Julia Agostinelli, a student pursuing a master’s of physical therapy and applied human nutrition, is a star member of U of T’s Varsity Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Teams.
Last season, the London, Ontario native claimed first place in the Women’s 1500-metre race at the U SPORTS National Track and Field Championships. Earlier in this season, on October 25, she won an individual silver at the Women’s Cross Country Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championships in Kingston. Most recently, she claimed fourth place at the U SPORTS Cross Country National Championships in the eight-kilometre race on November 8, earning U SPORTS first team all-Canadian honours.
In an interview with The Varsity, Agostinelli detailed her journey en route to becoming a U SPORTS Champion and dual-sport Blue.
An athletic start
Surprisingly, Agostinelli’s journey as an athlete began not with running, but with basketball. She joined a high-level team and played competitively throughout elementary school and high school, describing her time playing basketball as her first experience with a “big sports commitment.”
However, her success as an athlete didn’t end there; her natural affinity for running also emerged early on, when she won her first-ever cross-country race in the fourth grade. While she never did cross country in high school, as she was “playing basketball in the fall and [wasn’t] allowed to do both,” she competed in track and field, where she was drawn to the sense of community on the team.
“[Track] happened in a term where not a ton of other sports were going on, so it was really exciting because you got people from all [different walks of life joining]… it was super special to me to have such a mishmash of people, and I always loved that.”
Towards the end of high school, Agostinelli found herself in a position where she had to choose between pursuing basketball and track and field. She ultimately picked track and field, which brought her to the University of Guelph, where she completed her undergraduate degree in nutrition.
Competing as an undergraduate
Agostinelli arrived at Guelph in 2020, during which there were no competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She fondly recalls what she called the 2020 “season of fun,” where she trained with her teammates without using any of her eligibility.
In the meantime, Guelph was undergoing a major coaching change. In her second year, under the leadership of a new coach, Terry Radchenko, who joined Guelph from U of T after serving as a cross-country coach in Toronto for 12 years, Agostinelli saw marked improvements in her performance. After a four-year tenure as Head Cross Country Coach at Guelph, Radchenko returned to U of T this year as an assistant coach for the cross country and track and field teams.
“[He] changed the game for me. I wasn’t super awesome at running in my second year; I was definitely not a standout on the team; I wasn’t even selected to represent my team at any championship races.” Despite the challenges, Agostinelli continued working hard, saying that “the community that [the team] brought me was what I kept going back for.”
Agostinelli eventually saw her work pay off, with a breakout season on the track in her third year, where she qualified first for U SPORTS, as an individual athlete. She also earned a spot on Guelph’s women’s 4 x 800 team. which won a U SPORTS gold medal. That year, the women’s team also took the overall U SPORTS scoring record, “[It was] a super proud moment [for me] to be on that team.”
In her fourth year, Agostinelli continued to show solid results and assumed more of a leadership role on the team. She earned 2023 OUA MVP and OUA first-team all-star honours after winning the individual title at the 2023 OUA championships.
Beyond the track
Agostinelli also spoke of her experiences off the track and how they have impacted her growth as a person. As she puts it, “an accumulation of [my] track, school, and volunteering experiences [really] shaped me into who I am and continue to help me grow and see new perspectives.”
Her long list of accolades also includes the 2023 U SPORTS Cross Country Community Service Award. During her time at Guelph, Agostinelli joined Brainworks Youth Programming, which works with youth to develop literacy and physical activity. She also joined The Grove, which is a Youth Wellness Hub run by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CAMH) that serves to promote wellness within the community.
These experiences effectively tied her educational and athletic endeavours together. Working with these organizations helped her “feel like I had something to give back. She also “really experienced what health and wellness was from a different angle.”
“As a Varsity track athlete…I’m always being fit and doing all the things I can to live out what I think is a healthy lifestyle, but it’s really performance [oriented] ….… I was able to really zoom out through this experience to understand health [so much more holistically and] what health meant to other people… I think I’ll carry it with me through my physiotherapy practice and continue my training.”
Success at U of T
Agostinelli eventually made the decision to attend U of T to pursue a master’s degree in physical therapy. She continued to see success on the Blues’ cross country and track and field teams, capping off her 2024 season with a pair of bronze medals at the OUA Track and Field Championships in the 1000-metre and 1500-metre races, and a first-place finish at U SPORTS in the 1500-metre race.
Her U SPORTS gold places her alongside U of T track and field elite athletes who have won the same title. Among the Blues’ 1500-metre national champions are Gabrielle DeBues-Stafford and Lucia Stafford, sisters who competed together for the Blues from 2016–2019. The pair have represented Team Canada at the Olympics and most recently competed at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Speaking of her achievement, Agonstinelli says, “[The U SPORT title is] one that four years ago, if you had told me that I had it, I probably would not have believed you… It’s such an honour for me to be joining such a long list of super competitive Canadian female athletes who have won [this title].”
Underlying Agostinelli’s accounts of her success is a clear message emphasizing the importance of community. “[Running] is such a unique sport because at the end of the day, you’re running for yourself. But I think community starts with the team culture… It’s not always fun going in circles all the time, but having such awesome people around you makes it more fun.”
Agostinelli also highlights the importance of having good role models to build a sense of community. “[It’s crucial to have people] that make you feel welcome [and] important… even if you [aren’t] the best, [it’s important to] set a good tone that [shows] everyone is welcome, as long as you’re here with a smile and working hard.”
As an athlete and physical therapist-to-be, she has made it a priority to be a champion for women athletes, always “[trying] to set a positive example [to show that] there’s space for women in sports.” She hopes to cultivate a sense of community, particularly within women’s athletics. “I’m a huge proponent [of] women doing hard things. For young girls, growing up as an athlete [plays] such an essential role in learning skills [like] how to be a good friend [and] how to be a leader…. Unfortunately, more and more girls are finishing sports [earlier] than in the past.”
Future aspirations
With regards to her future aspirations, Agostinelli keeps an open mind to the available avenues within the field of physiotherapy. “I didn’t start university thinking that I would go into physical therapy… in my third year, I took a human kinetics and anatomy course, and… I became obsessed with it because everything I was learning in the classroom, I was then understanding when I was running, stretching, lifting. What I was doing in the classroom was so [relevant] to my goals on the track.”
Her experience ultimately led her to pursue physiotherapy. “I’m really happy being at U of T. It’s such an amazing program, has awesome faculty, [and is a] great way to tie in passions to my daily life.” Since studying in Toronto, she has been “inspired by the breadth of physiotherapy [and] finding new avenues in physio that are really inspiring.”
For Agostinelli, the opportunities seem endless. Yet, whichever avenue she pursues, she hopes to maintain the ties to her academic and professional pursuits and athletics. “I have a lot of internships coming up where I’m hoping to dip my toes into many things, but I’m hoping for physio to be a way that I can stay connected to the world of athletics when I’m finished [with] my career as a runner.”
Whether it is on the track, in the classroom, or in the community, Agostinelli has continued to make every step count. The national champion isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
