Guelph runner Max Davies leads pack of young record-breakers in U Sports championship season

In a U Sports championship season filled with record-breaking performances by young athletes, Max Davies stood out above the rest.

The 20-year-old middle-distance runner's three gold medals were the driving force of the Guelph Gryphons collecting a seventh consecutive men's national title at the 2024 U Sports Track & Field Championships in Winnipeg on Mar. 9.

While Davies lists his 4x800-metre relay win alongside teammates Adam Schmidt, Mason Basson and Alanzo Ryan as the highlight of his weekend, the Toronto native also holds the esteemed title of the only U Sports record-breaker across the three-day event.

And he did it twice in both the 1,000m and 1,500m finals, now standing as the only current U Sports record holder in multiple events.

"I feel like some people put too much emphasis on the time, when at these championship meets, placement matters," said Davies, who helped secure 30 of Guelph's 89 points in the standings to edge Manitoba out by 7.5 points for first place. "If you're thinking about the team score, I wanted to get 10 points to maximize our chances of winning.

"When I got told after [about the records] I was obviously very happy; it's always nice to break a record. But… when you win, that is forever — and the record could be broken next year."

While the nature of track and field records is to fall as athletes improve year-over-year, what the 2024 U Sports male track athlete of the year accomplished was rare.

His 1,000m record time of two minutes, 21 seconds bested a 2:22.09 record that has stood since 2012, set by Guelph's Tommy Lecours.

And his 1,500m time of 3:44.00 cleared Allan Klassen of UBC's record that had stood for 34 years by 2.85 seconds. Three other athletes also bested Klassen's mark set in