When the University of Victoria women’s cross country team claimed a team bronze medal at last year’s U Sports Canadian University Championships, it marked the first time in 13 years that the Vikes had climbed onto the national podium. 

Claiming bronze individually that same day was Madelyn Eybergen, a breakout star at the University of Windsor, who had entered the season as a complete unknown. Eybergen discovered distance running only a year earlier after injury woes put an end to a promising varsity high-jump career. 

At the time, both feats seemed like crowning achievements: a return to form for the once-dominant Vikes program after several years of steady rebuilding under new head coach Hilary Stellingwerff, and an incredible cap to her career as a Lancer for Eybergen, who was set to wrap up her time in Windsor and pursue graduate studies in kinesiology elsewhere.

Fast-forward to this past weekend in Sherbrooke, Que., however, and the 2025 iteration of the U Sports Championships would see both the Vikes and Eybergen achieve even greater heights, topping the podium with gold medals in the team and individual competitions, respectively. 

The biggest difference a year later? That the 2024 bronze-medal-winning individual had joined forces with the 2024 bronze-winning team, combining to bring a national title home to Victoria for the first time since 2001–the year Eybergen was born. 

Today on The Shakeout Podcast we’re joined by the newly minted U Sports Cross Country double gold medallist Madelyn Eybergen and Vikes head coach Hilary Stellingwerff to recap a historic win for their team and talk about how they turned a pair of bronze medals from 2024 into double gold in 2025.

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