What seemed like an eternity away back in September of 2022 has finally arrived. After countless hours of mental and physical preparation the time has come to shine on the brightest of domestic stage as the 2023 Bell Canadian Track and Field Championships kick off Thursday morning in Langley, BC. A total of 47 Lions are set to compete over the four-day competition for Senior, Para and Under-20 athletes.
Athletes will be pushing to improve upon last year’s performance where the Lions took home a total of 19 medals across the three championship categories including a Canadian Club Record in the women’s 4×400 metre relay.
Four individual medalists from 2022 return to Langley including two defending champions – Bianca Borgella and Elizabeth Vroom.
Fresh off her two-medal performance at the World Para Athletics Championships earlier this month, Borgella will be a favourite to repeat her two-gold performance from a year ago. The 20-year-old, who competes in the T13 category for visual impairment, will be contesting the para-ambulatory 100 and 200 metres this weekend. She enters both competitions with the top seed.
Vroom dominated last year’s field in the U20 women’s 3000 metre steeplechase and will be looking to become the first Lion to defend a U20 championship since 2013 when Adam Palamar won his second straight 1500 metre title. The Queen’s University student is well positioned, coming off a commanding steeplechase victory at the Ontario U20 Championships and holds the fastest qualifying performance entering the competition.
A pair of silver medalists from last year in Lauren Gale and Audrey Goddard will also be looking to return to the podium this weekend.
Gale, whose silver came over 400 metres a year ago, will contest both the 200 and 400 metres in Langley. The member of last year’s World Championship team enters ranked second and fifth respectively in the two events this season.
For Goddard a return to Langley may have looked out of the cards earlier this season. The 19-year-old heptathlete suffered a broken collarbone in the spring, and only returned to competition this month. While having not contested a combined event competition since the USports Championship, she remains a medal contender.
Looking to make a splash on the national stage is Conner Fraser. Competing in his first Canadian Championship, the 19-year-old thrower is a force to be reckoned with in both the shot put and discus throw after a pair of recent personal bests catapulted him to the top of the podium at the Ontario Championships. Fraser’s performances two weeks ago have him ranked second nationally entering this weekend’s championship.
A handful of senior athletes are looking to make a splash on the national scene.
One week removed from his victory at the NACAC U23 Track and Field Championships, Kevin Robertson will contest the 3000 metre steeplechase in his first nationals since winning the U20 title in 2019. A student at Syracuse University, Robertson set the Club U23 record earlier this season with a time of 8 minutes and 37.26 seconds. He enters the competition ranked fifth.
Also competing at nationals for the first time since 2019 is Keira Christie-Galloway. The 23-year-old posted a personal best of 13.01 seconds earlier this season to win the 100 metre hurdles at the Western Athletic Conference Championship. Her performance has her ranked third entering the competition.
Finally, Stephen Evans will be hunting for the elusive national medal. The former USports champion is coming off a Club record of 1:47.16 for 800 metres less than two weeks ago in Victoria. Evans enters as the fifth seed with a third just two tenths ahead.
You can catch all of this weekend’s action live on AthleticsCanada.tv and follow live results at live.athletics.ca.
Of course, stay tuned to ottawalions.com and all our social media accounts to keep up with every Lions related over the course of the weekend.