Head and shoulders image of Diane Jones, Huskie pentathlete.

• Bio/Historical Note: Diane Helen Jones-Konihowski was born in 1951 in Vancouver and raised in Saskatoon. In 1967 she represented Canada internationally for the first time as a high jumper and javelin thrower. Jones-Konihowski won her first international medal, a high jump bronze, at the 1969 Pacific Conference Games. She represented Canada in the pentathlon at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Jones was a gold medalist in the pentathlon at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City; that same year she was named Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year. Jones-Konihowski graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1976 with a BEd. In 1978 she won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton and was named Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year for the second time in her career. In 1979 she won her second Pan American Games gold medal. Forced to miss the Moscow Olympics of 1980 due to the boycott that Jones-Konihowski strenuously opposed, she seriously considered going to the Soviet Union to compete as an athlete without a flag or nation. Jones-Konihowski eventually decided it was safer to not attend and athletically made her statement two weeks later at a pentathlon in Germany, winning gold, and beating all the Moscow 1980 Olympic medalists. During her career Jones-Konihowski ranked first in the world twice. Jones-Konihowski was awarded the Order of Canada in 1979 and inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. She was the recipient of the YWCA Woman of Distinction Sport & Recreation Award in 1988. In 1996 she was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Sports Hall of Fame. Jones-Konihowski has remained active in Canadian sports, having worked as a coach and sports administrator for many national athletic boards including Fair Play Canada, the Coaching Association of Canada, the Canadian Olympic Association, as well as the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. In 2000 Jones-Konihowski led Canada’s Olympic Team to the Sydney Olympics as the Chef de Mission. She was presented with an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the U of S in 2002. In 2005 Jones-Konihowksi was elected to the board of directors of the Canadian Olympic Committee. Jones-Konihowski is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame (2020) and the Canada West Conference Hall of Fame (2021).

Leslie Hutchison clearing the bar; spectators in background.

Bio/Historical Note: Leslie J. Hutchison, a native of Leeds and Grenville United Counties in Ontario, moved to Spalding, Saskatchewan, at an early age and attended Regina College. He enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan (BSA 1927) in 1922. He competed on the intervarsity track & field team for four years in pole vault, long jump and high jump. Hutchison won the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union pole vault championship from 1923 to 1925, setting a provincial record in 1923. He was also an accomplished baseball player and competed in tournaments throughout Saskatchewan. He was inducted into the U of S Athletic Wall of Fame in 1984. Hutchison died in [Ottawa in 1997 at age 96].

Joanne McTaggart, second-year Physical Education student and Huskie track and field sprinter, setting a new world record in 300 meters at an indoor CWUAA (CIS) meet in Edmonton, lowering it from 38.9 to 38.2 seconds.

Bio/Historical Note: Joanne McTaggart, indisputably one of Canada’s premier runners of the 1970s, was born in Regina in 1954. She moved to Saskatoon for Grade XI and graduated from Walter Murray Collegiate, where she once won five events at the school meet. McTaggart also started to compete on behalf of the Saskatoon Track and Field Club. She was named to Canada’s national track team in 1972 while in Grade XI. She qualified for the relay team at the 1972 Munich Olympics but Canada didn't send a team. McTaggart enrolled at University of Saskatchewan (B.Ed. 1977) in 1974. In her rookie year with the Huskies, she won conference championships in the 40 yards and 300 metres. That same year she was Western Canadian Junior Champion in the 50 and 200 metres and the Canadian senior indoor 200 champion. McTaggart won 10 conference titles in her four years with the Huskies, highlighted by a world record performance of 38.2 seconds in the 300 metres at the 1975 indoor CWUAA (CIS) meet in Edmonton, Alberta. McTaggart qualified for the Canadian team at the 1975 Pan-American Games, won a bronze medal in the 4x100-metre relay and half an hour later, was invited to run the 4x400-metre relay where Canada held off the Americans and the Cubans to win the gold medal. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Joanne competed in the 200 metres and finished fourth in the 4X100-metre relay. McTaggart was inducted into the University of Saskatchewan Athletic Wall of Fame in 1984; the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1996.