With the Carleton Ravens High School Relays running last Thursday, it officially marked the start of the outdoor season in Ottawa. The competition, one of three run by the Lions in the lead up to the highly anticipated high school season, was a huge success with over 500 entries.
With a number of Lions in action, seven in particular stood out among the field as they combined to set a total of 11 meet records between them. Opeongo student Quinn Coughlin was responsible for more than a quarter of those results as she set new marks in the junior varsity 400 and 800 metres as well as the 300 metre hurdles. Despite it being Coughlin’s first attempt at the intermediate hurdles, her time of 46.93 was 0.4 seconds faster than the previous mark.
It was the 800 metre records which took the hardest hits Thursday as the junior varsity and varsity marks fell on both the boy’s and girl’s side. Koree Yach’s time of 2:28.58 eclipsed Grace Munro’s one year old mark in the varsity girl’s event. The Arnprior runner also set a new record in the varsity girls 400 metres.
On the men’s side, OFSAA cross country champion Saul Taler erased more than 11 seconds from the junior varsity boy’s standard with his time of 2 minutes and 7.50 seconds. Canterbury’s Nicolas Belen put on a commanding performance in the varsity event as he broke the two minute barrier, stopping the clock at 1:58.45 for a new personal best and a more than 17 second improvement on the previous meet record.
The pair of 800 metre boy’s record holders squared off in the open 3000 metres where it was the elder Belan who held on to top spot and took the record in the event with a time of 9:08.22. Taler also dipped under the previous mark with a time of 9:18.20.
Out in the field, defending novice boys OFSAA Champion in the high jump Kai Gibson picked up where he left off last high school season. The grade 10 Longfields Davidson student took top spot in both the junior varsity high jump and long jump with record performances. Gibson cleared 1.75 metres in the high jump and sailed out to 5.96 metres in the long jump.
Rounding out the list of record breakers from Thursday’s event was Jay Yetman. The grade 12 Glebe student was the class of the field in the varsity boys long jump as he broke the sand out at 6.47 metres to claim top spot. Yetman’s leap was nearly a foot further than the previous mark set in 2019.
Full results from Thursday’s competition can be found on our website at https://ottawalions.com/results/2023-results/2023-ravens-high-school-relays/