Senior Spotlight: Lyle Lo becomes a UBC Thunderbird!


In December of 2022, Lo suffered a serious ankle injury while snowboarding, damaging his peroneal tendon. He struggled to walk, let alone jump. 

"I had to stop playing volleyball and my track practices were heavily affected. But I didn't let that stop me. While I couldn't walk or run, I made up for it by going to the gym, carefully doing specific workouts that didn't involve my ankle. When I couldn't practice my jumping technique, I studied it. It took about five months until I was able to jump again. However, during my first meet of the season I suffered an injury to my shin and by the time the South Fraser Championships rolled around my doctor told me not to compete, but I didn't want to lose my last season."

At the 2023 South Fraser Championships Lo jumped to a new personal best of 14.36m in the triple jump and his 4x100m relay team ran a time of 42.36 seconds for a new zone championship record. A few weeks later it was time to compete at the BC High School Provincial Championships and Lo's shins were pain free and his ankle was steadily improving. He placed second in the triple jump with a mark of 14.03m, jumped a personal best of 6.96m the long jump for another silver and his 4x100m team won the gold. 

"One of my favorite memories came from the long jump competition. With a personal best of 6.56m heading into provincials, I was aiming to jump 6.70m and when I surpassed my goal I felt super relieved. Although my high school season was riddled with injuries I was still able to achieve personal bests and I am excited to see how far I can go during my collegiate career."

Lo will be attending the University of British Columbia this fall where he will compete as a Thunderbird in the NAIA, while also studying business. 

"During my recruitment journey I spoke with a few Canadian universities, but ultimately decided to go to UBC. The school is close to home, in a city I am familiar with, with coaches I know and Sauder has a strong business program. I am also excited to be competing in the NAIA and have the opportunity to compete in the USA."

Come the spring Lo will be repping the blue and gold, but he rounded out the 2023 season competing in blue and red as part of Team BC at the U20 Bell Canadian Track and Field Championships. He ended the season with a new personal best of 14.61m in the triple jump, placing fourth and jumped to 6.82m in the long jump for another fourth place finish. 

As for final words here is what Lo had to say, "never give up and that means keep trying and to try your best. No matter the obstacle, there's always something you can do about it and if there isn't anything you can do about it, then why worry about it."