Barrie, Ont.’s NCAA star Jadyn Keeler has put collectively a ultimate collegiate season most runners might solely dream of, stacking private bests, program information and even nationwide marks. Now, she’s including a model deal to the checklist.
On Saturday, the 22-year-old, who competes for the College of North Dakota (UND), grew to become the most recent Canadian runner to earn an NIL (Identify, Picture, Likeness) deal, partnering with Adidas.
“It means a lot to me,” Keeler informed Canadian Operating. “Though it doesn’t change my coaching, being backed by a world-renowned model like Adidas will give me confidence and momentum in races.”
A shocking resume
Keeler appears to decrease a private greatest each time she hits the monitor. In December, she set the U23 Canadian 5,000m report of 15:14.76, which additionally lands at No. 4 on the Canadian all-time checklist. She additionally owns the U23 report within the 10,000m, operating 32:06.70 in her debut on the distance.
Final week, in her out of doors season opener on the Stanford Invitational, she threw down a 31:56.03 private greatest within the 10,000m–marking one other faculty report, the No. 20 time in NCAA historical past and No. 7 all-time in Canada. Through the 2026 indoor season, she swept the mile, 3,000m and 5,000m at her Summit League convention championships, incomes MVP honours. She went on to put twelfth within the 5,000m on the NCAA Championships.
Her favorite occasion? The ten,000m. “You’ll be able to simply hop on the practice and match strikes,” she mentioned. “It’s so enjoyable.”
Success at a smaller faculty
Keeler has been vocal about how a smaller faculty can supply simply as many, if no more, alternatives than a powerhouse program. She dedicated to UND through the pandemic with out ever visiting campus, whereas feeling drawn to the staff tradition she skilled over Zoom. “They’ve top-notch services and nice lecturers,” Keeler mentioned. “I nonetheless wished to get journey alternatives, to go to massive meets and compete, as a result of that’s the easiest way to maintain getting higher.”
Shifting on to the following chapter is each thrilling and unhappy, she says, however she’s prepared to maneuver ahead. “Higher issues are forward.”
A dream-big mentality
Whereas her enhancements over the previous 18 months appear extraordinary, Keeler says she’s all the time believed she was succesful. “I’ve all the time been somebody with a dream-big mentality and excessive requirements,” she admitted.
Considered one of her secrets and techniques to changing into a stronger runner has been attending to know herself higher. “It’s frequent to see on social media what different individuals are doing,” she mentioned. “However I dialled in on what works greatest for me: fuelling, timing meals, what meals I eat, my bedtime routine, how a lot sleep I would like and specializing in restoration, which incorporates mobility, muscle-scraping and rolling out.
“With consistency and the smaller issues, every little thing clicked and took me to the following degree.”
Proudest moments
Considered one of Keeler’s largest breakthroughs and proudest moments got here within the 5,000m on the 2025 BU Valentine Invitational. “I got here in off a 40-second private greatest, then chopped off one other 30 seconds,” she mentioned. The 15:28.29 efficiency certified her for her first-ever nationwide championships. “I had no concept if I used to be able to operating sub-15:30,” she mentioned. “That was top-of-the-line races of my life, and confirmed me that generally you have to take a swing.”
One other standout second got here on the 2025 Junior Pan American Video games in Paraguay, the place she represented Canada for the primary time–profitable 10,000m gold in a championship report, and doubling again for five,000m silver.
A possible half-marathon debut?
This yr, Keeler is aiming to qualify for the NCAA out of doors championships in each the 5,000m and 10,000m, and crack the highest eight for first-team all-American honours. She additionally plans to race the 5,000m on the Canadian championships, only one week after NCAAs, and hopes to qualify for the Commonwealth Video games, which might mark her first senior nationwide staff. Past the monitor, Keeler says she would additionally like to ultimately transfer up in distance, with a half-marathon debut probably on the horizon.
Her subsequent race can be on the Bryan Clay Invitational 5,000m in Azusa, Calif., on April 17.
