Maxime Cazabon arrived at the OFSAA Track and Field Championships in St. Catharines as the reigning novice high jump champion. He left as something considerably more.
The Garneau student successfully defended his title in the junior boys high jump, clearing 2.00 metres for the first time in his life to claim gold. However, for Cazabon, his OFSAA success wasn’t all about the high jump — excelling in the horizontal jumps as well, taking gold in the triple jump and finishing a narrow fourth in the long jump.
In the first round of the triple jump, Cazabon shattered his lifetime best, leaping out to 14.10m. The impressive leap effectively wrapped up the competition in the opening round, as he would go on to win by more than a metre over the field. He was equally impressive on the long jump runway, unleashing a lifetime best of 6.57m to finish fourth — just five centimetres off the podium.
Anabelle Muir was every bit the favourite heading into the junior girls pole vault, and she delivered. The Glebe Collegiate athlete was never seriously threatened, dropping only one attempt across the entire competition — a first-attempt miss at 3.20m — before successive clearances up to 3.50m as she equaled her personal best from East Regionals. Training partner Charlotte Morales of Lisgar also cleared a lifetime best, making her way over 3.00 metres to place fifth.
In his final OFSAA competition, Ange-Mathis Kramo added a pair of silver and bronze medals to bring his career total to five. The Paul-Desmarais athlete placed second in the senior boys 400m with a 48.02 second effort on Friday before returning Saturday to claim bronze over 200m in 21.53.
Taisei Tan made his third career trip to the OFSAA podium in his final go round. Beatrice-Desloges student set a personal best of 14.15 seconds in the 110m hurdle prelims before returning to claim bronze in the final at 14.22 seconds. Tan also placed 10th in the 400m hurdles at 56.00.
For the third time this season, Eli Mordel cleared 4.60m in the pole vault. This time it earned the Sir Robert Borden student a bronze medal at the provincial championships. The future York University student had a perfect competition through his personal best height – making four heights on four attempts. In addition to his vaulting success, Mordel also ran to a fourth place finish in the senior boys 110m hurdles in 14.23 seconds – just a whisker behind Taisei Tan.
Mallea McMullin continued her annual pilgrimage to the OFSAA javelin podium in St. Catharines. The Louis-Riel student placed second in the senior girls event with a throw of 40.37m in just her first season competing in the senior category. It is McMullin’s third consecutive OFSAA javelin medal, following gold in the novice division two years ago and gold in the junior division last year.
Jarred Rathwell’s bronze in the junior boys javelin was one of the meet’s more dramatic finishes. The St. Joseph’s (Renfrew) athlete fouled on each of his first two throws before launching a personal best of 51.47m on his third attempt to jump into medal contention. Pushed to fourth in the fourth round, Rathwell refused to yield — unleashing a 52.97m throw on his final attempt, adding another metre and a half to his PB and throwing himself back onto the podium.
Norah Nitta Mackay did not medal in the senior girls 400m, but her championship told its own story. The Holy Trinity athlete ran a personal best in the heats, then obliterated that mark in the final, taking more than a second off a PB that was less than 24 hours old. Her fourth-place finish in 55.89 seconds also cracked the Ottawa Lions’ all-time U18 top-10 rankings — a performance that bodes extremely well heading into the summer season.
The medals told only part of the Lions’ story in St. Catharines. Roxy Gardiner’s 11.34m triple jump in the senior girls event wasn’t enough to crack the podium, but it was good enough to rank among the best in Ottawa Lions history — appearing in both the U18 and U20 all-time top-10 lists. Jake Claydon-St. John wrote himself into the club record books twice over in the novice boys division, with his 400m (53.12) and 800m (2:01.11) both joining the all-time rankings. Roan Gerth did the same in the novice girls 1500m, running a personal best of 4:46.49 in the heats to earn her place among the Club’s all-time performers — before going just a shade slower in the final.
Full list of Lions results
Novice Boys
Jake Claydon-St. John — 400m — 53.12 (12th)
Jake Claydon-St. John — 800m — 2:01.11 (4th)
Jake Claydon-St. John — 1500m — 4:23.62 (13th)
William Lussier — 100m — 11.53 (7th)
William Lussier — 200m — 24.19 (10th)
Jaiden Taft — 1500m — 4:19.24 (7th)
Jaiden Taft — 3000m — 9:54.88 (15th)
Kai Lebel — 3000m — DNF
Novice Girls
Roan Gerth — 1500m — 4:46.58 (7th)
Roan Gerth — 3000m — 10:37.08 (4th)
Brooklyn Reesal — Discus — 30.12m (6th)
Sasha Stephenson — 80m Hurdles — 13.47 (8th)
Junior Boys
Maxime Cazabon — High Jump — 2.00m (1st)
Maxime Cazabon — Long Jump — 6.57m (4th)
Maxime Cazabon — Triple Jump — 14.10m (1st)
Gavin Bowling — 400m — 53.24 (18th)
William Burges — Discus — 41.71m (17th)
Brody Charbot — 3000m — 9:35.44 (15th)
Ethan Frizzell — 100m Hurdles — 13.99 (5th)
Declan McGinnity — 200m — 23.90 (16th)
Declan McGinnity — 400m — 50.68 (6th)
Oscar Lorrain — 1500m — 4:09.29 (8th)
Oscar Lorrain — 3000m — 9:06.71 (6th)
Jarred Rathwell — Javelin — 52.97m (3rd)
Brock Stonham — 100m Hurdles — 14.84 (8th)
Brock Stonham — Pole Vault — 3.45m (13th)
Weston Wilkes — 300m Hurdles — 42.52 (15th)
Junior Girls
Anabelle Muir — Pole Vault — 3.50m (1st)
Reem Alabed — 3000m — 10:37.49 (10th)
Mya Bianconi — 300m Hurdles — 52.85 (6th)
Mya Bianconi — 400m — 1:00.91 (17th)
Charlotte Eccles — 1500m — 4:52.80 (17th)
Charlotte Eccles — 3000m — 10:36.74 (9th)
Isla Kittmer — 1500m — 4:47.96 (13th)
Isla Kittmer — 3000m — 10:31.69 (6th)
Reve McInnes — 1500m — 4:51.28 (15th)
Reve McInnes — 3000m — 10:36.67 (8th)
Charlotte Mills — Discus — 25.05m (16th)
Charlotte Mills — Shot Put — 10.49m (17th)
Charlotte Morales — Pole Vault — 3.00m (5th)
Olivia Daigle-Dasah — 200m — 26.53 (12th)
Megan Paterson — Discus — 34.41m (4th)
Megan Paterson — Shot Put — 11.85m (7th)
Autumn Sakiyama — 400m — 1:01.57 (14th)
Autumn Sakiyama — 800m — 2:19.89 (11th)
Senior Boys
Ange-Mathis Kramo — 200m — 21.53 (3rd)
Ange-Mathis Kramo — 400m — 48.02 (2nd)
Eli Mordel — 110m Hurdles — 14.23 (4th)
Eli Mordel — Pole Vault — 4.60m (3rd)
Taisei Tan — 110m Hurdles — 14.22 (2nd)
Taisei Tan — 400m Hurdles — 56.00 (10th)
Ethan Hood — 400m — 49.61 (15th)
Max Gerundin — 800m — 1:56.25 (5th)
Charlie Mortimer — 3000m — 8:44.43 (10th)
Parker Baetz — Pole Vault — 3.70m (13th)
Ayoub Shangai — 200m — 22.64 (14th)
Ayoub Shangai — 400m — 48.47 (6th)
Xavier Placid — 100m — 11.21 (21st)
Senior Girls
Mallea McMullin — Javelin — 40.37m (2nd)
Mallea McMullin — Discus — 26.19m (22nd)
Norah Nitta Mackay — 400m — 55.89 (4th)
Norah Nitta Mackay — 400m Hurdles — 1:06.40 (17th)
Roxy Gardiner — High Jump — 1.55m (5th)
Roxy Gardiner — Triple Jump — 11.34m (8th)
Teagan Casselman — 200m — 25.41 (13th)
Livia Buffone — 100m — 12.68 (16th)
Livia Buffone — 200m — 25.75 (20th)
Maya Allibon — 1500m — 4:55.57 (20th)
Annabella Curtis — 800m — 2:20.09 (19th)
Shannon Dewar — 800m — 2:19.85 (17th)
Jorai Oppong-Nketiah — 100m — 11.90 (DNS – Final)
Kyra Lauter — 3000m — 10:32.92 (18th)
Laila Lebel — 1500m — 5:03.04 (22nd)
Laila Lebel — 3000m — 10:31.16 (17th)
Audrey Sirnik — Long Jump — 4.63m (23rd)
Audrey Sirnik — Triple Jump — 10.15m (23rd)
Open Boys
Charlie Mortimer — 2000m Steeplechase — 5:58.41 (4th)
Open Girls
Charlotte Fee — 2000m Steeplechase — 7:34.45 (16th)
Kyra Lauter — 2000m Steeplechase — 7:17.59 (8th)
Intellectually Impaired
Dylan DeBoer — 100m — 13.32 (10th)