Personal bests piled up by the hour. Championship records disappeared. By the end of the two-day meet, Ottawa Lions athletes had qualified for next week’s OFSAA East Regional Championships in more than 150 events.
In total, Lions athletes combined for 122 personal bests, nine new all-time club top-10 performances, and more than 80 individual regional qualifiers at this year’s NCSSAA Track and Field Championships, highlighted by three championship records and a remarkable collection of multi-event champions.
Ange-Mathis Kramo capped a superb senior boys sprint campaign with a championship record in the 200m, clocking 21.29 seconds on the opening day of the two-day event to trim 15 hundredths of a second off the previous standard set in 2024. After breaking the record in the preliminaries with a wind-aided 21.26, the Paul-Desmarais senior returned in the final to take advantage of the only wind-legal 200m final of the day.
Kramo was pushed to the line by training partner Ayoub Shangai of Louis-Riel, who narrowly missed the previous record himself while finishing second in 21.56. The performance moved Shangai to eighth on the club’s U20 all-time list.
A similar story unfolded the following day in the 400m, where Kramo captured another title in 48.59 — just five hundredths of a second ahead of Shangai.
As she has all season, Anabelle Muir soared to another standout performance in the junior girls pole vault. The Grade 10 Glebe student shattered the championship record by clearing 3.47 metres, winning by more than two feet over training partner Charlotte Morales. The performance moved Muir to third on the club’s U18 all-time list and remains the top junior girls clearance in Ontario this season.
The pair later finished in the same 1-2 order in the 300m hurdles, though Muir’s margin of victory was far narrower as she edged Morales 49.20 to 49.40.
Mallea McMullin had already entered the championships holding the junior javelin record, but this year she made her mark at the senior level as well. McMullin launched the 600-gram implement 42.23 metres to break an eight-year-old championship record before returning to capture the senior girls discus title with a personal best performance, establishing herself as one of the region’s top throwing threats heading into next week’s regional championships.
Beyond the records, the Lions produced a remarkable collection of multi-event champions across nearly every discipline.
Roxy Gardiner was at the top of her game in the senior girls jumps, capturing gold in the high jump (1.57m), long jump (5.33m), and triple jump (11.23m) — all lifetime best performances. Maxime Cazabon matched the feat in the junior boys division, winning the high jump (1.80m), long jump (6.55m PB), and triple jump (13.04m) to complete a clean sweep of the horizontal and vertical jumps.
In the girls events, Sasha Stephenson doubled in the novice hurdles, winning both the 80m hurdles and 300m hurdles while also adding bronze in the 200m. Osgoode’s Charlotte Mills ruled the throwing circle in the junior division, sweeping the shot put and discus titles, while Holy Trinity’s Norah Nitta Mackay topped the podium in both the senior girls 400m and 400m hurdles.
Jorai Oppong-Nketiah once again asserted herself as one of the province’s premier sprinters, capturing senior girls gold in both the 100m (12.13) and 200m (24.69).
On the boys side, novice standout William Lussier proved untouchable in the short sprints, winning both the 100m and 200m while adding silver in the 400m. Jake Claydon-St. John controlled the novice boys middle-distance races, earning victories in both the 400m and 800m, while Jaiden Taft swept the novice boys 1500m and 3000m titles.
Distance success continued through the older age groups as Brody Charbot captured junior boys gold in both the 1500m (4:21.69) and 3000m (9:38.95). Charlie Mortimer completed a distance double of his own, winning the senior boys 3000m and open boys steeplechase, while Kyra Lauter mirrored the feat on the girls side with victories in the senior girls 3000m and open girls steeplechase — both in personal best performances of 10:30.37 and 7:31.13 respectively.
Senior standout Eli Mordel added another pair of victories for the Lions, winning both the senior boys 110m hurdles and pole vault (4.50m).
The full contingent now turns its attention to the OFSAA East Regional Championships, to be held at Thousand Islands Secondary School in Brockville next week. With records already in hand and gold medals across every age group, the Lions travel with considerable momentum as they prepare to qualify for OFSAA.
Full meet results can be found on our website.