Entering 2023 season
Brit Townsend is in her third decade as the leader of Simon Fraser’s cross country and track and field program.
Since the Red Leafs moved to the NCAA, Townsend has won seven Great Northwest Athletic Conference and two NCAA Division II West Region Coach of the Year awards, while her teams have earned four conference titles, and two regional banners.
Last season, the SFU men's cross country team placed 19th at the NCAA Div. II championships, led by an All-America performance by 15th-place finisher Charlie Dannatt. He became the first Red Leafs runner to win the men's West Region individual title and helped his team to a fourth-place showing. The SFU men were second at the GNAC Championships, while the women were third and went onto to place ninth at the West Region race.
On the track, Townsend's teams had the following results in 2023:
2023 GNAC Indoor Track & Field Championships: women - third / men - fifth
2023 NCAA Div. II Indoor Track & Field Championships: women - T-29th / men - did not place
2023 GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships: women - third / men - sixth
2023 NCAA Div. II Outdoor Track & Field Championships: women - T-23rd / men - T-41st
Sprinter Marie-Éloïse Leclair set the GNAC record in all three indoor sprint events (60, 200 and 400 meters) and in the outdoor 100 and 200 meters during a fantastic 2023 season, which culminated with four First Team All-America honours:
NCAA Div. II Outdoor Track & Field Championships: third in 200 m and fifth in 100 m
NCAA Div. II Indoor Track & Field Championships: fifth in 200 m and seventh in 60 m
Dannatt completed his track career at SFU with a First Team All-America performance in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA outdoor championships, while Megan Roxby was a Second Team All-American in the women's 800 meters.
The 2021-22 campaign was one of the best in SFU’s NCAA era, as Townsend’s squads won the GNAC championships in women’s and men’s cross country and women’s indoor track and field. She was named the conference’s Coach of the Year in all three of those sports as well as women’s outdoor track and field. The women’s cross country team went on to claim the West Region title as well, and Townsend was honoured as the West Region’s top women’s XC coach.
After winning the NCAA indoor title in the 800 meters, Alison Andrews-Paul made history for SFU by running the fastest 800-meter time in NCAA Div. II history in April 2022 (2:01.43). Andrews-Paul and Aaron Ahl were recognized as the GNAC’s overall Female and Male Athletes of the Year.
Three alumni, Lindsey Butterworth, Cameron Proceviat, and Addy Townsend, Brit’s daughter, all ran for Canada at the 2022 World Athletic Championships.
Townsend coached SFU to an unprecedented five women’s cross country national titles (2003-07) in a row during its time as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and was the NAIA’s Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year in each of those seasons.
She also merited NAIA Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year distinction after guiding SFU to the national title in 2005.
A decorated middle-distance runner, Townsend starred for SFU in the 1980s, winning the NAIA title in the outdoor 800 meters in 1986. Her time of 2:03.89 stood as the NAIA record until it was broken by one of Townsend’s athletes, Helen Crofts, in 2011.
During her running career, she earned multiple international medals, four senior national titles, and set seven Canadian records. Townsend represented Canada in the 1,500 meters at the 1984 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles, and competed for her country at the Pan American Games, Commonwealth Games, World Cup, and World Championships. She won bronze in the 1,500 at the 1987 Pan Am Games in Indianapolis, Indiana.
For her accomplishments, Townsend was inducted into the SFU Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
After finishing her running career, Townsend, a graduate of West Vancouver Secondary School, began coaching at SFU. A Level 4 international coach, Townsend has led national and provincial teams, leading athletes who have gone on to compete in the Pan Am Games, Commonwealth Games, World University Games, World Championships and Olympics.
Townsend graduated from SFU with a degree in Kinesiology and Communications. She also has an Urban Land Economics Diploma from the University of B.C.
NCAA Division II West Region Championships
Women’s cross country: 2021, 2014
NCAA Division II West Region Coach of the Year
Women’s cross country: 2021, 2014
Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships
Women’s cross country: 2021, 2014
Men’s cross country: 2014
Women’s indoor track and field: 2022
Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
Women’s cross country: 2021, 2016, 2014
Men’s cross country: 2021
Women’s indoor track and field: 2022, 2017
Women’s outdoor track and field: 2022
NAIA National Championships
Women’s cross country: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003
Women’s outdoor track and field: 2005
NAIA Coach of the Year
Women’s cross country: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003
Women’s outdoor track and field: 2005
Notable athletes during Simon Fraser tenure:
- Ruky Abdulai (Olympic Games, World Championships)
- Lindsey Butterworth (World Championships, 2x NCAA Div. II Champion in 800m)
- Helen Crofts (2x NCAA Div. II Champion, 800m indoor/800m outdoor)
- Emilie Mondor (Olympic Games)
- Jessica Smith (Olympic Games, qualified for semifinals in the 800m)
- Alison Andrews-Paul (NCAA Div. II Champion, 800m indoor)
