against some of the world’s best, it is just a great opportunity
to test themselves and have some fun.”
Going into the
World University Games, Hagerty said she gained a boost of confidence from how
well her 2024-25 U Sports season went with the Huskies.
“I think I just surprised myself,” said Hagerty. “I have
abilities to perform, but I don’t think anyone fully trusts that they’re going
to be the one to like be a Canada West champion or anything like that.
“I think it came with a lot of surprises, but with those
surprises, it also did come with a lot of hard work and dedication to being at
practice and working hard and always focusing when I am at practice. The season
was very exciting. I think it was eye-opening, and it is just exciting to see
what can come from that.
“I think that was obviously a very good start, and I just
want to keep building on that.”
To prepare for her upcoming international competition,
Hagerty said being able to train at the Track and Field Track on the Gordie
Howe Sports Complex grounds has been a huge help.
“The past summer months of training have definitely been
really, really good training,” said Hagerty. “That is where I transitioned
under Jason (Reindl).
“He has obviously put in a lot of work and a lot of work
into every single practice, into lifting and into the organization of preparing
for each week. I know that when I come to practice there is a purpose and
something that I’m supposed to be focusing on. I think, especially with long
jump, each practice focuses on kind of a different element, which I need, because
it is not just improving altogether.
“It is just working on specific things, so that when I do go
to those big stages, things hopefully can come together all in one.”
 |
| Hannah Hagerty won the Canada West title in the long jump in February. |
Her older brother, Josh, is an alum of the Huskies football club. Josh broke into the CFL as a defensive back with the Toronto Argonauts in 2021 and was a member of their Grey Cup championship team in 2022.
Josh played for the Edmonton Elks last season and started this season as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers before being released on July 2.
Hannah said her family’s sports background is pretty cool.
“I think it has been really fun,” said Hagerty. “When I was
little, I was always just very active being at baseball for my brother and
being at football for him.
“Wherever he kind of was, I was just the little sister that
kind of followed around, and it, obviously, added like a lot of excitement and
fun. I know growing up being around sports, I was always very, very active.
Then just seeing him (Josh) and how much time and dedication he has put into
his sports and the things that he loves, it gives me a lot of motivation that
knowing if you have that ability to kind of use that as your strength and
really push towards what you want.
“He has been someone who has very much inspired me into just
dedicating to what I want to do and seeing if I can take it to the next step.
Obviously, I am very proud of him, and I know that he still has a lot to give.
He is definitely someone that I’ve been very much inspired by.”
When the World University Games wraps up, Hagerty will return to the U of S to complete her final season of eligibility with the Huskies and finish up work on her business studies. She would like to continue with track and field when her Huskies days wrap up.
“I feel like I haven’t really thought about it being my last
season, because I always feel like there is more to come,” said Hagerty. “That
is just the mindset that I’ve been in for the past few years of being a
university athlete.
 |
| Hannah Hagerty aims to stick good results at the World University Games. |
