Ottawa athletes finished up day two of the McGill Team Challenge on Saturday with seven medals highlighted by two new meet records. Added to the five medals on Friday night brought the club’s total to 12 for the meet.
Sekou Kaba kicked things off with a blast claiming gold in the 60m hurdles in a meet record 7.86 seconds. The effort was so dominating, Kaba’s margin of victory was nearly a quarter of a second over Toronto’s Brandon Wilson. The previous meet record of 7.87 had stood for 15 years, set by Andrew Lissade in 2000. Also in the hurdles, Karelle Edwards took home silver in the women’s event with a seasonal best time of 8.58 seconds.
Also setting a meet record was the 4x400m team of Oluwasegun Makinde, Gabriel Tesfaye, Denray Jean-Jacques and Michael Robertson who clocked 3 minutes 17.28 seconds for the eight lap event. The time eclipsed the previous standard of 3:17.77 set in 2001, also held by the Ottawa Lions.
The other gold medalist of the day was sprinter Farah Jacques, who followed up her victory in the 60m with one in the 300m. Jacques set a new lifetime best on her way to victory, crossing the line in 38.32 seconds. The time also moves Farah into second on the club’s all-time list behind World Championship 400m runner, Esther Akinsulie.
The remaining medals on Saturday came from sprinter Michael Robertson, thrower Ashley Connell and the University of Ottawa women’s 4x400m relay team. Robertson finished second in the 600m in 1:19.84 while Connell’s final effort of 14.09m in the shot put left her just 2cm out of gold. The Gee Gee relay team of Dominique Martel-Lamothe, Chelsea Gillies, Charlotte Gardner and Gift Okwankwu edged out their bronze, running 3:58.28 – just 0.02 seconds ahead of fourth place Guelph.
Another noteworthy performance from the weekend came from distance runner Olivia Robertson, competing for Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Robertson, a freshman, finished fourth in the mile with a time of 4:53.97. Robertson, who had missed all of the 2014 outdoor season due to injury, now moves in to seventh in club history with her time.
Lions athletes return to action this weekend at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the famed Armory in New York City.
To see photos of the McGill competition, please checkout our Facebook page, facebook.com/ottawalionstfc
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