Jude Wheeler-Dee and Alex McDougall named Under Armour Athletes of the Week

The 2025 U Sports cross-country season is in full swing, with top collegiate athletes from across Canada hitting the grass and getting muddy as they chase national glory. The national U Sports Cross-Country Championships will be returning to Sherbrooke, Que., on Nov. 8 for the first time in 15 years; Canadian Running, in partnership with Under Armour, will spotlight the country’s standout performers each week as the Under Armour Athlete of the Week.

This week, we are highlighting Jude Wheeler-Dee of Queen’s University and Alex McDougall of the University of Guelph for their victories at the Marauder Bayfront on Friday in Hamilton.

Jude Wheeler-Dee, Queen’s University (OUA)

Kingston, Ont., native Wheeler-Dee, a fifth-year athlete majoring in education, won the 8K race in 23:25.2–a three-second victory over double U Sports track champion Max Davies of the Guelph Gryphons (23:28.1); Nolan Turgeon of Sherbrooke Vert et Or took third in 23:36.9.

“The race felt epic for where we are in the season,” Wheeler-Dee told Canadian Running. “Being in my last year, it is just super sweet to be on the course with the guys I’ve met over the last four to five years.

“Yes–I am quite competitive, but at the end of the day, I just feel very lucky to run with these boys,” he added.

When it comes to the goals for the remainder of the season, Wheeler-Dee says, everything is revolving around U Sports. “The homies and I have a title to defend,” he said. “The individual stuff I like to keep close to the chest, but I think it’s probably pretty obvious.”

Wheeler-Dee has not yet won a U Sports cross-country title–although he has established himself as a frontrunner consistently throughout his collegiate career. Last year, he took home the OUA Championship title in Callander, Ont., and his top performances at the U Sports XC Championships include an eighth-place finish from 2023 and 13th in 2024. In August, at the U23 Pan Am Championships in Paraguay, the runner also won 1,500m gold.

At last year’s U Sports Championships in Kelowna, B.C., with Wheeler-Dee leading the pack, the Queen’s men’s team made history by winning their first national title in 40 years. This year, the Gaels are looking strong on their quest to defend that U Sports title. Friday’s race saw the Queen’s men (Wheeler-Dee, Angus Skinner, Roman Mironov, Tanner Hueglin and Ethan Rashid-Cocker) take their second win of the season (the squad also won the Hoffman Invitational in Canton, N.Y., last month) with a dominant 54 points; Sherbrooke Vert et Or and the Guelph Gryphons tied for second with 78 points.

Alex McDougall, University of Guelph (OUA)

For McDougall, a fourth-year biomedical engineering student from Port Perry, Ont., the 2025 cross-country season has been one to remember. McDougall took an early lead in Friday’s 8K race, maintaining her lead throughout to clock a winning time of 27:05.2–the second individual win of her collegiate career. (She opened her season last month with a dominant performance at the Vigars and Salter Western Invitational). McDougall’s victory also led the Gryphon women to an overall fourth-place finish.

Fifth-year runner Julia Agostinelli of the Toronto Varsity Blues took second in 27:30.8 while Victoria Lamb of the Western Mustangs rounded out the podium in 28:03.2.

“After my first race of the season and the unexpected win, I came into this race with some more confidence and a plan to get out hard and kind of run my own race,” McDougall told Canadian Running. “I executed the race plan well–I got out fast and tried to keep the foot on the gas in the middle parts of the race. The win was a great outcome that I am super happy with.”

The Gryphon athlete now has her eyes on the upcoming championship races. “My goals for the rest of the season are to medal at U Sports and have the women’s team medal at OUAs,” she said.

See here for full results from the Marauder Bayfront race.