Trinity Western alum Regan Yee will represent Canada at the 2019 Pan American Games

Trinity Western alum Regan Yee (South Hazelton, B.C.) will represent Canada at the 2019 Pan American Games, as the middle distance star was part of a 46-athlete contingent named to the Canadian team that will compete in Lima, Peru from July 26 to Aug. 11.

Yee has been on the rise in the steeplechase world after clocking a personal best time of 9:37.31 last summer. She also won a silver medal at the 2018 Canadian Track & Field Championships in the steeplechase. This year, Yee, who has donned the Maple Leaf on several occasions, including twice at the Summer Universiade (2015 and 2017) recently won the steeplechase at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic in Burnaby, B.C. in 9:40.06 – a time that had her just .06 away from the IAAF World Championship standard.

Yee finished her Spartans career as a three-time national champion on the track, winning U SPORTS gold in in the 3000m in both 2016 and 2018 and in the 1500m in 2018. All told, she finished her Spartans track career with five U SPORTS medals and eight Canada West medals in her five years at TWU. In her final year, 2017-18, she was named TWU’s Female Athlete of the Year. She also holds TWU’s indoor school records in the 800m (2:07.97), the 1000m (2:42.99) and the 3000m (8:58.29).

She follows in the footsteps of TWU track and field alums Katelynn Ramage (Nanaimo, B.C. – 20km racewalk) and Nathan George (Coquitlam, B.C. – 4x400m), who competed in the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.

The Pan American Games serve as a vital component towards development, as was seen in 2015 with breakout performances by Rio 2016 triple Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse (100m, 200m,  4x100m relay), World silver medallist Melissa Bishop (800m), World Champion Shawn Barber (pole vault) and Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Derek Drouin (high jump). A total of 38 of 90 athletes from the 2015 Pan American Games team went on to represent Canada at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which means Canadians can expect to see a number of outstanding performances in Lima that will lead to positive results in Tokyo.

Athletics competitions will be held at National Sports Village (VIDENA) from Aug. 6 to Aug. 10.

Lima 2019 will bring together approximately 6,700 athletes from 41 nations of the Americas and feature 62 disciplines in 39 sports. It will be the largest sporting event ever held in Peru.