In July, five members of the Bisons track and field team will take to Germany for the FISU World University Games. Over the next six weeks, Bison Sports will cover their journey and memories and moments that matter to them. Today's feature is on the long-term friendship of Neepawa natives Lara Denbow and Daxx Turner. 

In the small town of Neepawa, Manitoba – home to roughly 5,600 people – Bisons track and field standouts Daxx Turner and Lara Denbow are putting the sport on the map.
 
The list of accolades for the duo are enormous, far too many to list in one article. In short form, Turner and Denbow are both U SPORTS national champions, with the former accomplishing the feat in triple jump and the latter in high jump. Denbow defended her title last year, while Turner has a full collection of medals in triple jump at nationals and is the four-time defending Canada West champion.
 
Turner is also the U18, U20 and senior outdoor triple jump record holder in Manitoba, and he holds the U18 and U20 indoor provincial records. Meanwhile, Denbow took home Canadian national titles at the U16 and U18 levels along with a silver medal in triple jump at U18 nationals.
 
It's an amazing journey for two student-athletes and long-time friends who come from humble beginnings. In a town focused on hockey, the pair chose to pave their own paths.
 
"I knew I was going to be a track athlete by the time I was ten," Turner reflected.
 
"I used to play AAA hockey. I very vividly remember showing up late to a AAA game, maybe even missing one of the games in a tournament, so I could go to our track divisional meet. That's what I wanted to do. By 15 I fully decided I didn't want to play hockey anymore. I wanted to pursue track."
 
Denbow's athletic journey also included highland dance, cross country and soccer, but it was her love for jumping that truly stuck.
 
"I highland danced for a lot of years, and if you've ever watched it, it's pretty much single leg plyometrics for like three minutes. I think that's helped me a lot with moving the way that I do now," she admitted.
 
"Then I was introduced to track. When I was younger in track, I was quite good at high jump. My family jokingly called me a jumping bean. Ever since I was little I've always been very springy. I started track, and not only did I love high jump and triple jump and long jump, but I also loved the 400 and the 800. I did that for years."
 
The pair share a long history. Their families have a connection, as one of Turner's sisters played hockey with one of Denbow's cousins. They both plied their trade with Prairie Storm in Neepawa, and have been training together for seven years.
 
Frequently, Denbow, when out for a stroll, would notice the Turners throwing javelin in their back yard, a "pretty common Turner household activity."
 
"My three younger sisters all do track and they all throw. My sister Trynity was U18 national silver in 2022. I think she might even hold a provincial record in javelin, I can't be sure. I was home for Mother's Day and my dad and I were just hanging out throwing the javelin around in the back yard casually," chuckled Turner.
 
"There's a walking path behind our house that people frequent. We get some looks."
 
With limited resources back home, the duo found their own unique ways to improve.  
 
"All the way through, we were training underneath the rink hallway, or in the school in the hallways we would do these things called bounce backs, where we would literally bounce off the lockers and run back for tempos," said Denbow.
 
"After that, Daxx and I drove into Winnipeg once or twice a week together to train with [renowned coach] Mingpu [Wu] and otherwise we were training in the rink in the winter, either in the hall or underneath the bleachers."
 
 
'It's cool to see that connection'
Denbow was a workhorse over the years, competing at a minimum of nine different meets every year between the 2017 and 2019 seasons. Along the way, she reached new heights, jumping to a personal best of 1.78 metres during the 2021 outdoor season as well as an indoor personal best of 1.76 metres indoors in 2020.
 
Later on, her athletic career took her to Oregon State, and then back to Manitoba prior to 2022-23. Denbow competed in Albuquerque, as well as at Oregon's Hayward Field and she also participated in the PAC 12 Championships. Additionally, she went down to Los Angeles for some competitions, as well as Spokane.
 
Turner's success married that of Denbows – including gold at high school provincials in 2019. Just a few weeks later he obliterated his then personal best with a leap of 15.04 metres at the GO Classic in Winnipeg. That number was the fourth-best by a Canadian all year and third all-time in Canada at the U18 level.
 
The pair's shared connection in track and field – and honest relationship – has helped elevate each of their athletic endeavours over the years.
 
"I've known Daxx for a lot of years and through a lot of phases of life too. I think that we just have a relationship that works," said Denbow.
 
"Daxx has a knack for technique. He also will say things that other people might hesitate to say, so he's really helped me technically, because he'll just say, you need to fix this. This is what you need to do. And it helps. It does. It's also just great to have someone who's known you for so many years to help explain things to you, or give you a different perspective."
 
"Lara has always been consistently more successful. She's got quite a few more golds than I do. I think it was always a competitive thing, obviously friendly. I'm always really happy to see my teammates do well. It was always someone to chase in a way. It's a good person to chase, because she's really hard to hate," laughed Turner.
 
"I think for me, just looking back, it's really cool to see, knowing where we were, and where we are. It's cool to see that connection. There was probably a month or two, back when we were in U18 and I was leading the country, and Lara was leading the country. It was cool that we were not only both from the same club, but the same town, living so close together."
 
Turner and Denbow shared an unforgettable moment in 2024 when they each claimed national gold on home soil, literally 15 minutes apart. Now, they'll add another incredible memory when they represent Canada at the FISU World University Games in Germany.
 
The pair each begin their competitions on July 25, providing another opportunity to elevate the sport.
 
"I just hope that it brings more sport diversity to smaller communities," said Denbow.
 
"We have really well established hockey and baseball teams, and that's excellent, those are excellent sports. But I would like there to be more opportunities for kids to pursue other sports and have a chance of succeeding."