Not even Mother Nature could cool off the sizzling performances on the track as the Ottawa Lions captured the Ontario U20 team title – its first since 2014. Despite a rain delay Saturday, it was an otherwise perfect weekend for competition at the Metro Toronto Track and Field Centre on the campus of York University as the Lions narrowly edged out the Flying Angels Track Club by a single point, 108-107, to capture the provincial banner. The provincial title, the Club’s 54th since 2000, was a truly team effort with points coming from 18 of the 22 events the Lions were entered in.
The lone gold medal of the weekend came from one of the youngest competitors, 16-year-old Amelia Van Brabant in the 3000 metres. The soon to be grade 11 student put together a jaw dropping performance, crossing the line in 9:57.73 and knocking over 26 seconds off her previous best. Not to be outdone, Van Brabant also dropped four seconds off her 1500 metre best as she ran to a sixth place finish in 4:42.46 to pick up an extra three points.
The remaining medals from the weekend came by way of the hurdles and relays, with Lions athletes securing a medal in each of the four hurdle events and the five relays they participated in.
David Adeleye and Vanessa Lu Langley each picked up a bronze in the sprint hurdles. Adeleye, the soon to be second year student at the University of Toronto, set a personal best of 14.14 seconds over the 110 metre hurdles in the prelims before a 14.34 second clocking in the finals. Entering her second year at McGill University, Lu Langley was at her best in the finals of the 100 metre hurdles, equaling her personal best at 15.49 seconds.
The 400 metre hurdles saw Keito Newman pick up his first provincial. Running out of the slow heat of the timed final event, Newman produced a more than two second personal best of 56.98 seconds to narrowly edge out teammate Luca Nicoletti. Similarly, Emily Brennan also produced a more than two second lifetime best (1:07.13) to nab bronze in the women’s race.
The relays produced silvers in both 4×100 metre events as the team of Cora McQuinn, Doyin Ogunremi, Emily Brennan, and Bianca Borgella finished in a time of 50.03 seconds. A slight bobble in the final handoff likely kept the quartet of Seiyf Gebara, Luca Nicoletti, David Moulongou, and David Adeleye from claiming top spot, as they finished in 42.70 seconds, just behind Flying Angels.
Nicoletti and Moulongou teamed up with Thomas Kukla-Colby and Keito Newman in the 4×400 relay to garner another silver – again in a very tight finish. The quartet led the race for 1599 metres before being edged at the line by World U20 qualifier Michael Roth of St. Thomas Legion. The margin of victory for St. Thomas Legion – just seven hundredths ahead of the Lions 3:24.71 clocking.
The women’s 4×400 metre relay team exchanged Borgella for Audrey Gilmour as they picked up another silver – this time in 4:03.26.
Andrew Taylor, Phoenix Bouma, Cameron Porter, and Jackson Roy rounded out the relay medal haul as they place second in the 4×800 metre race with a time of 8 minutes and 24.37 seconds.
“Everyone showed up,” exclaimed Aspire program lead Zach Quevillon of the the team title. “Countless personal bests and seasons bests across the board resulted in a team championship. In between events, athletes were supporting each other with advice or cheering, both of which kept team moral higher than it has been in over a year due to COVID. I am most proud of the athletes ability to weather the uncertainty of the last 16 months and show up with an incredible desire to compete and to win.”
For full results and photos of the championship, visit our results page.