It’s a big weekend for the Ottawa Lions family with Canadian university conference championships taking place across the country as well as the NACAC Cross Country Championships taking place in Mount Irvine, Tobago.
Competing in Tobago will be Claire Smith, a grade 11 student at Glebe Collegiate, who qualified for her first national team last November with a fourth place finish at the Canadian Junior Cross Country Championships. Smith and her Canadian teammates will be looking to defend the title Canada captured last year in Jamaica. Smith has raced sparingly this indoor season, but did post the second fastest 1500m time by junior with a 4:30.70 last month in Ottawa. Claire is scheduled to run at 1:15 pm eastern.
The majority of Lions athletes competing will be in Toronto this weekend, where the OUA Championships kick off tomorrow afternoon before concluding late Saturday. Among the medal favourites this weekend at York University are 60m hurdler Sekou Kaba, middle distance runner Mohamed Souleiman, and thrower Ashley Connell who competes for Guelph University.
Other top ranked athletes include Gabriel Tesfaye and Wade Embury in the 300m. These two men along with Devin Biocchi and Isaiah Moses also make up Ottawa’s top ranked quartet in the 4x400m relay.
Competing at the AUS Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick are Alexa Zarins in the 1500m and 3000m along with Scott Donald who is scheduled to run the 1000m, 1500m and 3000m. Both athletes compete for St. Francis Xavier University.
