When Olivia Grimshaw (BHK 2018) walked onto the track at the University of Windsor Alumni Stadium for her first varsity track and field practice, she had no idea she was about to meet her future husband.

But the moment she spotted Trevor Way (BComm 2018), a fellow Lancer high jumper, she confidently looked toward her teammate declaring, “I’m going to date that guy one day.”

Fast forward almost a decade, and that bold prediction has come true. From the jumper pit at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse to a lifetime of love and partnership — this year, Way and Grimshaw will celebrate two years of marriage and nine years together.

While Way, a Windsor local, was right at home, Grimshaw’s path to the University of Windsor was a homecoming of sorts. Originally from Nova Scotia, she chose Windsor for its track reputation, reconnecting with the Ontario roots of her parents. Little did she know it would also be where she found her teammate for life.

“Being in the same friend group and sport, we naturally supported each other — whether it was cheering at meets or warming up together before every practice,” she says.

The two didn’t start dating right away. It wasn’t until the summer after their second year that they began to wonder if they were more than just teammates. To test the theory, they took a trip to Grimshaw’s home province.

“We spent some time travelling around the east coast that summer — it was a special moment in our story and is now the place we both call home,” says Grimshaw.

During the trip, the couple discovered that they had unknowingly crossed paths years earlier at the 2012 Charlottetown Legion Track Meet.

“It’s as if Windsor was always meant to bring us back together,” she says. “Fate, one might say.”

What seemed like a classic coming-of-age love story was no surprise to their Lancer track teammates, who had always recognized their bond.

“They all saw it coming before we did,” Way says. “There’s a tradition on the track team, where fun awards get handed out to all the seniors before we graduate, known as the Paper Plate Awards — and we won ‘Worst Kept Secret’.”

Looking back on their love story, the couple reminisces about their journey: striving for new heights in competition, celebrating post-meet victories at Rock Bottom, a local bar near campus, and competing together in their final year at the Ontario University Athletics championship meet.

“If we could relive one UWindsor moment, it would be OUAs in 2018,” Grimshaw recalls.

For her, the moment was even more impactful, as qualifying for the Ontario championships had been a major goal.

“Trevor drove me to Toronto for two extra meets just so I could have another shot at making the standard in my final year,” she says. “Competing together at OUAs as teammates was so special, and with Windsor as the host, it made the experience even more meaningful.”

Later that year, before graduating, Way achieved a personal best of 2.06m at Saginaw Valley, earning a USports qualifying spot — fittingly also hosted in Windsor that year, where Grimshaw cheered him on.

“We learned to be great teammates first, and that has carried over into every stage of life —always cheering each other on. Unless we are playing board games… then we are mortal enemies,” she laughs.

The couple adds, "Special shoutout to Guff (former jumps coach Dave McGuffin) and our teammates. Guff was always so supportive, on and off the track.”

Grimshaw is now living her dream as a physiotherapist in Nova Scotia, where she owns her own practice, Radius Physiotherapy. Way works as a client executive at insurance brokerage BFL Canada and stays connected to the track world, coaching for Pace Athletics in Halifax.

Once again, the University of Windsor is set to host two of the biggest track and field events in Canada. The Ontario University Athletics track and field championships will take place Feb. 21 and 22, followed by the U Sports track and field championship tournament, welcoming the nation’s top university athletes to the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse, March 6 to 8.