What do you get when you combine Ottawa Race Weekend and the Bob Vigars Classic? Well, for Ottawa Lions athletes there were two Canadian sprint records, some Club Top-10 performances and over 40 personal best performances.
A Canadian Record in athletics is not a regular occurrence, but in the heats of Sunday’s women’s 100 metres at the Bob Vigars Classic in London two fell in one race.
Just three days short of her 16th birthday, Jorai Oppong-Nketiah broke a 13-year-old Canadian U18 record in the 100 metres when she crossed the line in her heat in an eye-popping 11.51 seconds. The old mark of 11.53 had been set by Brampton’s Khamica Bingham in 2011. In addition to setting a new national standard, Jorai’s time also set Club U18, U20, and U23 records and is the second fastest record by a Lion of any age.
However, there were more fireworks in that heat as Clubmate Bianca Borgella became the first female visually impaired runner to crack the 12-second barrier in the 100 metres. Last year’s World Championship bronze medalist set a new Canadian standard of 11.93 seconds before dropping the record again in the final to 11.92 second. Borgella’s performance currently ranks her first in the world among female T13 sprinters and puts her in a strong position heading into this year’s Paralympic Games in Paris.
At 200 metres, Oppong-Nketiah placed second in the open section with a personal best performance of 24.35 seconds. Jorai’s time is the third fastest in Club history by an athlete in the U18 category.
Middle distance runners André Alie-Lamarche and Nicolas Belan each produced their own notable performances in London. Alie-Lamarche, known more for his exploits in the metric mile, sliced a second and a half off his 800 metre best as he placed second to the University of Regina’s John O’Reilly in 1:50.80.
Belan lowered his 1500 metre best for the second time this season, running 3 minutes and 52.70 seconds to place fifth in the Open Section. His performance is the 15th fastest among Lions U20 athletes.
Ottawa Race Weekend was the venue for a number of notable performances by Lions athletes, headlined a pair of top-10 performances in both the men’s and women’s 10k events. Robert Kajuga placed seventh in the men’s race, crossing the line in a time of 30 minutes and 4 seconds. On the women’s side, Salome Nyirarukundo was fifth in 33 minutes and 59 seconds.
Over 5 kilometres, Charlie Mortimer took home the bronze medal in 15:48. The Hillcrest student was one of three Lions to finish among the top-10 men, along with Noah Mansouri and Nicolas Abanto Enns.
Zoe Gardiner and Liz Maguire cracked the top-10 on the women’s side. Gardiner was seventh in 18:57 while Maguire was tenth in 19:22.
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