As more than 32,000 runners took to the streets of Ottawa this weekend to for the annual Race Weekend, Lions athletes had their fair share of success as they crossed the finish line just to the east of the Governor General’s Foot Guard Museum.
Kicking things off was high school senior Kevin Robertson as he ran away with the victory in the 2km race. The Queen’s University commit crossed the line in five minutes and 21.8 seconds, more than 20 seconds clear of the second place finisher. Saturday’s race was a final tune up for for Robertson as he looks to qualify for his first OFSAA Track and Field Championships this week at East Regionals in Belleville.
The 5km race was where fellow high schooler Skye Pellerin found success. The 16 year old St. Francis Xavier student came across the line in a time of 18:52.5, about a half minute back of silver. Masters athlete, Liz Maguire was the next highest finisher for the Lions as she placed seventh in 19:21.6.
In the men’s 5km race it was a pair of Carleton Raven alums who dominated the podium. Alexander Maxwell was victorious in the most closely contested race of the entire weekend, finishing in 15 minutes and 36.3 seconds – a scant two tenths of the second place finisher from Halifax. While Maxwell is known for his exploits at the longer distances, from Ravens teammate Sebastian Saville is not. However, the 800 metre specialist battled right through to the end, picking up a bronze in 15:37.7 – less than two seconds behind Maxwell.
In addition to the prestige of being and IAAF Gold Label race, the 10km event also served as the Canadian Championships and both the Lion men and women fared well. The top finisher was Katie Phillips who crossed the line in 37 minutes and 0.5 seconds. The former CIS Cross Country Rookie of the Year was the 13th Canadian women across the line and 20th overall. Not far behind Phillips was teammate Becca Brennan who was 18th in the Canadian Championships with a time of 37 minutes and 32 seconds.
University of Ottawa teammates Nicholas Roberts and Andre Alie-Lamarche placed 32nd and 34th respectively in the men’s overall standings. Roberts, a third year Human Kinetics student finished in 32 minutes and 6.4 seconds to place 23rd among the Canadians. Meanwhile, Alie-Lamarche, who just finished his first year of International Development and Globalization studies, finished 25th nationally in 32 minutes and 22.6 seconds.
Elsewhere this weekend, Shanna Boutillier picked up three bronze from the 100 through 400 metre events at the World Para Athletics Desert Challenge Grand Prix in Arizona.
Also south of the border, Divya Biswal picked up another victory in the triple jump, posting a winning leap of 13.05 metres at the Chula Vista High Performance Meet in Southern California.
