It was a day to remember for Claire Smith as she pulled on her first Team Canada singlet today at the NACAC Cross Country Championships in Mount Irvine, Tobago before running her way to a bronze medal. Despite being two years younger than the majority of her competitors, the grade 11 student at Glebe Collegiate completed the 4km course in 13 minutes, 43.27 seconds to help Canada complete a sweep of the podium in the junior women’s category. In addition to individual bronze, Smith and her Canadian teammates captured the team title with just 16 points, six ahead of the United States.
In other action today, Ottawa Lions athletes picked up another three medals on day two of the OUA Track and Field Championships. Kicking things off was Ashley Connell in the weight throw. Competing for the University of Guelph, the freshman set a new personal best of 16.77m to capture bronze. Connell has had a break through month, having added more than two metres to her lifetime best in February and has moved into the top 8 in the CIS rankings ahead of the upcoming national championships.
Also picking up an individual medal was University of Ottawa freshman Yvan Ntivumbura in the high jump with a clearance of 1.98m. Yvan had tied for the second highest clearance, but was relegated to bronze based on a miss at his opening height of 1.92m. Rounding out the medal winners was the 4x400m relay team of Isaiah Moses, Devin Biocchi, Wade Embury and Gabriel Tesfaye who also finished in third despite dipping under the 21 year old OUA record with a 3:17.51 clocking.
In Moncton, Scott Donald also picked up a bronze, finishing 3rd in the 1500m final at the AUS Championships. Donald finished in 4:05.42.
