University of Victoria Athletics

Two-time Olympian and 10-time Canadian National Team member Hilary Stellingwerff enters her sixth season as the head coach of the Vikes cross country/track programs in 2025-26. Stellingwerff was promoted to head coach/program leader in the spring of 2020 after serving as the interim head coach for one season following the retirement of Brent Fougner.

Posting one of their best medal hauls at the Canada West Track Championships under Stellingwerff in 2025, the Vikes captured seven medals: gold and silver in the women's 3000m, gold in the men's 4x800m, and bronze in the men's 1000m, men's 3000m, women's 600m, and women's 1500m. Stellingwerff's largest contingent to date of 12 athletes represented the Vikes at the national championships, coming away with three top-five finishes: the men's and women's 4x800m relays and men's 600m.

The Vikes continued to improve in 2024, with the women's cross country team posting its first podium finish at the U SPORTS championship since 2011 with a bronze medal showing, while the men's team finished ninth to record their third-straight top 10 finish at the national championships. The Vikes women captured the program's first Canada West cross country title since 2017 while the men finished in silver medal position, earning Stellingwerff conference Coach of the Year honours and seven athletes earning Canada West All-Star recognition. 

Stellingwerff's squad sent one of its largest contingents in program history to the 2024 U SPORTS Track Championships, with 10 student-athletes donning the blue and gold on the national stage, posting top-10 finishes in every event across the 1500m, 3000m, and 4x800m relays that the Vikes competed in. Prior to the national championships, the Vikes earned three medals at the 2024 Canada West Track Championships: two silvers from Elise Coates in the 1500m and 3000m events, and a silver from Daniel Damian in the 3000m.

Recording some of the program's best cross country finishes in 2023, the Vikes placed second as teams on both the men's and women's sides at the Canada West Championships, highlighted by five Canada West All-Star selections: first team honouree Daniel Damian, and second team members Elise Coates, Anja Krueger, Jaxon Kuchar, and Anton Kuipers. At the U SPORTS Championships, the Vikes took sixth on the women's side, matching their best finish since 2018, while the men's side took fifth place, the highest finish for the team since the program's banner-winning season in 2015.

The Vikes' 2023 Canada West Track Championship appearance was defined by six medals, including a podium sweep of the men's 3000m, a gold and bronze in the women's 1500m, and bronze in the women's 3000m races. 1500m gold and 3000m bronze medallist Jennifer Erickson highlighted the Vikes' appearance at the U SPORTS Track Championships, where she claimed gold in the 3000m, also earning All-Canadian honours.

Taking third on the men's side and fourth on the women's side at the 2022 Canada West cross country championships, Christina Peet-Williams collected conference Rookie of the Year honours, while Daniel Damian, Jaxon Kuchar, Tion McLeish, and Samara Cockburn all earned Canada West All-Star recognition at the conference championships. Battling stormy weather at the U SPORTS Championships, the Vikes picked up top-10 team finishes, with the women claiming eighth and the men taking 10th.

At the 2022 Canada West Track and Field championships, the Vikes brought home five medals: gold from Brandon Vail in the 3000m, gold from the men’s 4x800m relay squad (David Waller, Benjamin Seshadri, Anton Kuipers and Jack Boden), silver from Jack Boden in the 1000m, silver from Jennifer Erickson in the 3000m, and bronze from Daniel Damian in the 3000m. Stellingwerff helped qualify seven athletes to the U SPORTS championships.

The 2021 cross country season saw a fourth-place finish for the Vikes men and sixth place for the Vikes women, along with Brandon Vail and Daniel Damian earning Canada West All-Star honours. At the U SPORTS national championship, the men finished 11th overall as a team, while the women finished 12th.

During her interim year at the helm (2019-20), she helped nine Vikes qualify for the U SPORTS National Track and Field Championship. In Edmonton at the national meet, she helped Vaughn Taylor win gold in the men's 600m and Brandon Vail win bronze in the men's 3,000m race. At the Canada West track meet, the Vikes earned four medals, two of which were gold.

During the 2019 cross country season, Stellingwerff guided the women to a fifth-place finish at the Canada West level and a fourth-place finish for the men, earning one Canada West First Team All-Star and two Second Team All-Stars. At the U SPORTS National Cross Country Championship, the women placed 12th, while the men cracked the top-10 with a ninth-place finish.

Stellingwerff received her first international coaching opportunity in the winter of 2020, when she was named an assistant coach for Team Canada during the Pan-American Cross Country Championship, which took place at the Bear Mountain Golf and Country Club.

A former runner on the international stage for Canada, Stellingwerff competed in multiple Canadian championships and held a spot on the 1,500m podium for eight-straight years, which included gold medals in 2007 and 2008 to go along with five silver medals (2005-06, 2009, 2011-12) and one bronze (2010). She made her Olympic debut in 2012 during the London Games, where she advanced to the semifinals in the 1,500m.

After taking a break to start a family in 2014, she returned to competition in 2015 only to have her season end early with a stress fracture in her left fibula. In 2016, she got herself back on the national podium, finishing third in the 1,500m and qualified for her second Olympic Games.

Stellingwerff is a NCCP Level 3 certified coach and Chartered Professional Coach. She obtained Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin where she majored in journalism and communication arts, earned her teacher's certification through University of Western Ontario's Bachelor of Education program and completed a diploma in French Language at UVic.

Notable International Results

Olympic Games: 2016 - 31st (1500m); 2012 – 9^th (1500m)

Commonwealth Games: 2010 – 11^th (1500m); 2006 – 11^th (1500m)

IAAF World Championships (indoor): 2008 – 18^th (1500m)

IAAF World Championships: 2007 – 15^th (1500m)

IAAF World Championships (cross country): 2005 – 59^th (4km short race)

2007 & 2008 1500m Canadian National Champion