Lions take home 14 medals from OFSAA Championships

For the high school athletes of the Ottawa Lions, it was a long two year hiatus, but they returned to the OFSAA Championships this past weekend in Toronto without missing a beat. In total, the athletes amassed 14 medals, including four golds, and one Canadian Interscholastic Record. 

The national record went to Elizabeth Vroom in the 2000 metre steeplechase as the grade 12 student won the event in a blistering six minutes and 52.19 seconds. Teammate Gillian Porter took home the silver in 7:01.47, while Louise Stonham placed 5th in 7:14.90.

The aptly named Vroom is a relative newcomer to the sport, having only joined the Club this past winter. The Sir Wilfred Laurier student has translated her successful playing time on the pitch with the Ottawa South United Soccer Club to the track quite well, setting meet records at every competition in the lead up to the OFSAA Championships. 

Vroom’s run now ranks as the second fastest U20 performance in Club history behind former Canadian record holder Danelle Woods.  

Also running to the top of the OFSAA podium this weekend were Vroom’s training partners Amelia Van Brabant and Maddie Seaby. The pair swept the top two spots in the women’s 3000m. Amelia Van Brabant took home the gold in a personal best nine minutes and 47.94 seconds, while Seaby followed behind in 9:55.43 – also a personal best. 

Vroom just missed a second OFSAA medal in the 3000, taking fourth in a personal best 10:03.51. Louise Stonham rounded out the group with her sixth place finish in a lifetime best of 10:09.13.

Mother Teresa student William Sanders continued his dominance of the junior boys 400 metres on Friday afternoon, capturing his first OFSAA gold medal in a personal best time of 51.51 seconds. Sanders, who had won every race prior to the provincial championships by nearly two seconds or more, took a hold of the lead at the 200 metre mark, and withstood the late charges from William Bigler to win by nearly a quarter of a second. 

Off the track, Kai Gibson captured the only other gold medal of the weekend in the novice boys high jump. The grade nine student from Longfields-Davidson Secondary School cleared 1.80 metres to claim top spot. Second place finisher Jeramiah Zomerman of Chatham Christian also cleared 1.80 metres, but Gibson took top spot by virtue of his first attempt clearance of the height. 

A complete list of all the medal winners from this year’s OFSAA Championship are included below.