During her time as a student-athlete, Warriors track and field legend Hannah Blair (Waterloo/Waterloo) claimed just about every award and accolade that she could earn for her dominance on the track. But now, she's being recognized nationally for her brilliance in the classroom.
On Wednesday, Blair was honoured as one of the top academic performers in U SPORTS, as she was named to the Top-8 Academic All-Canadians for the 2022-23 season. The two-time Warriors Female Athlete of the Year was selected to the Top-8 from a list of 4,900 student-athletes that achieved Academic All-Canadian status last season.
Blair accomplished a 3.96 grade-point average in the honours Kinesiology program, while compiling one of the most dominant seasons in the history of the Warriors track and field program. In 2023, Blair won her third consecutive OUA gold medal in the pentathlon, and broke her own record for the highest point total in the history of the OUA championships. She also became just the second woman ever to exceed the 4000-point milestone in OUA competition. In addition to a bronze medal in the pentathlon at the U SPORTS national championships, Blair also claimed silver in the high jump.
While student-athletes are no stranger to the balance between the field and the classroom, Blair's situation is even more unique: pentathletes compete in seven events per meet, and Blair competes in other individual events and relays on top of that. But that's never been an issue for Blair – on the contrary, she sees some parallels between training for several events, and juggling classwork and other commitments.
"I think maybe training for multiple events equipped me well for going between labs, tests, or classes," said Blair. "There was a learning curve in both aspects (athletics and academics), but it's about being malleable to the task at hand."
Blair's selection to the Top-8 Academic All-Canadian roster is the culmination of arguably the most decorated career in program history. At last spring's athletics banquet, Blair and fellow Warriors track star Immanuel Onyemah (Mississauga/Mississauga) were named Warriors athletes of the year, marking the first time that a pair of athletes from the track and field program swept the highest honour in uWaterloo athletics. According to Blair, the support from the coaching staff and her teammates was integral in her success, and she hopes her latest recognition helps put the track and field program in the spotlight that it deserves.
"I hope it sheds some light on our great program that we have here," said Blair. "The sweep for myself and Immanuel, that was really special for us. We owe a lot of our success to our coaches, who are all volunteers, and they've created an incredible program for us all."
As for what's next, Blair hasn't ruled out postgraduate education, and she continues to train for the upcoming outdoor track and field season, where she hopes to make strides towards the biggest international stages.
"We have a great post-collegiate group at UW, so I am still training with the team here," said Blair. "I'm gearing up for a big outdoor season, and the goal is to hopefully make a national team in the future."
This is the 30th anniversary of the Top-8 Academic All-Canadian team. Blair and the other 7 honourees were recognized at a ceremony on Wednesday (read the full U SPORTS release).
