Sienna MacDonald: Heptathlete

In this episode of Airdrie Inside, Chris Glass sits down with Team Canada heptathlete Sienna MacDonald. Sienna’s journey is a masterclass in the generalist mindset—competing in eight different disciplines where the margin for error is non-existent. From her roots as a George McDougall Mustang to standing on the line hearing her name called alongside Olympians in China and Poland, Sienna has spent her life framing a solution to the limits of her own expectations. Now ranked around the top 50 globally, she’s moving the needle toward the 2027 World Championships and the Olympic dream.

Airdrie is no longer a bedroom community; it is a powerhouse of talent. It’s time to stop explaining your mission and start declaring it.

Follow Sienna’s Journey: @sienna.macdonald on Instagram.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Like I got on the line and they're calling names and they're like Olympian, Olympian, Olympian, Sienna McDonald, Olympian, Olympian. And I was like, oh my gosh, like it finally hit when I was standing on the line. And I'm standing there and I'm looking and I see the crowd. Like I've competed in maybe a thousand with a thousand people watching, like, no more than that. And there's probably like at least six, seven thousand people in this crowd. It's just like huge compared to what I'm used to. I'm standing there and I'm like waiting for the gun to go. And the only thing I'm thinking in my head is like, wow, like I'm running with some really cool people.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Airdrie Inside. I am your host, Chris Glass. I am once again here at RivalAx. If you haven't been to this facility, come on down, throw some axes, throw some darts, and have some of the best old fashions I have ever tasted, all here in Airdrie. Uh Sienna McDonald, you're my guest today. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Now, again, I uh constantly say this on the show about how great George Mack is at producing athletes and great people. And you're no exception, a fellow Mustang. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Oh my gosh. Yeah. I mean, George Mack is kind of where I started my track career.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

So I gotta give them kudos. No, not known for their track program very much. No, definitely not. So uh tell me a little bit about yourself uh prior to becoming an athlete. Uh always an airdronian?

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Um I grew up in Spruce Grove and I spent 16 years of my life there and then moved here in 2016. Okay. Yeah, less than I spent less than 16 years. But yeah, moved here in 2016, and then yeah, I've been an airdree ever since. Excellent. And uh you are a heptathlete. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Now I I have to be honest with you. I had to Google all eight sports because I knew the main ones. But uh that 800 meters looks like the the bell of the ball, huh?

SPEAKER_01 2:02

It's probably the bane of my existence. Every time I get to the start line, I'm standing there and nerves just like stream through my body. Like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna step off the track as soon as we start. Like, there's no way I'm finishing this in every time I finish. I've never stepped off the track, but I always think about it.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Now, most athletes specialize in something. They they decide I'm gonna be really good at 100 meters, I'm gonna be really good at hurdles, I'm gonna be really good at shot put or javelin. You decided now that's not for me.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Yeah, it was interesting. I got into like the heptathlon in a really backwards way at the time that like airdry division for Alberta Summer Games was looking for a hept athlete, and I was the last person to register. So lucky me, they're like, we need a heptathlete. And I was like, I have no clue what that is. And so they ran me through the events. I had two weeks to figure it all out, and they're like, okay, go do it. And then I kind of just fell in love with it from there. So it found me more than I found it.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Was that the Grand Prairie Games? Or yes, that was excellent. I was up there with you. Oh my gosh, no one else representing zone two. Yeah. It's a big country. That's what we just kept on saying on the year. Oh, yeah, yeah. So, and for people who haven't been through the Alberta Summer Games, uh, it's kind of like a mini Olympics for for our youth. 100%. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

So tell me about the experience. It was it was a great experience. It was like my first time like properly competing in track and fields is like kind of eye-opening. It's like, oh, like there's a lot of people here that know what they're doing, and I have no clue what's happening. And I had to like learn all these steps of like high school track, like you go through the motions, but then you go to this, and it's a little bit more like upscale. Yeah. There's a little bit more attention to like you have to be on time and things need to run properly. And so it's getting there, and everybody's going through and looking so professional. And I was just like, am I the only one that's lost right now? Or right, and even the adults were lost.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

It's it's all good.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

100%. I'm sure there was a lot of chaos behind the scenes. Did you ever miss curfew? No, I didn't.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

No, that was always a challenge.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

I do remember, however, though, like having uh it was in like a library or something, and there was like the mattresses that were set out side by side. It's like you reach over and you're like sleeping next to someone else in a different zone. You're like, hey, how's it going? Nice to meet you.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

And there's always one kid who brought the air mattress and was smarter than all of us when we're sleeping. You have to understand how small these mats were. Yeah, they're tiny. Yeah. And that was basically a thick yoga mat.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

A very good experience. Okay, so after the summer games, uh, now you're heptathlete and just learning what that is yourself. Yeah. Uh, when did you realize this was something that was more than just uh a hobby or something that you were passionate about? When did you realize you could go somewhere with it?

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Yeah, so at like the time joining like Calgary Warriors, um, when I joined, there was a girl that ran this beautiful, beautiful hurdle race. Her name was Natasha, and my coach at the time was like, if you can keep up to that girl, like you're going places. And the next year I beat her at provincials. So I was like, oh, like there you go. There you go, right? And so I kind of like stuck with it. And it wasn't until grade 12, like middle of the year, where like my coach, uh less at the time was like, You need to come to Calgary, like I really want to keep coaching you. And I was like, No, like I think I'm gonna try to go to the States and figure something out there. He's like, No, stay here. And then COVID happened, and I was like, Okay, fine, like I guess I'm staying in Calgary. Yeah, um, so then I decided to stay. And that's kind of when things kind of turned around a little bit. I was starting to get faster, stronger. Um, everything was kind of clicking, and then heading more into university, I was getting injured a lot. And then the year I think it was 2023, I kind of had like a breakthrough year, and I just like started to get quite good and kind of like ranking on a global scale rather than just a national scale. So yeah. And that was with the University of Calgary, yeah, yeah. Like second year, third year into university, I can't remember. But yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:01

And so as you uh progress in your university to career, like you said, you were ranked nationally and then you start getting noticed internationally. Uh, what changed at that point for you? Uh coaching, diet, uh, commitment? What what clicked?

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Yeah, I don't even I don't even know. I think it was just consistency. Like I was doing all the same stuff I was doing before, but on a regular basis. Like I was training five days a week and then competing on weekends and having a little bit of fun in the summers when you have a month off before you start. Track is a weird sport, like it goes year-round because you have indoor season that basically goes from October, you're starting training, and then you finish April, and then you start April and go till about August. So yeah, there's a very short window for like relaxation.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Yeah. So you have to really love it.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Oh, 100%. Yeah, yeah. You gotta you have to be in it 100%.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Now, what's the highest level that you've competed at so far?

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Uh, I have done two indoor world games. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

What's that experience like?

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Oh my gosh. So the first time last year in China or yeah, China for Nanjing was my first experience on a national team. And it was such a big jump because I'd compete at U Sports, but it's just, it's different. Like I got on the line and they're calling names and they're like, Olympian, Olympian, Olympian, Sienna McDonald, Olympian, Olympian. And I was like, oh my gosh, like it finally hit when I was standing on the line. And I'm standing there and I'm looking and I see the crowd. Like, I've competed in maybe a thousand with a thousand people watching, like, no more than that. And there's probably like at least six, seven thousand people in this crowd. It's just like huge compared to what I'm used to. I'm standing there and I'm like waiting for the gun to go. And the only thing I'm thinking in my head is like, wow, like I'm running with some really cool people. And I think it it startled me, and I was not prepared for that opportunity. So then going into this indoor worlds, I spent a lot of time trying to convince myself that I earned a spot here. Like I ran the time I needed, and I beat out people from that position. So I just have to like, I gotta, I gotta believe in myself. Like, I gotta trust it. And I got on the line and the nerves weren't there. Like I felt like this was any other race. And yeah, it was just such a different experience from like the last one to this.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Yeah. Where was this world's health? This was in Poland. Poland, yeah. Was it like better? Poland or China? What was the better experience?

SPEAKER_01 8:25

It they're so different. Yeah, and it's like hard to compare them. China was great because it was just like culturally, like it was so different. Yeah, right. And I got to see a lot of things that like I wouldn't have seen, anyways. Like it was really far, really far. Like the travel time, I think, total was 36 hours with all of our delays and everything. Um, but yeah, like China, China was cool, it was neat. There's a lot of like just interesting things to see. We went to like a huge mall, it was like eight stories high, like not massive. No, it was huge. Like, I don't even know how to describe this place. Like, I got lost every time I walked into there. Oh, that's so cool. Um, but Poland was just gorgeous, like old buildings, and I think the the difference between like Nanging being like all these like high-rise, like glass buildings, then Poland being like these brick, like old old town. It was yeah, so different. Very cool.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

Now, as a heptathlete, uh, right, like um I'm always fascinated by uh like biathlon's always my favorite. Like I get a ski and shoot. Like, what do these two things have to do with each other? But long distance running, like the 800 meters uh versus javelin or uh one of those uh disciplines, how do you train for basically eight different sports?

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Yeah, it's it's tough training. Like it, like you said, there's you're training for eight different events, and it's not like you can't focus on one more than another, you have to give them all the proper attention. And that's where I kind of lean on like my coaches. So, like right now, um, my coach James, we have like a pretty specific, like he'll make the program, and I just I trust it 100% in what he's building, right? It's like as a coach, like you a coach athlete relationship, like you have to trust your coach, right? It's like if you don't have that trust, it's not gonna work. Um, but basically, like my train my training schedule like five days a week, and then I lift three times a week and do usually two to three events per practice. Okay. Um, mostly technical work. So if I'm doing hurdles, I'll do like block starts over three hurdles, and I'll do that like five or six times, and I'll then I'll go on to high jump drills, and it's just like getting it's very tedious, very repetitive work, but it all like it makes sense in the end. But as you're doing it, you're like, why am I doing all this?

SPEAKER_02 10:51

Like, what this makes no sense. That's part of the drive though, right? Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Do you have one that you prefer over others?

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Yeah, I definitely say hurdles and long jump are probably more on like the strong side for me. And I think I prefer them because I'm good at them. I mean, you don't I don't like doing things that I'm bad at. So right. Um, but yeah, definitely hurdles, hurdles and long jump.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

Very cool. So walk me through uh one of these events where you go to the worlds. Uh if you're running a hundred meters, you might run three times, you know, you qualify, then you get to the semis, quarters, whatever, and then you in the gold medal. For you, you're competing for almost the whole time, or is it compressed?

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Like do you do one or two events a day or so indoor indoor worlds is a is the pent, so the pentathlon for indoor worlds, and that's the five events in like a we'll say a seven-hour time span. It it differs depending on like where you are. There's usually half an hour in between each event, just like as a a rest for the girls. Um yeah, this year for indoor worlds though, I I went for just hurdles, which is kind of crazy because it's not my main event. Um so I mean, I give myself grace every time I get up there because I'm like, you do this for fun. This is like a side quest, but like, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:09

The competitive in nature isn't there. Yeah, you you feel it no matter what.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

100%. Yeah. It's like you you get there and it's like you want to go, you want to beat these girls, but these girls train for hurdles like seven days a week and that's it, right?

SPEAKER_02 12:22

You can throw a javelin further than any of them.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. Well, hopefully. Who knows? Maybe there's some girls in there that are just like popping off in random events that they just don't do.

SPEAKER_02 12:34

Now, I I was doing research for this podcast, and uh the hept athletes, there's some iconic women who have done this event. Like Jackie Joyner, I mean, some giant names. Yeah. So who do you look up to in the sport?

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Well, it's funny. It's funny that you asked this because I was asked in an interview once in while I when I was in the States about um Briandhee Sneaton.

SPEAKER_03 12:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

And I was like, they're like, oh, like one day, like you could be the next Brian Thee Sneaton. And I was like, yeah. And at the time I had no concept of like who she was or anything. And I was like agreeing, and I was like, sure, yeah. Right? Like I'm just trying to be me. Like I didn't want to, like, I didn't want to look stupid on this like interview. So I was like, sure, smiling. And then like I looked her up later and I was like, oh my gosh, like, yeah, if I could, if I could be her, that'd be crazy, right? And like Canada's had some amazing hept athletes. There's like a lot of girls. Like, I competed against Anna Hall um last summer, and just like seeing her on the track and the presence that she brings, it's insane. Like, there's there's no one else in sport in track and field that like can bring that aura. Yeah, that's so cool. I mean, there's a couple, but you know, on the female side, she's definitely one that I like look up to, and it's like, wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

And someday somebody's gonna be saying that they want to be the next Sienna McDonald. So that's uh pretty exciting, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Yeah, that it's exciting. It's also scary, like trying to like path that out. It's like, oh, people are gonna be looking up to me. It's a it's a weird feeling. Yeah, it's a little strange. Yeah, it's it's stressful too. That's a lot of stress.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

So you're wearing your Team Canada colors. Yeah, I I want to talk about what it's it like to represent the country you grew up in.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

It's amazing. Honestly, I love the opportunity um AC Athletics Canada has has given me. Like, they don't have to take certain athletes to these events and they kind of get to pick and choose. So being able to like get in and represent Canada and try to run the best that I can is a it's a huge honor.

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

And what's the next step for you? Uh I leave for California tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

Okay, well, I'm glad we got this in then.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Yeah. So I have a training camp with Athletics Canada, and that'll be a 10-day training camp. And then I come back and I'll get focused up for some local meets here in Calgary and then head to Austria end of May to do my first heptathlon of the season. Okay. Um, and then I'll come back, hopefully go to Pan Am so I'm trying to make that team. Um, and then Commonwealth at the end of the summer. And where are you currently ranked? For the HEP on uh I want to say it's it's within the top 40, I believe. The last time I checked, yeah. That could change. That could be that could be. Yeah, depending on. Yeah, okay. These are, I think those are based off last year's rankings. I think last year, I think I finished 48th, I think was my my ranking. Very cool.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

So uh what would you say to athletes that are watching you? Like, like you, you've you're first of all, I forgot to mention that you're on the wall here in Airgree, which is amazing. I uh had the privilege in in my current role, I'm a I'm a city councilor, and we just got to vote on the new people that are going on that wall. Oh my gosh, I'm excited to see the new people. Yeah, and it's really neat to to see some of the names and some of the kids that I've I've coached against, actually, not once I've coached this time. But what's it like to be honored by your city?

SPEAKER_01 16:05

No, it was really cool. Like I remember going and them like unveiling the plaques when they first got put up, and it's funny because at the time I had a buzz cut. Um so looking back. There's a story there. I yeah, I don't know why, I don't know why I got a buzz cut, but I thought it was in the moment, you know, when people are like, you gotta shave your head once. This was kind of my moment, right?

SPEAKER_02 16:24

Full disclosure, uh by the time this is recorded, everybody'll see it. But I uh might have challenged somebody at the ride of the Mustang this year to raise a certain amount of money, and I thought the amount was gonna be higher than they were able to do. Oh my gosh. And one of my council colleagues, shout out Chad Stewart, uh, put an Instagram out, and all of a sudden the money came in, and I'm gonna lose my hair next week. So I'm getting a buzz cut, so I'm trying to grow it out so it has better effect. Oh my gosh, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

I love it. I mean, it's for a good cause. Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

So it's worth it. You gotta support the Rite of the Mustang, it's great cause. Okay, so you had a buzz cut, but you're still on the wall.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

Yes, yes, yeah. So that it was honestly, it it was like such an honor. And I got like put up there and like my family and friends came out to support, and it was just it was such a fun environment. Every time I walk past it, I'm like, oh my gosh, that's me. That's me. I keep, I keep, um, I keep bugging them up. I was like, I I think um I've I've some more accomplishments to add to that list now that it's up there.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

That's great. Um what's the ultimate goal here? I obviously the Olympics is uh on everybody's mind. What does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Yeah, so that is the ultimate goal. The dream would be to make uh make it into the Olympics for preferably the heptathlon, but I would enjoy doing both hurdles and the hip if it does work. Right. Um it's hard with the heptathlon because they only take top 14 in the world, so it's very slim. Very competitive. Yeah. Whereas hurdles, they take top 48. So there's a little bit more of more room to try to squeeze in, right? Right. Um, so we'll just kind of wait and see what happens. But my 2027 year is gonna be crazy for travel. All the meets that I have to go to, there's it's a weird system, and it's a tricky one that you have to figure out. But there's certain meets that are worth more points, and getting into the Olympics, you have to have points. The points. Yeah. So yeah, I have to go to some meets um probably mostly in Europe and the states to try to gain some points to make make for the Olympics.

SPEAKER_02 18:29

Now, talk to me about the funding for the travel. Is this uh is this uh track and field Canada or is this you or sponsors? Like, how do you pay for all this travel?

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Yeah, so Athletics Canada, like as a carded athlete, I do get a little bit um from Athletics Canada to continue sport and do what I'm doing. Um however, most of it is right now self-funded. Hopefully, eventually it'll be a little bit more heavy on the sponsorships, but right I'm not I'm not the best at selling myself, so it's been tough.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

So if we have any sponsors listening, let's give them their best sales pitch. Why should they back Sienna McDonald here?

SPEAKER_01 19:10

Oh, that's a great question. Um I think if they're local, if they're airdree, you know, like I grew up here, I've represented Airdry as long as I've been here, and I I love it here. And I'm just I'm trying to make my dream come true. And if I can inspire people along the way, then that's it's big, right? And my goal is to, yes, make the Olympics, but it's to like build a community as I'm making it there.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

Right. So you're a good bet.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

I I would I would like to think so. I'm not gonna like shoot myself in the foot or anything, but yeah. That's great.

SPEAKER_02 19:44

Tell me what would you what would you say to athletes in high school or or athletes that are starting out in track and field? What what's some advice you could give the next generation? I I know it's weird you're young, but there's another generation behind you coming up. What would you what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_01 20:00

I honestly just keep trying things. Like I didn't come into track on my first sport, like this wasn't the first thing that I tried. I've gone through probably at least 10 different sports to get here, right? And part of being a great athlete is being able to like adapt to changes and adapt to like different outcomes, right? So if you're going and doing one sport, like I would say the best athletes are the athletes that can do can play any sport, right?

SPEAKER_02 20:27

You're the second person today that we've had say that uh on camera. One of them was a professional hockey player uh who said the exact same thing and like specialization is almost killing the joy out of uh a lot of athletes' experiences. So it's interesting to hear two high, high-powered athletes say the same thing. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Well, like it is it is exactly that, right? Like if you specialize too early, like there's just fundamentals. Like if you watch like a hockey player, if you watch them try to run, like you can tell it's a hockey player running, right? It's just like sometimes specializing too early is almost like harming that athlet athletic ability, or is like kind of branching out and doing as not as many things as you can because you don't want to like tire yourself out, but just trying different things.

SPEAKER_02 21:13

Yeah. You know, I I I found some of the best football players are those well-rounded athletes that do other sports, especially track and field. I mean, learning how to sprint and learning how to run uh is different from just being fast. Yeah. Right? Like you can make up a lot uh with technique and and training. And I've always been amazed by, you know, you send them away for a sprint camp and they come back and I'm like, oh, different football player.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

Like, where'd this guy come from?

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Yeah, well, wait a minute. You know, that's uh maybe something we should be investing more time in.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Yeah, I I used to train at the same time as the football guys at the U of C every day. Oh my gosh. I watched them do hurdle mobility and running drills, and I was like, whoa, these are probably some of the most inflexible men I've ever seen in my life. But it was, it's great because they're branching out into other like. Other types of training to make sure that they're getting what they need for football.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

Yeah, exactly. Uh last question, last couple of questions for you. Uh when we're talking about the heptathlon, we talked about your favorite. Uh what's the least favorite? I I had a guess early on, but uh let's let's hear it.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Yeah, so it's it's definitely the 800. Um it, like I said earlier, it is the bane of my existence. Um but I think besides the 800, I I'd have to choose high jump. And I it's a love-hate relationship, right? Because it either goes insanely well or it like every crashes, burns, like everything goes wrong. So yeah, that'd probably be my balance.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

So feast or famine with uh high jump and then just torture with the 800.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Yeah, the 800 is pure torture. Like you finish six events and then they're like, Yeah, you know what? Like, let's go make you do some endurance. Then most like I don't train for. Like the most I train for an 800 is like some longer, and by longer I mean like a maximum like 400 meter jog.

SPEAKER_02 23:05

It seems pretty insidious because it's not the endurance running of like endurance runners, yeah. Right, where that's a different model altogether, but it's not sprinting, it's like smack dab in the middle, right? Designed to break you mentally.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Yeah, it it honest it honestly is, it's a tough race. And like I feel bad for the the decathlon guys doing the 1500 because I couldn't imagine doing that. But but you're right, it's not it's not an endurance race, like it's a sprint, and like at World Athletics has like made it a sprint, they classify it as a sprint. So when you're watching, it's like these guys are running 145 for the 800, which is insane. The girls are running too flat, like usually lower if they're like fo focused on the um 800 itself. This is this is torture for like the hept athletes.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

Now, how much strategy goes into which uh event do you focus on, right? Because you know, if you're an endurance runner, that 800 is probably your most important. If you're uh a jumping bean, you know, like that long jump and might be the way to go, right? Uh so how do you pick when to like this one's really important? This one I'm looking to place as opposed to spend all my energy on, that kind of thing. Yeah. How much strategy goes into that?

SPEAKER_01 24:27

I feel like a lot of strategy, and it's mostly based on the athlete themselves, right? So, like for me personally, I'm like a speed empower, right? I'm not meant for the endurance, and I don't have a lot of height, right? I'm quite, I'm quite short, um, especially compared to a lot of the girls that I compete with. So I think you're average height. You're about the same height as me.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

I think there's nothing wrong with the height you're at. I think you're good. I think it's a nice height. But anyway, keep going.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

Thank you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

No, you are right. I am I am average height, but like as an athlete lining up against the girls, I'm like six foot two girl beside me there, six foot there. I'm like, God, I like with my shoes, maybe I'm five, seven, right? So there's I have to make up for what I lack in height with other things, and what I am good at is speed and power, right? So where I try to make up points is hurdles, the 200, long jump, javelin, those are kind of the ones that I can play around with a little bit more. Um, and then everything else is just making sure that I'm not bad at them, right?

SPEAKER_02 25:33

Yeah, making sure it doesn't kick you out of it.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

Exactly, right? Like when you think of a heptathlon, the way I've been told is you want your score sheet to almost look flat across the seven events, right? So if you have a hurdle race that's worth like a thousand points, and then you have shot put that's worth like eight hundred, that's a huge gap. Yeah, so if your hurdles are a thousand, you want your shot put to be like pretty near close to that. Try to minimize the yeah, try to minimize the peaks and valleys, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

Wow. So you're basically the generalist of track and field. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

Yeah. Honestly, it's hard. Like um, the heptathon is so weird because most of the girls could compete in individual events if they wanted to. Right. Like I just went to Indore Worlds for hurdles, right? And Anna Hall could, if she really wanted to, could run an 800, right? Yeah, no problem. Yeah. Yeah. She's done a fours, she's done long jump open, like there's so many events. Like she jumps 195 for high jump, right? So it's one of those things where a lot of the athletes in the heptathlon could pick and choose at least a few events that they could kind of like go into an open category and do okay. Like they wouldn't win anything, but they do they do place quite well, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Crazy. Where can people follow along on your journey here? Like, uh, you want to give me your Scholzul shout out so people can uh make sure they're following the Sienna McDonald story?

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Yeah, I kept it pretty simple. Uh my Instagram handle is quite literally Sienna.macdonald. So yeah, I kept it nice and easy so that I'd be easy to find. And honestly, that's where I post most of my stuff. If not that, probably my mom's Facebook. That's really endearing.

SPEAKER_02 27:16

Your mom made the podcast. I love it. Uh Sienna, thank you so much for coming on the show. This has been my honor, and it's great to have uh one of Airdrie's most elite athletes. You're on the wall, I can say it, and uh fellow Mustang. Uh, thank you so much for your time today.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_02 27:33

This is a pleasure. Perfect. And thank you for being with us here on Airdrie Inside. We're gonna be back with more great episodes coming up shortly.