Steven Rajewsky realized Savannah Sutherland belonged at the world level when he watched her become the youngest-ever Canadian to reach an Olympic track final and perform well against the best female hurdlers.
At 21, Sutherland placed seventh in the women’s 400-metre event of her 2024 Summer Games debut in Paris, a race won by world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in 50.37 seconds, 3.5 ahead of Sutherland, while current world No. 1 Femke Bol was third (52.15).
Sutherland’s Olympic experience, which also included a sixth-place finish in the women’s 4×400 relay, prepared the native of Borden, Sask., for her senior year at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
“She was very focused [to start 2025] as you’d expect from a fourth-year competitor [in the NCAA] with the global experiences under her belt,” Rajewsky, the assistant coach of track and field at Michigan, told CBC Sports. “She possessed the knowledge she needed to navigate on and off the track.”
On Thursday night, the now 22-year-old Sutherland’s year in athletics could end with her being named the first Canadian female recipient of The Bowerman, U.S. collegiate track and field’s highest individual honour.
The versatile Sutherland, who also runs the flat 400, is up against Kenyan runners Pamela Kosgei (University of New Mexico) and Doris Lemngole (University of Alabama) for the award named after Bill Bowerman, the legendary Oregon track and field coach and Nike co-founder.
The most outstanding athletes in men’s and women’s track and field will be unveiled at the United States Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association convention in Grapevine, Texas.
Camryn Rogers, the reigning world and Olympic champion hammer thrower from Richmond, B.C., was a finalist for the Bowerman in 2022, 10 years after heptathlete Brianne Theisen of Humboldt, Sask.
High jumper Derek Drouin is the most recent Canadian to capture the award in 2013, the year after Cam Levins, Canada’s record holder in the men’s marathon and half marathon.
Savannah Sutherland reflects on record-breaking success on the track
On July 7, Sutherland was the first Canadian track-specific athlete named a Bowerman finalist, first female from the Big 10 conference and first from the Michigan Wolverines program, male or female.
“Any and all of these firsts would resonate with great pride for Borden, Canada, Michigan and the Big 10,” said Rajewsky, who will continue coaching Sutherland in Ann Arbor after the Adidas-sponsored athlete turned pro in the summer.
“She always has pride in representing those who have continued to support her. Her family, home and her country are consistently at the top of that list.”
Sutherland didn’t let up in the summer following an indoor season during which she set a Canadian and Wolverine record in the 400m dash at the NCAA Division 1 championships, won a Big 10 title for the second year in a row and set a program mark in the 200 (23.26 seconds).
She won four of her five finals in the 400 hurdles and two races in the 400 — at the Edmonton Athletics Invitational, where she qualified for the 2025 World Athletics Championships, and Canadian track and field championships in Ottawa.
Rajewsky highlighted Sutherland’s winning effort at the Tom Jones Memorial event on April 18 in Gainesville, Fla., where she ran 53.46 seconds for the-then seventh-fastest time in NCAA history.
From there, Sutherland ended her collegiate career on June 14, posting a Canadian record 52.46 in Eugene, Ore., for her second NCAA title. It was also a meet, NCAA and Big 10 mark, ninth-fastest time recorded in the event and fourth-fastest in 2025.
It was the race outcome Rajewsky and Sutherland believed was possible, the coach said, noting her competitiveness, the stride pattern she used to maintain rhythm and speed between barriers, along with her race distribution — how Sutherland managed her speed, rhythm and energy over 400 metres.
lSydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s 52.75 400m hurdles NCAA record falls!<br><br>Michigan’s Savannah Sutherland takes the NCAA Championships 400m hurdles title in 52.46. 🏆<br><br>Ties Femke Bol for No. 2 in the world this year.<br><br>Canadian record. 🇨🇦<br><br>No. 9 all-time. 🌎<br><br> <a href=”https://t.co/x6sZtQSRum”>pic.twitter.com/x6sZtQSRum</a>
Rajewsky is excited for Sutherland’s transition to professional racing “as she takes on this new phase in her life, while also embracing and building upon her previous accomplishments.”
He added her primary focus in 2026 will be preparing to represent Canada at World Relays in May (Gaborone, Botswana), Commonwealth Games in July (Glasgow, Scotland) and on the Diamond League professional track and field circuit after making her debut in August.
But first, Sutherland, who earned her degree in biology, health and society, will try to cap 2025 with another win.
Kosgei is the first New Mexico athlete to be named a Bowerman finalist. She was the NCAA women’s outdoor champion over 5,000 and 10,000 metres.
Lemngole was the indoor 5,000 champion this year and outdoor 3,000 champion in the steeplechase, setting the NCAA mark in the latter. Lemngole and Kosgei were undefeated against collegiate competition.
