Story courtesy of Massachusetts' Athletic Communications Department

AMHERST, Mass. -- Three former Massachusetts Minutemen are set to compete in the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, including men's track & field alumnus Kris Horn (Team USA/men's bobsled) and former UMass hockey standouts Dans Locmelis (Team Latvia/men's hockey) and Cale Makar (Team Canada/men's hockey).

Horn will be making his second Olympic appearance, after representing Team USA as one of the push athletes on men's four-man bobsled squad at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China and finished 10^th in the field. He has moved into the role of driver for the sleigh in 2026.

During his three-year career with the Minutemen (2014-2017), Horn was a three-time Atlantic 10 champion, winning heptathlon in 2016 and decathlon in 2016 and 2017. The Pembroke, Massachusetts native set program records in both events as well as the Atlantic 10 and New England decathlon records, winning the 2017 New England decathlon title.

The Atlantic 10 Most Outstanding Field Performer indoors in 2016, Horn was a silver medalist in decathlon at the IC4A Outdoor Championships in 2015. He also ranks second all-time in program history in outdoor high jump, a mark he set as a senior to qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships.

Locmelis played two seasons in Amherst from 2023 to 2025, appearing in 70 games and totaling 47 points on 15 goals and 32 assists with four power-play goals, two game winners and a +22 rating. He enjoyed a breakout season with UMass as a sophomore in 2024-25 logging 33 points on eight goals and 25 assists, all career bests, and was +15. Locmelis earned a spot on the All-Region Team at the NCAA Fargo Regional after posting a goal and two assists in the Minutemen's pair of games.

He signed an entry level contract with the Boston Bruins following the conclusion of his sophomore campaign and currently has 28 points (15g, 13a) in 42 games for the AHL's Providence Bruins.

No stranger to international play, Locmelis has seen action in 40+ games for Latvia at the junior and senior levels. The Jelgava native helped Latvia to a Bronze medal at the 2023 World Championship and was a Top Three Player on Team at both the 2023 and 2024 World Junior Championships, captaining the world junior squad in 2024.

During his two-year collegiate career (2017-19, Makar was named the winner of the 2019 Hobey Baker Award, the first-ever winner from UMass, and helped elevate Massachusetts hockey to unprecedented success in 2018-19 with the program's first-ever Frozen Four appearance.

He finished his collegiate career with 70 points on 21 goals and 49 assists over 75 career contests and as the record holder for career plus-minus at +41, signing with the Colorado Avalanche at the conclusion of the 2018-19 campaign.

Chosen as the Hockey East Player of the Year by unanimous selection, Makar also received the Leonard Fowle Award as New England Player of the Year and the Bob Monahan Award (New England's best defenseman) in addition to being named a Hockey East First-Team All-Star, a New England All-Star and a 2018-19 CCM/AHA Hockey First Team All-American.

Makar was at the center of a historic run for Massachusetts hockey in 2018-19, including program records in wins, conference wins and the team's first-ever Hockey East Regular Season Championship.

The first defenseman in history to lead Hockey East in overall scoring with 49 points in 40 games, Makar finished the year eighth in the nation in points per-game (1.20), sixth in assists per-game (0.80), third in defenseman scoring and second in plus-minus (+32). He was voted the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Ice Hockey Northeast Regional after leading UMass to a Northeast Regional Championship with a goal, an assist and a +3 rating in 4-0 shutouts of Harvard and Notre Dame. In the national semifinal, Makar logged his 33rd assist of the season and helped the Minutemen earn a spot in the NCAA Championship game for the first time in program history.

Makar broke UMass' single-season records for points by a defenseman and assists by a defenseman in 2018-19, marks previously held by UMass Hall of Famer Thomas Poeck. He is second in program history for single-season assists and fifth for single-season points.

The Calgary, Alberta native has gone on to a storied NHL career with the Avalanche, winning a Stanley Cup in 2022 and two Norris trophies (2022 & 2025) and the 2022 Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup MVP. A five-time NHL All-Star, Makar won the Calder Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year in 2020 and has amassed 485 points on 131 goals and 354 assists across 450 NHL regular season games. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he has another 85 career points (22g, 63a) in 79 games.

Making his first Olympic appearance, Makar has represented Team Canada at the 2025 NHL 4 Nations tournament and the 2018 World Junior Championship, winning titles on both occasions.