The Dalhousie Tigers - Dalhousie University

The name Adrienne Power is synonymous with success in track and field at Dalhousie.

A member of the Dalhousie women’s track and field team from 2000 to 2005, Power won 18 AUS events and earned nine CIS medals, making her the most decorated athlete in Dalhousie Tigers history.

A native of East Jeddore, N.S., Power attended Eastern Shore District High School where she excelled in many sports, earning team MVP status in basketball, badminton and track and field in addition to being named their female athlete of the year in grade 12.

Power entered Dalhousie’s Bachelor of Commerce program in the fall of 2000 and quickly made her mark at both the AUS and CIS levels. In her first season with the Tigers, she won both the long jump and 60m events at the conference championships, setting two new AUS records. An AUS all-star, she also won gold in both the 4x200m and 4x400m relays, earning AUS rookie of the year status. At the national championship two weeks later she earned her first CIS medal, a bronze in the 60m race.

In her sophomore season, Power continued her dominance in the sprints, defending her championship title in the 60m and 4x200m relay. The AUS track and field MVP, she went on to a sixth-place finish in the long jump, eighth in the 60m and ninth in the 4x200m at the CIS championships.

The 2002-03 season was a golden one for Power. She won her first of six CIS gold medals after finishing first in the 300m event, while also earning a bronze medal in the 60m. A CIS first team all-Canadian, she won four events at the AUS championship that year, earning athlete of the meet honours.

She continued her winning ways the following year, winning gold in the 60m and 300m races at the CIS championships in addition to a silver-medal performance as a member of Dalhousie’s 4x200m relay team. The all-Canadian was again the track and field MVP and was the AUS female athlete of the year.

Power’s fifth and final season was her best. After winning the long jump, 60m, 300m, 4x200m and 4x400m relay events at the AUS championships, she won gold in the 60m, 300m and 4x200m relay races at the CIS championships. Her winning time of 37.35 seconds in the 300m set a new CIS record that still stands today. Her performance helped lead the women’s team to a bronze medal finish, which is the only medal in the program’s history. She was named the CIS track and field female athlete of the year and student-athlete community service award winner. She went on to be named the BLG CIS female athlete of the year in recognition of her outstanding success. Power is the only athlete from the AUS to ever receive the honour.

In addition to her nine CIS medals and 18 AUS gold medals, Power was an AUS all-star in each of her five years, a three-time AUS MVP and still holds three AUS records. She earned Dalhousie’s track and field MVP honour all five seasons she competed and was named the Class of ’55 Award winner as Dalhousie’s female athlete of the year in each of her last three years. Power continues to hold and share five Dalhousie records.

A member of the national team for 10 years, she represented Canada on a number of occasions at international events including a trip to the 2007 Pan American Games ahead of being named to the 2008 Olympic team. She was a semifinalist in the 200m at both events. Two years later, she won a bronze in the 200m event and a sliver in the 4x400m relay at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Former coach Peter Lord relished the opportunity to coach Power. “Adrienne was a once-in-a-generation type of athlete,” he says. “I knew almost immediately that she had the physical gifts necessary to become a great sprinter. She combined her outstanding physical talent with a work ethic second to none and the mental toughness necessary to compete at the highest level. In her final year at Dalhousie, she trained with an intensity that seemed impossible to sustain. But she did it week after week, month after month, and by the end the year, she was the most dominant sprinter the CIS had ever seen.”