Tristan Routhier: A Natural Born Athlete
Tristan Routhier is a current member of the Laurentian Voyageurs Track and Feild Team. He is also pursuing a degree in architecture. He was born and raised in a small municipality of under 500 people in Quebec called Saint-Sixte. Tristan has defied the odds to become a highly successful student-athlete
His passion for sports began at a young age, quickly became involved in many different sports. Anything from snowboarding to soccer, and even competitive badminton. Through those sports, running and endurance became second nature for the Quebec native.
Growing up in a small town with a high school with few people, Tristan developed a reputation as quite the sports star. Because of that, he was chosen to participate in most sporting events, which included the end-of-year track meet that featured high schools in the Montebello Area. That was the first time he had ever competed in any track competition.
In his final year of high school, he improved on his results of the past two meets and qualified for the Quebec high school provincial. But even after qualifying, he describes still only training once a week and doing it because he enjoyed being active and was good at it. It wasn’t until a few years later that he considered running seriously.
After high school, the natural progression in Quebec included attending CEGEP before attending university, and that process was no different for Tristan.
In his final year at the cegep de l’outaouis, he knew university was the next step and with two years of doing various sports, he thought he had a chance to be a varsity athlete somewhere. After hearing about Laurentian University from a class colleague, he applied and attended a weekend Track and Feild tryout. He described being very impressed with the “sales pitch” and the architecture program and facilities.
Once here, he took part in the official tryout and was able to make the team. The Quebec native was quickly thrown into a new environment and a new team. He excelled in his study and pursuing his passions, but lingering injuries held him back from being 100% on the track. However, he still qualifies for OUA as a rookie, but even with the great result, he knew that he had a lot more potential if healthy.
After a sophomore season of PB and strong finishes at the OUA championships despite another injury, Routhier and Laurentian Coaches know it’s only the beginning for him. With 3 years of eligibility left, he can be a force to be reckoned with in the 60m and 300m in years to come.
For now, Tristan looks forward to resting his foot and working towards a healthy 2023/2024 season and to the much-needed break from the busy schedule of studying architecture and being a varsity athlete.