This year’s Ontario Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships was undoubtedly the best in recent memory for the Lions. Club athletes took home an eye popping 29 medals including 18 gold. On top of that, six meet records were set including a brand new provincial masters record.
Taking home two of those medals was the ageless jumper, Stan Seitz. At 75 years young, Seitz set an M75 record in the high jump with his clearance of 1.20 metres. A three time champion in the high jump at the Canadian Masters Championships, Stan equalled the previous record of 1.10 metres on his opening height before making successive first attempt clearances at 1.15 and 1.20 metres.
Seitz’s other gold came from the pole vault where he cleared 2.35 metres for victory.
Making a splash in his masters championship debut, Andrew Heffernan set three championship records. Heffernan, who is more widely known for his success guiding athletes on the international para athletics circuit, set meet records in both the M30 800 and 1500 metre events.
Heffernan posted a winning time of 2 minutes and 3.09 seconds in the 800, trimming more than two seconds off the previous championship mark set by Trevor Van Nest in 2002. Teammate Fritzlor Auguste picked up the silver in 2:11.90.
Over 1500 metres, the pair of Heffernan and Auguste finished first and second respectively. Andrew’s winning time of 4 minutes and 24.07 seconds was 19 seconds faster than the previous mark set by Jimmy Semes in 2011. Fritzlor finished in 4:49.37.
Teaming up with Michael Conway, Gilles Frenette, and Auguste, Heffernan got his third Championship record in the M30 4×400 metre relay. The quartet took the gold in a time of 3 minutes and 52.20 seconds.
In another relay, the team of Lionale Nahum, Neil Fine, Michel Smith, and Sancho McCann set a new championship record in the M35 4×100 metre relay. The quartet got the stick around in a time of 50.12 seconds.
Rounding out the championship records for the Lions, William McLeish set a new mark in the M30 5000 metres. His time of 16 minutes and 6.02 seconds bested the previous standard of 16:22.21 set by Dan Way in 2017. McLeish was also the lead in a Lions sweep of the podium with clubmates Jay Sneddow (16:46.27) and Sam Shi (17:33.10) finishing in the silver and bronze medal positions respectively.
Below is the full list of Lions medal winners from the Championship.
Ashley Crawford – Silver 100m (W35)
Danette Nearing-Guibord – Gold 100m (W60)
Wendy Alexis – Gold 100m (W65)
Sancho McCann – Gold 100m (M40)
Ashley Crawford – Silver 200m (W35)
Danette Nearing-Guibord – Gold 200m (W60)
Wendy Alexis – Gold 200m (W65)
Sancho McCann – Gold 200m (M40)
Erinn Joseph – Gold 400m (W30)
Ashley Crawford – Gold 400m (W35)
Jodi Forster-Molstad – Bronze 400m (W45)
Andrew Heffernan – Silver 400m (M30)
Michael Conway – Silver 400m (M35)
Marino Sani – Bronze 400m (M60)
Andrew Heffernan – Gold 800m (M30)
Fritzlor Auguste – Silver 800m (M30)
Michael Conway – Gold 800m (M35)
Andrew Heffernan – Gold 1500m (M30)
Fritzlor Auguste – Silver 1500m (M30)
William McLeish – Gold 5000m (M30)
Jay Sneddon – Silver 5000m (M30)
Sam Shi – Bronze 5000m (M30)
Gilles Frenette – Gold 3000m Steeplechase (M45)
Neil Fine – Gold High Jump (M35)
Stan Seitz – Gold High Jump (M75)
Stan Seitz – Gold Pole Vault (M75)
Tom Pincombe – Silver Discus (M45)
Lionel Nahum,Neil Fine,Michel Smith,Sancho McCann – Gold 4x100m (M35)
Michael Conway,Gilles Frenette,Fritzlor Auguste,Andrew Heffernan – Gold 4x400m (M30)
For updated Club rankings, please visit https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/
For complete results from the Championship, please visit Ontario Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championship