After nearly 10 months away from competition Lions athletes were thrilled to be back on the track and in the field this past weekend at the Ottawa High Performance Weekend. They were joined by more than 70 other athletes from Ontario, Quebec, and as far away as Alberta, all in search for a mark to get them to the Olympic Trials in Montreal later this month and to the Games in Tokyo later this summer.
In total, 10 Lions competed in the two day event, highlighted by Farah Jacques’ victory in the 100 metre hurdles on Saturday evening. A finalist in the 4×100 metre relay in Rio, Jacques has spent the past three seasons fortifying her hurdling technique in hopes of returning to the Games in Tokyo this summer. She moved closer to that goal with a seasonal best time of 13.56 seconds in Saturday’s heats. Her time of 13.66 in the final was more than half a second faster than second place.
The men’s 400 metre hurdles was the only event to feature a pair of Lions competing – Leewinchell Jean and Saj Alhaddad. While Alhaddad, the defending Canadian silver medalist, held the upper hand heading into the homestretch, Jean produced a surge over the final 100 metres to over take his teammate as well as Royal City TFC’s Matthew MacNeil for second in 54.29. The time was the 2019 Canadian U20 Champion’s best season opener ever. Alhhaddad placed fourth in 54.53.
Sticking with the hurdles, 19 year old David Adeleye produced a time of 15.21 seconds in the 110 metre event in his first go at the international height. The performance ranks Adeleye 10th in Club history among U23’s.
Never one to shy away from a come back, Jason Dunkerley returned to the track Friday night in the 1500 metres with guide Alex Behre. The five-time Paralympic medalist who had stepped away from competitive running in the fall of 2018, returned with a 4:27.24 effort. The performance was just outside Athletics Canada’s minimum entry standard of 4:26.64, but to return to the Games, Dunkerley will likely need to better the AC Top-8 standard of 4:16.20 to be considered for selection.
Lions athletes will be back in action this weekend at the Johnny Loaring Classic in Windsor.
For results and photos from this past weekend’s event, please visit ottawalions.com/results/2021-results.