(Ottawa, Canada---25 June 2025) Isla Kittmer competes in Ottawa Summer Twilight Meet #4 at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility. Copyright 2025 Miles Ryan / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Small Lions Team Roars at Legion Championships with Seven-Medal Haul

by linkinbioNational

REGINA, Sask. — A small contingent of Ottawa Lions athletes made a big impact at the Royal Canadian Legion Track and Field Championships, with 16 athletes combining for seven medals — including three national titles — at Canada Games Stadium in Regina from August 7-9.

Among the 16 Lions were two athletes selected to Team Ontario, with Anabelle Muir and Roan Gerth both returning home with national medals. Across the three-day championships, the Lions collected three gold, two silver and two bronze medals, while also producing a number of personal bests and performances that moved athletes up the club’s all-time lists.

Isla Kittmer was the first Lion to reach the podium, delivering a masterful performance to win the U18 girls 3000m on Saturday in 10:12.95. Kittmer remained just off the lead through the early stages of the race before making her move with approximately 700 metres remaining. Once she took the lead, there was no looking back, as she continued to extend her lead with each following step eventually amassing a 15 metre gap on the field. With nothing in reserve, Kittmer dropped to the track in exhaustion as she crossed the line in victory. 

The victory marked the first individual provincial or national podium finish of Kittmer’s career.

The day prior, Kittmer placed seventh in the U18 girls 1500m, finishing in 4:42.36, the second-fastest of her career.

Producing gold medal performances has seemed to become commonplace for Anabelle Muir this season. Sunday’s U18 pole vault competition was no different as Muir cleared a personal best height of 3.80m for victory. Competing for Team Ontario, the 16-year-old’s winning clearance added 25 centimetres to her personal best as she won by 15 centimetres over British Columbia’s Amy Woods.

Sunday’s clearance is the second-highest in Lions history behind Patricia Gauthier’s Club record of 4.06m from 2008. Nationally, it ranks third all-time among Canadian 16-year-olds and ties for ninth on the all-time U18 list and caps a season that included national titles both indoors and out. 

Rounding out the national champions was the U18 boys 4x100m quartet of Alex Forzley, Logan Morrice, Declan McGinnity and Maxime Cazabon, who won their heat of the timed final comfortably in 42.59 seconds over Team Ontario. The boys then had to wait and watch for their time to hold up against second heat winners Thorold Elite, by 0.07 seconds. The time is the fourth-fastest in club history and marks the first time since 2010 that Lions boys have topped the 4x100m podium at the Legion Championships.

For the third time in a month, Roan Gerth, took second place behind Ontario teammate Sawyer Nicholson in the 1500m steeplechase. The soon-to-be Grade 10 student at Glebe Collegiate crossed the finish line in 5 minutes and 4.04 seconds – 14 seconds back of Nicholson in the U16 event. Collectively, the two were the class of the field as they separated themselves from the field early on — quickly building a 10 metre gap within the first few hundred metres. As the race progressed, Nicholson would pull away from Gerth, who held strong running on her own. 

“Last jump, best jump” was a mantra warmly embraced by Roxy Gardiner in Sunday’s U18 girls triple jump event. On her sixth and final attempt, the Sir Robert Borden student produced a lifetime best of 11.50m to secure bronze — her first national championship medal. Gardiner’s effort edged the Edmonton Thunder’s Kit Woolverton by just one centimetre for the final spot on the podium, with her performance moving her to No. 3 on the Ottawa Lions all-time U18 list.

It was a busy weekend for Gardiner, who also finished eighth in both the high jump (1.54m) and long jump (5.26m). She was also part of the Lions’ U18 girls 4x100m relay team that finished 10th.

On Saturday, Jarred Rathwell added bronze in the throws, sending the 700-gram javelin out to 51.55m for his first national medal.

The seventh medal came Sunday from the U18 girls 4x400m team of Olivia Daigle-Dasah, Autumn Sakiyama, Norah Nitta Mackay and Ellie McGregor, who ran 3:53.32 for bronze behind British Columbia and Alberta. The time is the third-fastest in club history.

While finishing off the podiumm, Noah Hollinger was not far from the story of the meet. Over two days in the decathlon the 17-year-old placed fourth with 5,517 points, setting a personal best and a Lions U18 record. Along the way, Hollinger set personal bests in 7 of the 10 events and closed the competition by winning the 1500m in 4:24.87.

(Ottawa, Canada---19 June 2026) /Zachary Jeggo/ at the Canadian Track and Field Championships Presented by Bell at the Tery Fox Athletic Facility at Mooney’s Bay. Copyright 2026 Miles Ryan / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Canadian U20 400m Champ Jeggo Takes Global Stage at Hayward Field

by Internationallinkinbio

EUGENE, Ore. — Two athletes with Ottawa Lions ties will compete at the World Athletics U20 Championships this week, as the biennial global meet for junior athletes returns to the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field from Aug. 5 to 9.

Zachary Jeggo will carry the Lions banner into the men’s 400 metres and is expected to feature for a Canadian 4×400-metre relay team. The 19-year-old from Embrun, won the U20 400-metre title at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Ottawa this June to earn his place on the national team. The Simon Fraser University student also holds the Canadian U20 indoor record over the distance, becoming the first Canadian teenager to break 47 seconds indoors when he clocked 46.72 in February at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in Spokane, Wash. Jeggo enters the Championship with an outdoor personal best of 46.62 set in London, Ont., in June 2025. He has also been named a captain of the Canadian team for the championships.

Jeggo faces a deep field in Eugene. Four entrants in the men’s 400 metres have run under 45 seconds, including Americans Jayden DeLeon (World U20 #3) and 2024 Olympic relay gold medallist Quincy Wilson (World U20 #4).

Also competing at Hayward Field is Carolin Evers, who was a Lions member during the 2024-25 season while completing an exchange program. Though Evers competed just once in club colours, her clearance of 1.66 metres in the high jump ranked third all-time among the Lions’ U18 athletes. The 18-year-old will represent her native Germany in Eugene, where she carries a season’s best of 1.83 metres, a personal record she set in June to qualify for the championships.

The championships mark the return of the event to Eugene for the first time since 2014, when the meet was known as the IAAF World Junior Championships. On that occasion the Lions were represented by Erinn Stenman-Fahey, who advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 800 metres.

More than 1,800 athletes from around the world are entered across the five-day program.

Schedule (all times Eastern)

Zachary Jeggo — 400m
Round 1 — Thursday, Aug. 6, 4:45 p.m.
Semifinals — Thursday, Aug. 6, 10:44 p.m.
Final — Friday, Aug. 7, 11:53 p.m.

Men’s 4x400m Relay (Jeggo expected to feature)
Round 1 — Saturday, Aug. 8, 2:20 p.m.
Final — Sunday, Aug. 9, 5:55 p.m.

Carolin Evers — High Jump
Qualification — Friday, Aug. 7, 2:05 p.m.
Final — Sunday, Aug. 9, 3:30 p.m.

(Ottawa, Canada---08 July 2026) Wendy Alexis and Diana Vara. Ottawa Summer Twilight Series Meet 6. Photograph Copyright 2026 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Alexis sets Canadian record as Ottawa Lions shine at Masters Championships

by linkinbioMastersNational

LAVAL, Quebec — Ottawa Lions sprinter Wendy Alexis broke a national record and won two gold medals as a five-athlete club contingent competed at the Canadian Masters Track and Field Championships at Stade d’athlétisme Claude-Ferragne over the weekend.

Alexis, competing in the W70 category, won the 100-metre final Saturday in 14.41 seconds, a Canadian record. The mark broke her own national record of 14.44 set last year and left her just shy of the world record of 14.37 set by Chile’s Sara Montecinos last November.

“It’s a good race and a good track, but I’m getting a little greedy, and I’m looking for a faster time,” Alexis told Athletics Canada. “But it’s a season’s best; it’s a Canadian record, so I’m grateful, and I’m trying to be satisfied, but it’s very close to the world record, and my season is running out, and I was hoping to get it soon.”

Alexis returned Sunday to win the 200-metre final in 31.11 seconds, finishing more than 1.5 seconds ahead of runner-up Karla del Grande, the current world-record holder in the event. The 200 was run on a rain-soaked track during one of several storms that swept through the venue Sunday.

Although her season is winding down, Alexis has one major competition remaining: the 2026 World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships in South Korea, which begin August 22.

Thrower J-Angelo Beraldin was among the busiest athletes of the meet. The 66-year-old collected six medals in the M65 division — two silver and four bronze. His silvers came in the shot put and javelin throw, where his best throws measured 10.33 and 29.68 metres respectively. He added bronze in the discus, hammer throw, weight throw and the throws pentathlon, scoring 2,597 points in the five-event combined competition.

Sprinter Nick Karitsiotis also reached the top of the podium, winning the M55 100-metre final in 12.58 seconds after clocking 13.68 in his heat.

In the men’s throws, Tom Pincombe won M50 discus gold with a best mark of 41.52 metres. Kleanthis Tsichlas claimed M55 shot put gold at 12.40 metres and placed fifth in the discus at 29.42 metres.

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Eighteen years on, Makinde returns to a Commonwealth podium — as a guide runner

by Internationallinkinbio

GLASGOW — Eighteen years after he won bronze at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India, Oluwasegun Makinde stood on a Commonwealth podium again. This time he had not run his own race.

Makinde, a 35-year-old sprinter and two-time Olympian, served as guide runner for visually impaired sprinter George Quarcoo in the men’s 100-metre T11/T12 final, the pair crossing in 11.06 seconds for third place. It was the only medal among four Ottawa Lions athletes at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

The result closed a long Commonwealth arc for Makinde, who was twice named to Canadian teams as a sprinter — Glasgow in 2014 and the Gold Coast in 2018 — before returning to the same Scottish city in a new role. He and Quarcoo have been running together for just over a year.

“That was a dream come true,” said Quarcoo, who runs for Eclipse Track and Field and began losing his vision at age nine. “Exactly eight years ago is where it started, at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. We came here with one mission — to execute and handle business, and that’s exactly what we did.”

“It’s incredible,” Makinde said of the collective bronze medal effort. “It’s a bit of redemption from 2018 [where Quaracoo did not advance to the final]. I’m happy to help him achieve his goals. It has been many years in the making.”

Making her first global final, Lauren Gale capped a remarkable summer with a seventh-place finish in the women’s 400m, crossing the line in 52.01 seconds as wind and cool temperatures created conditions more reminiscent of a fall cross country meet than the first day of August.

For the two-time Olympian, the result brought a strong close to a summer that has already included her first victories at both the Pan American Championships and Canadian Championships, adding another major international final to an increasingly impressive résumé.

Despite the challenging conditions, Gale remained focused on the task at hand.

“It’s always exciting to be in a final. Very happy to be here,” Gale said. “It’s a little cold, a little windy, but we’re all running in the same conditions, and I just had to execute my race.”

Maëliss Trapeau battled through injury to reach the semifinals of the women’s 800m, finishing eighth in her semifinal section in 2:02.42 after advancing from the opening round in 2:03.89.

Trapeau’s path to the start line was far from straightforward. In a social media post following her semifinal, the 26-year-old revealed that a calf strain and significant Achilles tendinitis in the week leading into the Games had disrupted her preparation and left her uncertain whether she would be able to compete.

“Ten days ago, I wasn’t even sure I would make it to the start line,” Trapeau wrote, crediting the Canadian medical team for helping her get to the track. “Not the performance I was aiming for, but a race I’m proud to have been able to run given the circumstances.”

David Moulongou rounded out the Lions’ individual competition with a fifth-place finish in his men’s 400m hurdles semifinal, running 51.00 seconds.

The 23-year-old University of Ottawa student and reigning Canadian champion has enjoyed a breakthrough season, breaking a 36-year-old Lions club record in the spring before lowering his personal best to 49.92 at the Royal City Inferno in Guelph, Ont. The performance moved him to 10th on the Canadian all-time list.

“It was my first major international competition,” Moulongou said. “I would’ve hoped to do a lot better, but this was a very valiant and gutsy race.”

(Ottawa, Canada---08 July 2026) Madison White. Ottawa Summer Twilight Series Meet 6. Photograph Copyright 2026 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Golden Weekend: Ottawa Lions Haul in 13 Medals at Ontario Summer Games

by linkinbioProvincial

KITCHENER, Ont. — Eleven Ottawa Lions athletes traded club colours for “The Valley” region singlet this weekend, competing at the Ontario Summer Games in Waterloo Region. The Ontario Summer Games, held every two years, is the province’s largest multi-sport event for youth, drawing more than 4,000 athletes aged 12 to 18 and serving as an important stepping stone toward national and international competition.

Under the guidance of the Lions’ own Yolande Jones-Grande, serving as The Valley’s head coach, the contingent turned in a stellar showing on the track at Resurrection Catholic Secondary School in Kitchener, combining for 13 medals — three gold, six silver and four bronze.

Leading the medal haul was Madison White, who completed the sprint double in the para ambulatory category. The Carleton University student took top spot in the 100m Friday with a time of 17.68 seconds and followed it up Saturday with a 37.42 clocking in the 200m final.

Competing in the U16 category, Tyson Dalzell added another gold to the Lions haul, launching the 4-kilogram shot put out to 14.61 metres to win by over half a metre. Dalzell also competed in the discus, placing seventh with a throw of 26.58 metres.

Middle-distance runner Jake Claydon-St. John upgraded his U16 provincial 800m bronze from a week ago to silver at the Games, crossing the finish line in a time of 2:03.03. The John McCrae student also added a bronze medal to his collection over 1200m, narrowly edging Peninsula’s Peter Orell out for the final podium spot — 3:17.86 to 3:17.89.

Also turning in a double medal performance was Roan Gerth. The Glebe student dropped nearly three seconds from her previous best over 2000m, crossing the line in 6:39.22 for silver in the U16 category. Gerth’s performance is the second fastest in club history over the distance, trailing only former national champion Shona McCulloch. Gerth also added a silver in the 1500m steeplechase, where she finished in 5:00.81 — a second off her best.

The Lebel brothers each made their own contributions to the medal collection. Kai, the elder of the two, took home a bronze in the U16 1500m steeplechase (4:51.26) while also dropping a second off his best over 2000m. Ronan’s medal came in the U14 2000m, where he dropped more than 15 seconds from his previous best to finish in 6:24.91 and set a new club U14 record.

Coming off a provincial title in the tetrathlon last weekend, Eric Combasson added a silver in the U14 long jump (4.61m). Fellow U14 competitor Benji Fitz-Morris nabbed a silver of his own with a 36.90-second effort in the 200m hurdles — moving him to sixth on the club U14 list.

Rounding out the medal haul were Brooklyn Reesal and Oliver Jeglic. Reesal launched a massive lifetime best in the discus to capture bronze in the U16 category. The Colonel By student moved to third on the club U16 list with her 33.45m effort. Jeglic took home the bronze over 300m in the U14 category with his time of 41.50. He narrowly missed the podium in the 150m, but his 18.97-second effort did move him to second on the club U14 list.

While they did not make the podium, a quartet of Lions represented The Valley in the U14 sprint medley relay, with Ronan Lebel, Benji Fitz-Morris, Oliver Jeglic and Eric Combasson combining for a club age-class record of 4:44.47.

(Ottawa, Canada---20 June 2026) Maxime Cazabon. Athletics Canada 2026 Bell Trials Canadian Track and Field Championships. Photograph Copyright 2026 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Ottawa Lions Capture 10th U18 Provincial Title Behind 31-Medal Weekend

by linkinbioProvincial

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. — The Ottawa Lions left St. Catharines last weekend with 31 medals and its first provincial U18 team title in two years, closing out the Ontario U14/U16/U18 & CE Championships.

Our U18 team finished with an impressive 204 points, 68 clear of London Western Track and Field Club in second place, enough to secure the club’s 10th U18 team title since the championship began crowning a team winner in 2000. The Lions had last won it in 2024.

Team success came amid a broader medal haul that spanned nearly every age group at the meet. Over three days of championship action, Lions athletes combined for nine gold medals, 14 silver and eight bronze.

No Lions athlete had a busier weekend than Maxime Cazabon, who is just 16 but already competing at the top of the U18 ranks. Over three days, he ran the 100 and 200 meters, then turned to the jumps, where he swept gold in the high jump (1.94m) and triple jump (13.59m), added a silver in the long jump (6.32m), and closed out his meet with another silver as part of 4×100 relay team with Alexander Forzley, Ethan Hood, and Logan Morrice. The quartet’s time of  42.47 seconds now ranks as the second-fastest among U18 in club history.

Max Gerundin picked up a pair of medals as he completed the classic middle-distance double, winning the 800 meters in 1:53.35 and taking bronze in the 1500 in 4:01.66, before adding a fourth medal as part of the 4×400 team with Sebastian Johnson, Declan McGinnity, Ethan Hood. The team posted a speedy 3:20.57 to move to second on the U18 all-time list.

As she has done virtually all year, Anabelle Muir proved herself once again to be the class of the pole vault field. The 16-year-old cleared 3.46 meters to take top spot on the podium. Not willing to be a one-trick-pony, Muir jumped into relay duty where she was part of a fourth place finish in the 4×400 and helped the 4×800 team to silver. Running with Autumn Sakiyama, Isla Kittmer, Bianca Arabackyj, the quartet finished in 9:38.7 — good for sixth on the Club’s U18 list.

Among the club’s younger athletes, Eric Combasson repeated his victory from indoors in the U14 tetrathlon. In the race walk, Penny Roy took home the gold in the U16 1500m event.

The Lions saved two of their most complete team performances for the relays. In the 1600-meter sprint medley, the foursome of Yousef Kamel, Alexander Forzley, Logan Morrice and Timothy Kelly-MacLean won gold in 3 minutes 39.10 seconds. A few events later, Kelly-MacLean was back on the track for the 4×800-meter relay, joining Oscar Lorrain, Jake Claydon-St. John and Aidan Savka for a gold-medal time of 8:25.34 — his second gold of the meet.

Full List of Ottawa Lions Medalists

Gold

  • Noah Hollinger — Decathlon (U18)
  • Eric Combasson — Tetrathlon (U14)
  • Max Gerundin — 800m (U18)
  • Penny Roy — 1500m Race Walk (U16)
  • Maxime Cazabon — High Jump (U18)
  • Maxime Cazabon — Triple Jump (U18)
  • Anabelle Muir — Pole Vault (U18)
  • Yousef Kamel, Alexander Forzley, Logan Morrice, Timothy Kelly-MacLean — 1600m Sprint Medley (U18)
  • Oscar Lorrain, Jake Claydon-St. John, Aidan Savka, Timothy Kelly-MacLean — 4x800m (U18)

Silver

  • Parker Baetz — Decathlon (U18)
  • Kyle London — Decathlon (U20)
  • Leo Wallner — Decathlon (Open)
  • Oliver Jeglic — 300m (U14)
  • Ethan Hood — 400m (U18)
  • Norah Nitta Mackay — 400m (U18)
  • Jarred Rathwell — Javelin (U18)
  • Maxime Cazabon — Long Jump (U18)
  • Roxy Gardiner — Triple Jump (U18)
  • Norah Nitta Mackay, Roxy Gardiner, Marlowe Fabi, Bianca Arabackyj — 1600m Sprint Medley (U18)
  • Alexander Forzley, Maxime Cazabon, Ethan Hood, Logan Morrice — 4x100m (U18)
  • Sebastian Johnson, Max Gerundin, Declan McGinnity, Ethan Hood — 4x400m (U18)
  • Matisse Joly, Thomas Fenton, Brody Charbot, Silas Harding — 4x800m (U18)
  • Autumn Sakiyama, Isla Kittmer, Anabelle Muir, Bianca Arabackyj — 4x800m (U18)

Bronze

  • Oliver Jeglic — 80m (U14)
  • Sasha Stephenson — 200m Hurdles (U16)
  • Jake Claydon-St. John — 800m (U16)
  • Max Gerundin — 1500m (U18)
  • Alina Shpakovych — High Jump (U18)
  • Aidan Savka, Brock Stonham, Ethan Frizzell, Oscar Lorrain — 1600m Sprint Medley (U18)
  • Declan McGinnity, Sebastian Johnson, Yousef Kamel, Ethan Frizzell — 4x100m (U18)
  • Audrey Webb, Priya Bilcock, Hailey Hayes, Sophie Houle — 4x800m (U18)
2026CWG_logo

Four Lions Set for Commonwealth Games Competition in Glasgow

by Internationallinkinbio

OTTAWA — Competition begins Monday at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and the Ottawa Lions will have plenty to cheer for on the track. David Moulongou, Maëliss Trapeau and Lauren Gale will all race for Canada at Scotstoun Stadium, while Segun Makinde will guide Para sprinter George Quarcoo of Eclipse Track & Field in the T12 100 metres.

This edition of the Games looks a little different than usual. Glasgow stepped in as a late replacement host after original host Victoria, Australia withdrew in 2023. The result is a leaner, more condensed version of the Games. The athletics program runs from Monday, July 27 through Saturday, August 1, with the broader Games continuing through August 2.

David Moulongou — Men’s 400m Hurdles

Moulongou enters his first Commonwealth Games in the form of his life. The 23-year-old University of Ottawa student broke a 36-year-old club record in the 400m hurdles at the season-opening Ottawa Spring Kick Start, then kept chasing it down all spring — eventually running 49.92 at the Royal City Inferno in Guelph, a mark that moved him to 10th on the Canadian all-time list and comfortably inside the Commonwealth Games qualifying standard. David enters the Games as the reigning Canadian champion, his first senior national title.

Maëliss Trapeau — Women’s 800m

Trapeau first pulled on a Lions singlet as a 12-year-old and will race in Glasgow nearly 15 years later. Born in France and raised in Ottawa from age five, she ran collegiately and academically at the University of Ottawa before moving to Europe to chase her running career, competing internationally for France as a junior. She switched her international allegiance back to Canada in 2025 and immediately won the Canadian 800m title, then broke 1:59 for the first time with a personal-best 1:58.90 at the World Championships in Tokyo — the best World Championship showing by a Lions athlete since Tim Nedow’s ninth-place shot put finish in 2019. Glasgow will be her Commonwealth Games debut.

Lauren Gale — Women’s 400m

A two-time Olympian, Gale’s international career traces back to the Commonwealth Games family: she first represented Canada at the 2017 Youth Commonwealth Games, an experience she has credited with sparking her Olympic ambitions. This June, racing through a downpour at the Canadian Championships in Ottawa, she won her first senior national title after two previous runner-up finishes — punching her ticket to Glasgow for her first senior Commonwealth Games.

Segun Makinde — Guide 100m T12

Makinde is a familiar name to Lions fans in his own right: the University of Ottawa alum was a member of Canada’s 2012 and 2016 Olympic teams and competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as a sprinter. These Games, he’ll guide George Quarcoo of Eclipse Track & Field in the T12 100 metres. Quarcoo, a Ghanaian-born Canadian who began losing his vision at age nine, is no stranger to this stage either — he raced at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Fans can stream every session of the Games — including all track events — live and on demand on CBC Gem, free with a signed-in account.

Schedule (All times Eastern)

Everything beyond Round 1 is pending qualification.

Monday, July 27

  • David Moulongou — 400m Hurdles, Round 1 — 5:10 a.m.
  • Maëliss Trapeau — 800m, Round 1 — 2:15 p.m.

Tuesday, July 28

  • Lauren Gale — 400m, Round 1 — 5:30 a.m.

Wednesday, July 29

  • Oluwasegun Makinde (guide) — 100m T12, Round 1 — 7:33 a.m.
  • David Moulongou — 400m Hurdles, Semi-Final — 2:33 p.m.
  • Maëliss Trapeau — 800m, Semi-Final — 2:47 p.m.

Thursday, July 30

  • Lauren Gale — 400m, Semi-Final — 7:45 a.m.
  • Oluwasegun Makinde (guide) — 100m T12, Final — 2:45 p.m.

Friday, July 31

  • Maëliss Trapeau — 800m, Final — 3:25 p.m.
  • David Moulongou — 400m Hurdles, Final — 4:00 p.m.

Saturday, August 1

  • Lauren Gale — 400m, Final — 7:20 a.m.
IMG_3177

Celebrate Excellence Under the Lights

by Clublinkinbio

While nearly 100 Ottawa Lions athletes are still hard at work at the U14/U16/U18/Combined Provincial Championships, Youth National Championships, U20 World Championships, and the Commonwealth Games, we’re already looking ahead to celebrate a season — and a club — worth celebrating.

Join us on Saturday, September 12th, 2026, as we honour a year of success, grit, commitment, and sacrifice under the lights. Trade in your sweats and running shoes for semi-formal attire and share the evening with fellow members, from our local stage to the world stage. We’ll be recognizing our national team members, club age-class MVPs, and the volunteers and officials who make it all possible — plus celebrating everyone who helped power our five-year run hosting National Championships.

Date: Saturday, September 12th, 2026
Location: Terry Fox Athletic Facility (2960 Riverside Dr., Ottawa, ON K1V 8N4)
Time: 5:00 pm Cocktails · 6:30 pm Dinner (awards & speeches throughout) · 9:30 pm Conclusion
Cost: $40 — RSVP, no later than Wednesday, September 9th at 11:59 pm. Late entry: $60 up to noon on September 11th.
Dinner: Choice of Grilled Chicken, Salmon, or Vegetarian, with salad, rice, mixed vegetables, and bread. Please note any dietary restrictions when registering.
Drinks: Non-alcoholic options available; select wine and beer available for purchase. Please drink responsibly.
Attire: Business/cocktail, weather-appropriate — this is an outdoor event under canvas tents with heaters on hand.

Hope to see you there!

(Ottawa, Canada---20 June 2026) Maxime Cazabon at the Canadian Track and Field Championships presented by Bell at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility. Copyright 2026 Miles Ryan Rowat / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Seven Golds Headline Lions’ 24-Medal Weekend in Windsor

by linkinbioProvincialUncategorized

The Ottawa Lions left Windsor with 24 medals, including seven gold, from the Ontario U20 and Open Track and Field Championships, this past weekend at the University of Windsor’s Alumni Stadium from Friday through Sunday.

Providing the signature performance of the Championships for the Lions, Ayoub Shangai ran away with the U20 men’s 400m title. After teammate, and reigning Canadian champion Zachary Jeggo pulled out of the final, all eyes were focused on the recent Louis-Rield graduate and he ceased the moment. 

Sitting on the field for the first three quarters of the race, Shangai dropped the hammer as he headed into the home stretch — surging clear to win by five metres in a time of 47.18 seconds. The performance trimmed more than two tenths of a second from his previous best from last June and moved him to third on the Club’s all-time U20 list. Making the even more impressive was the fact it came two hours after placing sixth in the 100m final with an all-conditions best performance of 10.57 seconds (w +2.5m/s) 

The medal haul wasn’t over for Shangai as he added a bronze medal anchoring the 4x100m a few hours later. Teaming up with Jamie Meikle, Xavier Placid and Maxime Cazabon, the quartet produced the fifth fastest U20 time in Club history — 42.13 seconds.  

Cazabon had some individual success of his own leading a Lions 1-2 finish in the U20 men’s high jump. The national bronze medalist captured provincial gold with a clearance of 1.90, while teammate Fallo Douramodou took the silver after clearing 1.85m. Cazabon rounded out the weekend by adding a second relay bronze to his collection with the 4x400m team that included Jimmy Lu Langley, Nathan Cox, and Jamie Meikle. 

On the women’s side, Shannon Dewar, Waverley Lyons, Autumn Sakiyama and Ciara Villeneuve combined to win the U20 4x800m on Saturday evening in 9:34.47. In addition to the gold medal, their performance moved the quartet to seventh all-time on the Club’s U20 list. Three of the four — Dewar, Lyons and Sakiyama — doubled back to close out the meet in the 4x400m, joining Nora Nitta-MacKay for silver in 4:01.30.

For the third straight year, the Lions senior women captured gold in the 4x400m to end the competition. This year’s team of Tatiana Pender, Sophia McIntyre, Kathryn Moreland and Amy Stieh delivered a winning time of 3:51.16 with Stieh anchoring in a strong 54.17 seconds. 

In the field, Jessica Gyamfi picked up a pair of medals. On Friday evening, the recent University of Ottawa nursing graduate took top spot in the open women’s shot put with a best throw of 13.01m to win by half a metre over London Western’s Anij Sparenberg. A day later, Gyamfi added provincial silver in the discus to go with her national bronze from June. 

Madison White rounded out the Lions’ champions. The Carleton University student swept the para ambulatory sprints, winning both the 100m and 200m.

The Lions filled out the podium across the program. Ken Lorbetskie took silver in the senior men’s 5000m, while Owen Recoskie (silver) and Barrett Goold (bronze) went two-three in the U20 men’s race. Leo Wallner (senior) and Taisei Tan (U20) each claimed silver in the 110m hurdles. Amy Stieh added bronze in the senior women’s 400m, Rose Basu bronze in the senior women’s 200m, Elizabeth Moreland bronze in the senior women’s triple jump, and Jack Mines silver in the U20 men’s discus.

The relays produced another five medals. The senior women’s 4x100m of Basu, Danica Mulvihill, Teagan Casselman and Ella-Grace Gilbert took silver. In the 4x800m, the senior men’s quartet of Lorbetskie, Matteo Padoin-Castillo, Adriano Padoin-Castillo and Dean Kontogiannis earned silver, and the U20 men’s team of Brennan Lee, Lucas Gomez, Recoskie and Goold added bronze. The U20 men’s 4x400m of Jimmy Lu Langley, Nathan Cox, Cazabon and Meikle rounded out the relay haul with bronze.

The Lions were in the hunt for team honours in both divisions. In the senior standings, they placed second with 128 points, behind champion London-Western TFC’s 192. The junior race was tighter, with London-Western on top at 155 and Ottawa second at 120.5. Neither result is final — scores in both categories won’t be settled until the combined-events championships are contested July 25-27 in St. Catharines.

(Ottawa, Canada---20 June 2026) Anabelle Muir at the Canadian Track and Field Championships presented by Bell at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility. Copyright 2026 Miles Ryan Rowat / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Lions Win Four Gold Medals at Ontario Legion Championships in Sudbury

by linkinbioProvincial

For the first time in a decade, the Ottawa Lions sent a full delegation to the Ontario Legion Track and Field Championships — and made the trip count. Athletes representing District G, which covers Eastern Ontario, combined for seven medals, including four gold, over two days of competition at Laurentian University in Sudbury on Friday and Saturday.

Anabelle Muir supplied the marquee moment, winning the U18 girls pole vault with a personal-best clearance of 3.55m, 45 centimetres clear of her nearest competitor. Muir has flourished since moving to Ottawa last year, adding 35 centimetres to her best as she now sits second on the Club’s all-time U18 list.

Fresh off winning gold with the U20 men’s 4x400m relay team at the Canadian Championships last month, Ethan Hood got his first taste of individual gold in a Lions uniform. The North Grenville Secondary School student won the U18 boys 400m in a personal-best 49.14 seconds, holding off District E’s Julio Lai-Fang (49.39) down the stretch. Hood’s time ranks sixth all-time among Lions U18 sprinters.

Every time Jarred Rathwell has stepped onto the javelin runway this season, he’s walked away with a personal best, and Saturday was no different. Competing in the U18 boys event, Rathwell threw a personal-best 54.48m with the 700-gram implement to take top spot. The St. Joseph’s student moves to fourth on the Club’s U18 all-time list with the throw.

In the rarely contested octathlon, Parker Baetz won U18 boys gold with 4,368 points across the eight-event discipline. Along the way, he set personal bests in the long jump, 100m, 400m and 1000m.

Roan Gerth turned heads in her steeplechase debut, becoming the first athlete in Club history to break five minutes over the 1500m distance. Her time of 4:59.45 was good for silver in the U16 category. The event looks like a natural fit for the Glebe student, an OFSAA finalist over 1500m who narrowly missed qualifying in the 300m hurdles during the high school season. Gerth also placed fourth in the 2000m in 6:42.16 — the second-fastest time in Club history.

Jake Claydon-St. John added U16 800m bronze in 2:01.13, two hundredths off the personal best he set at the OFSAA Championships in June. He also lowered his 1200m best to 3:20.27 to place fourth.

Brooklyn Reesal rounded out the medal count with U16 girls discus bronze, throwing 30.50m to move to seventh on the Club’s all-time U16 list. She also improved her shot put to 9.68m in Sudbury.