NWT Track and Field Championships take off from the start line
Published 4:50 am Wednesday, June 3, 2026
By James McCarthy Northern News Services
Hay River’s population has doubled, so to speak, for at least the next three days.
That’s because the NWT Track and Field Championships are set to get off and running this afternoon at Diamond Jenness Field. A total of 1,158 entrants from around the territory will be running, jumping and throwing their way to what they hope will be a territorial title and one lucky team will be crowned the overall champions come Friday afternoon.
It is, by the numbers, the largest annual sporting event in the NWT.
The amount of entries isn’t a record, said J.J. Hirst, one of the meet’s main organizers, but it’s close.
“Our record is 1,178,” he said. “It won’t be long before we can start cracking that 1,200 mark.”
Everything gets underway at 1 p.m. with the long-distance track events being the highlight: 1,500-metre, 3,000-metre etc. Various field events will also be happening, such as javelin, long jump and shot put in multiple age categories. The official opening ceremony will happen at the Aurora Ford Arena beginning at 7:15 p.m. with the teams marching in.
Day two on Thursday sees the sprints get into swing with the field events continuing, while the final day on Friday will see the sprint finals and the last of the field events decided. The closing ceremony happens inside Diamond Jenness at around 3 p.m.
One thing that’s always a concern — and one thing organizers have no control over — is the weather. The forecast for the next three days shows sunny conditions with decent temperatures, but that hasn’t stopped Mother Nature from tossing a wrench into the engine from time to time.
“Rain, wind, sleet, even snow — we’ve seen it all,” said Hirst. “We’ll be competing no matter what happens and no matter the weather.”
There are always changes to be had each year and this year is no different.
Hirst said there is a new and improved results board for competitors and spectators to reference, while the timing areas near the finish line will be given a facelift.
There’s also a new track sprayer, said Hirst, which will replace the one that has been operation since Hay Rier began hosting the meet in the 1990s.
Businesses have also stepped up to make sure everyone is well looked after, Hirst added, especially considering the town is currently under a boil-water advisory due to high turbidity — muddy water — in the supply.
“We’ve had plenty of help with that from several businesses,” he said. “They want to make sure everyone stays safe, as do we.”
A heartfelt thank you to all our incredible sponsors, your generous support makes this track and field meet possible, and without you, it wouldn’t be the tremendous success that it is!
Athlete of year leads way at Track and Field, narrowly missing record
Ollie WilliamsThursday June 4, 2026 at 5:57am MTUpdated: June 4, 2026 at 8:44am MT
Logan Doll knew the record like the back of his hand.
On his forearm, he had written all of the splits for Ruari Carthew’s 1997 Track and Field record time of 17:15.45 in the U17 boys’ 5,000 metres.
On Wednesday, Doll finished in 17:22.52 – seven seconds outside Carthew’s time, a close margin after 17 minutes’ racing in sweltering conditions.
Logan Doll’s arm, with notes on lap times to break the record. Ollie Williams/Cabin Radio
“I’ve got the lap times written out on my arm right here that I was going for,” he said after the race, showing Cabin Radio the arm in question.
“Unfortunately, the clock wasn’t running for this race and I didn’t bring a watch.”
Knowing the pace he should set but having no idea if he was setting it left Doll frustrated. Recently named the NWT’s junior male athlete of the year by Sport North, he had been within one second of Carthew’s time in training.
“It’s also hot as heck out here, so I could be feeling better,” he said. “But I’m happy with how the race went overall, I think.”
Provisional results from Wednesday’s opening day of the 2026 NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River suggest a few records did fall.
Yellowknife schools won the majority of Wednesday’s events, with St Pat’s athlete Nevaeh Dusome’s 9.72m in U15 girls’ shot put a highlight. Dusome’s throw is a record for a first-year participant (a U14 athlete in a U15 category), beating 9.47m by Kayleigh Hunter in 2015. Similarly, the Track and Field scoring system reports that Cian Segboer’s 29.27m in boys’ U13 discus was a first-year record by about four metres, beating a mark set by Colton Yee in 2004.
Nate Graham’s 1.44m in boys’ U13 high jump was a first-year record, too.
Nate Graham in high jump. Ollie Williams/Cabin Radio
École Allain St-Cyr’s Éléonore MacPherson. Ollie Williams/Cabin Radio
Finn Marshall, centre. Ollie Williams/Cabin Radio
No overall (aka second-year) records were reported to have fallen on the opening day. Two days of competition remain and results from some Wednesday track events have still to be collated.
École Boréale’s Jaxin Coombs put in a commanding performance to win the boys’ U15 3,000m, while the opening track events of the day – the 1,500m U13 races – were won by École Allain St-Cyr’s Éléonore MacPherson and William McDonald School’s Finn Marshall.
“My legs just started moving for me in the last 150 metres,” said Marshall, describing the sprint finish in which he caught Range Lake North’s Ethan Unrau.
“This is the event that I was most focused on, so now I just go and have fun.”
More than 1,000 athletes are taking part in this year’s event. The overall number involved – including coaches – is 1,156 people, close to a record for participation.
Track and Field Championship/championnat d’athlétisme
Congratulations to all the athletes who competed at our Track and Field Championship on Sunday. Full individual results can be found at the link below.
Félicitations à tous les athlètes qui ont participé à notre championnat d’athlétisme dimanche. Vous trouverez tous les résultats individuels en cliquant sur le lien ci-dessous.
