This past weekend the Lions hosted the Ottawa Winter Classic – the first indoor track and field meet in the City since February 29, 2020. After the nearly three year wait, the athletes did not disappoint with a number of exciting performances – including a staggering 113 personal bests.
Heading the list of performances was undoubtedly Lauren Gale and her pair of wins in both the 60 and 300 metre events. Gale started the day with successive lifetime bests in the heats and final of the 60 metre, trimming more than a tenth from her previous standard as she won in 7.55 seconds.
The 23-year-old then followed it up with a dominating victory at 300 metres as she crossed the line in a time of 37.19 seconds – nearly a full second ahead of 2022 World Championship teammate Aiyanna Brigite Stiverne. Gale’s time broke the previous Dome record of 37.49 set by Amonn Nelson in 2010 and also moved her up one spot into second on the Club’s all-time list.
Finishing second to Gale in the 60 metres, Katie Manor also managed to etch her name in the record books Saturday. The second year psychology student at the University of Ottawa posted a time of 7.57 seconds in the final to best the previous Gee-Gees record jointly held by Christianne Lela and Charifa Labarang at 7.61 seconds. Manor also ran her way to a new lifetime best of 40.07 seconds for 300 metres.
Sydney Smith took a step into the Club’s all-time top 10 list in the 1000 metres with her victory on Saturday. Smith out-kicked former Lion Emma Galbraith over the final 200 metres to win in a personal best time of 2 minutes and 47.60 seconds. The performance moved Smith to equal number seven in the Club with her former Colonel By Secondary School coach, Nathalie Coté.
On the men’s side, David Moulongou took top spot in the 600 metres with a personal best time of 1:20.06. The second year University of Ottawa student led virtually from wire to wire as he outpaced teammate Lucas Zanetti, who finished a second and a half back in second. Moulongou’s performance also moves the 19-year-old to number eight on the Club’s all-time U23 list.
Other notable performances included Nina Gunther and Noémie Beareguard’s victories at 1500 and 3000 metres respectively. The two Gee-Gees each won in personal best times and Gunther’s time of 4:38.38 moved her into the USports top-12.
For full results, please visit: https://ottawalions.com/2023-results/2023-university-of-ottawa-winter-classic/
To view updated Club and Varsity Program Rankings, please visit:
Club: https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/
University of Ottawa: https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/uottawatf_rankings/
Carleton University: https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings/