Podbielski racing into the U of R record books

Reporter Britton Gray highlights remarkable Saskatchewan athletes in this regular feature.

Jonathan Podbielski has raced to the top of the Canada West track rankings.

The 19-year-old is the top-ranked Canada West runner in the men’s 1,000- and 1,500-metre races, and is ranked second and fifth nationally in those categories as well.

“I honestly planned to be there this year,” the second-year University of Regina Cougars track and field athlete said. “I try to hold myself to a high standard and I hope to win nationals this year or in the near future and I really enjoy the competitive aspect of it.

“I have always been competitive and I hope to continue on this path.”

While he has emerged as a key piece of the U of R’s track program, the sport wasn’t his first love.

At Campbell Collegiate, he played basketball and football. One of his teachers pushed him to give track a try.

“When I was in high school, I had a teacher who ran for the Cougars actually – his name was Eric Benjamin,” Podbielski said. “(He’s) a great guy and an amazing teacher as well.

“He kind of pushed me into the sport a little bit as I was nearing the end of secondary school. He gave me this opportunity and put me in a club called Excel Athletika with his buddy Russell Neff and it has kind of been upwards since then.”

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While running in high school, Podbielski realized he could take things to the next level and run at the university level.

“I think everyone starts off in their sport as something more recreational and something they enjoy doing,” Podbielski said. “When you start to see your performance and you see you are getting better and you see you actually have potential to be as good as these guys you look up to … that’s when you say, ‘OK, here we go, we are going to the next level here.’ ”

He elected to stay in his home city and run with the Cougars on both their track and field team and cross-country squad.

“I really liked the team,” he said. “Lots of my buddies from previous years came to this team. I saw (Stephen) Davis, my coach, having tremendous success with all those guys and I was also inclined to see some of that success.

“It means a lot (to run at the U of R) really. It’s nice to come from such a small university. People are looking at the U of R and might think it’s a smaller program and smaller place, but it’s really nice to come from this smaller community and go to the bigger places and do really well because it shows we are really good here in Regina and it’s a great program.”

In his first year with the team in 2022-23, Podbielski won a Canada West silver in the 1,000m and Canada West bronze in the 1500m with a personal-best time of three minutes 53.47 seconds.

Last summer, he also participated in the under-20 Canadian track and field championships in Langley, B.C., where he won the 800m and 1,500m on separate days but with only one hour of sleep.

“It was something where I beat a guy – his name was Riley Flemington and he studies at the University of Michigan – and it was just going through my brain,” Podbielski said. “I couldn’t get over how big of an accomplishment it was. I really couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t settle myself down and it was just that great.

“It was a bit tough. The muscles were a little bit sore – I had a little bit of a cramp in my right calf, I remember – but I still got the job done and that’s what matters.”

This year, he has placed first in a number of meets, including the Golden Bear Open in Edmonton where he broke a 45-year-old meet record. His 1,500m time of 3:48.67 broke the record set by Victoria’s Doug Beckham in 1979 and also broke the U of R record for the race.

“I had no idea about the 45-year-old meet record. I watched the stream afterward and I had text messages coming from my parents that it was 45 years old and it was this big deal,” Podbielski said. “It was kind of special to know that.

“The big thing for me was the Cougar record. The previous holder of that record was Ron MacLean, a buddy of mine, so that’s why it was really special in that moment. I always looked up to Ron MacLean ever since I first joined track and he was kind of the guy that I idolized.

“For him to be in the race – he came second behind me – and when I broke his record that he took in 2020, that’s what really made it special was that kind of moment. He shook my hand after and said congrats.”

Podbielski has also been a key contributor to the 4x800m U of R relay team that has been ranked at No. 1 this season.

“That’s the really special thing because the 4×800 is kind of the event that determines which school in the country is performing the best in the middle distances,” he said. “For us to be ranked, I guess you could technically call us the best middle distance school in the country right now.

“I was talking with that with my buddies on the team and it’s like, ‘Well, right now we are the best. What does that mean?’ and it means a lot. You know you can’t let your guys down so you kind of have that extra motivation to do really well in your specific leg and I think everyone runs faster because of it.”

Podbielski will try to bring home more gold at the Canada West championship in Edmonton on Feb. 23-24 and then the U Sports championships March 7-9 in Winnipeg.

One day, he also hopes the Olympics could be in his future.

“They are always sitting in the back of your head. The focus right now is on the U Sports season and previously it was the junior season. Now that I am a senior athlete, I think they are now in the horizon,” Podbielski said.