Makayla Mitchell, a native of Nanaimo, B.C., hadn't strayed very far from home before coming to Montreal for her studies. An RSEQ conference all-star and gold medalist pentathlete with the McGill University women's track and field team, the 20-year-old pharmacology sophomore applied to many east coast schools, but in the end it was McGill that won her over.

"McGill is obviously a really good place for education, so it was my priority," says Mitchell. "I was also going to be on the track and field team. It just made sense to me. Their programs also added to my decision." 

Mitchell always knew she wanted to study life sciences as the program offers many paths after school, including what she's specializing in. 

"It's hard to know what you want to do exactly after your studies but this opens so many doors," Mitchell notes. "I also think it's great just to know what you're actually taking in your everyday life, and understand what's happening to you." 

Outside of her studies, Mitchell is highly involved in community outreach and the McGill Varsity Council. In high school, she was part of her student council, but she said it wasn't really the same thing.  

"I felt like not everyone had the same passion as I did. Here, I really found my place in this Varsity Council because people care so much about sports. We've all grown and we find ways to give back and create a community." 

She explains that having to find the extra time to get involved is often difficult for student-athletes because of their busy schedules. However, Mitchell finds it important to participate in councils and such groups, especially if there are possibilities to add, for example, a Varsity Council role into a daily routine. 

"I was the (council's) vice-president of community outreach last year, and I'm doing it again this year. Last year was a bit trickier because of the pandemic, but we tried to do as many remote things as we could. We promoted initiatives, making online publications about the Black Lives Matter movement and LGBTQIA2+. I ran an initiative where we gave hot chocolate to homeless people on Bell Let's Talk Day, just to let them know people care about them." 

Mitchell first became interested in track and field at age nine. She said when she was younger, she always wanted to do everything her older brother was doing, and that's how she got into the sport. 

"He played hockey, so I did. Then, he did track and field, so that's how I started. I began by doing all the events because at first they encourage you to develop that way." 

In high school, Mitchell really enjoyed competing in the javelin event, but injured her arm and had to stop participating in that event. That injury pushed her to start jumping more seriously. This year, she switched to the pentathlon, which is five events: 60m sprint hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump and an 800m run. In her debut season with the McGill track program, she captured the RSEQ pentathlon title, scoring a combined 2,872 points over her five events to win gold at the league championship meet in Sherbrooke, March 19-20.

Mitchell appreciates track and field for many reasons but says the fact that you compete individually, unlike most sports, makes it special.  

"If you're having a bad day, you're simply doing bad [on the results]," she explains. "If you're on a team, you can still win even if you're not at your best. What's interesting about track and field is that at the end of the day, you just want to perform better than you did the last time. Yes, it's great to win, but it's also a win just to get a new personal best in an event." 


SOURCE:
Alec Brideau
Communications Assistant
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University