He has dominated jumping events throughout his high school career, and now Mission’s Bryce MacKenzie is set to take the leap to the university stage.
The 2018 Mission Secondary grad heads to Edmonton to compete as a member of the University of Alberta Golden Bears this fall, where he is expected to play a key role on the track and field team.
MacKenzie heads to the Alberta capital after an outstanding high school career with the Roadrunners.
His track success first made the pages of the Mission Record back in 2014, when he won gold in the triple jump and silver in the high jump as a Grade 8 athlete at that year’s provincials. Later that summer he also won bronze at the B.C. Summer Games.
Since then, MacKenzie has continued to rack up medals and has owned the high school provincials podium.
But none of that success might have occurred if not for the encouragement of a middle school coach.
MacKenzie said he fancied himself as a runner and had no interest in jumping events, until Hatzic Middle School track coach Mike Macblain told him to give it a shot.
“He encouraged me to try everything and it turned out better for me,” he said. “I started with high jump because it looked like the most fun and I just stuck with it. Mike then introduced me to triple jump and I happened to be pretty good at that too. Long jump became my third, and it quickly became my favourite.”
He said he seemed to feel comfortable in the three events almost instantly, and he perfected them with hard work.
READ MORE: Double gold for Mission’s MacKenzie
“The first time I remember doing high jump it was at an elementary school championship in Grade 7 and I remember getting over 1.50 metres, which was big. That was when I thought I could be good at this. I was the one kid in gym class who everyone would say, ‘Stop trying so hard, it’s not the Olympics,’ but I thought, ‘Screw them, I want to try hard because I like trying hard’ and that’s kind of put me where I am today.”
It wasn’t only track and field that MacKenzie played growing up. He also played soccer, lacrosse, ran cross country and played volleyball. He said being a multi-sport athlete helped him with all the activities, but by Grade 9 he began to focus more on the jumping events.
It was around that time that MacKenzie hooked up with the Golden Ears Eagles track club, and began training under head coach Rick Lloyd. He credits Lloyd with helping him develop into the athlete he is today.
The provincial medals kept coming for MacKenzie in the years that followed. This past summer he won provincial gold in both the high jump and triple jump, along with silver in the long jump. In May, he also set a provincial record for the senior male long jump and high jump, en route to winning three gold medals in jumping events at the Fraser Valley track and field championships.
Last year he won gold in high jump and silvers in long jump and triple jump at the provincials.
MacKenzie said being in an individual sport has its ups and downs.
“Sometimes I enjoy that and sometimes I don’t,” he said, of the individual aspect of the sport. “You don’t have anyone else to blame if you don’t excel, and all the success and failure is on you.”
He said he had several offers from other schools, including one from the top-ranked University of Guelph, but liked the coaches at Alberta and the fact that he will be relatively close to home.
The Olympics is also on MacKenzie’s mind, and he said that is his ultimate goal in the sport.
He will be going for a bachelor of science at the U of A, and then eventually wants to transfer to the University of the Fraser Valley to get his teaching certificate.
MacKenzie will still compete with the Eagles in the summer, while jumping with the Alberta Golden Bears during the fall and winter.
For more on the team, visit ualberta.ca/athletics.