Ahead of their induction ceremony, friends and family members gathered at the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (SSHF) on Saturday to celebrate the 2026 class of inductees. The class of 2026 includes: Brianne Thiesen-Eaton (athletics), Cameron Baerg (rowing), Chris Getzlaf (football), Otto Huber (golf), Dr. Marlys Misfeldt (sports medicine), Ross Wilson (basketball) as well and the 2011-2014 Saskatoon Valkyries Football Teams. It’s a more significant homecoming than usual for Thiesen-Eaton, who knew from an early age that she was going to excel in track and field after Grade 7. “It was apparent pretty quickly that this was just the sport for me, and it came very naturally,” she said. Thiesen-Eaton, originally from Humboldt, then went to train at the Saskatoon Track and Field Club during high school - and earned an athletic scholarship at the University of Oregon. In 2012, she competed at the London Summer Olympics, and then won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Thiesen-Eaton has lived in Oregon ever since she went to the University of Oregon but says that she tries to return to Saskatchewan a few times a year. “Coming back to Saskatchewan, there’s no place like it,” she said. “My husband is from Oregon, and I remember the first time he came to Saskatchewan, he was flying in and he was like, ‘This is like a quilt, like this is crazy, there’s all this patchwork’. He’s always like, ‘There’s no place like this.’” She said this induction is in memory of her grandfather (on her father’s side) who passed away two months prior to her getting the induction call. Her grandfather was always hoping that she would be an SSHF inductee. “I remember when I got the call, it was sort of this full circle, maybe bittersweet moment,” she said. “For him and my family to have that moment where I’m getting inducted, it’s just been really special.” Chris Getzlaf Chris Getzlaf, a former CFL champion in 2013 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, will now join his brother, Ryan, in the hall. Getzlaf recalls growing up in Regina largely playing football and hockey, describing being a SSHF inductee as “farfetched”. “When you’re running around on the street or you’re playing in the playground, or even when you’re getting more serious into the sport, you’re kind of just thinking of the next level and how to advance and how to get better at the sport in general,” he said. “This is kind of just a little icing on the cake for a lot of years of a lot of fun and a lot of work.” Other than a few seasons in Edmonton and Hamilton in football, Getzlaf is largely a Regina product. He played for the Regina Thunder, the Regina Rams at the University of Regina, as well as the Roughriders for nine seasons. “Some of that is kind of luck of the draw when you’re playing [a] professional sport,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t have many options, and thankfully my option landed being here and for a lot of years. Obviously, I wanted to be here, but sometimes when you’re playing a professional sport, there could be a point in time where you don’t even get the opportunity to play at home to begin with, because someone else drafted you.” “That’s the nature of the sport, and for me to be able to play nine straight years here, that is pretty special.” Post playing career, Getzlaf has continued to own a financial planning practice, CG Wealth Management Limited in Harbour Landing that he started in 2008.
