Lions celebrate two years of excellence

It was a true evening of excellence Saturday night at the Arrow and Loon Courtyard as nearly 200 memebers of the Ottawa Lions family gathered to celebrate two years of excellence at their Awards Banquet. In total, more than 65 individuals were honoured for their success on the track or their dedicated service to the club. Three of the big winners on the night included hammer thrower Sultana Frizell, runner Jason Dunkerley and decathlete Patrick Arbour, who were each recognized three times for their performances.
 
Over the past two years, Frizell has continued to excel in the hammer throw, first by winning silver at the 2011 Pan American Games and followed that up in 2012 with a North American Record of 75.04m and her second Olympic Performance. For her efforts, Sultana was named the Most Outstanding Field Event Performer for females for both 2011 and 2012, improving her career total to eight awards and one away from Ann Peel’s club record of nine. Frizell was also presented with a President’s Award, instituted in 1990 to honour athletes and coaches who have represented their country on a national team in international competition.
 
For his success on the track over 1500m and 5000m, Jason Dunkerley was awarded the Sam Estwick Memorial Award, honouring the club’s Most Outstanding Para Athlete, for both 2011 and 2012 . Like Frizell, this brought his total to eight outstanding athlete awards for his career. In 2011, Dunkerley claimed silver and bronze in the 1500m and 5000m respectively and the flipped the results in September at the Paralympics in London, running national records in both events. Adding to his international medal tally, Jason also picked up gold in the 800m at the 2011 IPC World Championships  in Christchurch, New Zealand.
 
Over the past four years, Patrick Arbour has positioned himself as one of the top field event athletes in club history.  He was recognized for his efforts on Saturday evening as he was named the most outstanding male the field events for both 2011 and 2012. This brought Patrick’s string of victories to four. The former thrower turned decathlete experienced a great amount of success over the past two seasons, highlighted by three national team appointments, including a Pan Am Combined Events Cup team title in 2012. In addition to his success in the decathlon, Arbour produced two all time top ten performances in 2012 in both the discus and pole vault, where he currently sits fifth and sixth respectively.  Currently, he is also ranked in the top ten in the shot put and javelin, making him the only male to be ranked in more than two field events.
A complete list of award winners is included below:
Most Outstanding Male Athletes

Most Outstanding Female Athletes

The Denis Landry Memorial Award – Most Outstanding Athlete: uOttawa X-Country / Track & Field

Most Outstanding Junior Athlete (Under 20)

Most Outstanding Youth Athlete (Under 18)

Most Outstanding Midget Athlete (Under 16)

Most Outstanding Bantam Athlete (Under 14)

The Sam Estwick Memorial Award : Most Outstanding Para Athlete

Most Outstanding Masters’ Athlete (35 and over)

Most Outstanding Athlete: Road Racer

Most Outstanding Athlete: Combined Events

Sean Cole Memorial Award: Dedication to club service

President’s Award Winners