All posts by : miles.rowat

It was a smaller than usual group of athletes heading down the 416 and across the international bridge to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York last weekend, but that didn’t stop the group from bringing home 23 medals, including 14 gold. Combined, the Ottawa athletes swept the top rung of the podium in five events – 60 metres, 60 metre hurdles, 600 metres, 1000 metres and the mile.

It was a banner day for Vanessa Lu Langley as she set a new lifetime best in winning the women’s 60 metre event in a time of 7.88 seconds over clubmate Pernile Lund (7.99). The Lycée Claudel student had also set a personal best in the heats with her 7.94 second clocking.

Xavier Takam took the men’s 60 metre title, winning in a swift 7.12 seconds.

Sidney Smith and Zachary Meredith swept their respective 600 metre events in record setting fashion. The paid each broke the meet and field house records, Smith in 1:36.62 and Meredith in 1:25.41. While Meredith eclipsed his own record set a year prior, Smith snatch the record from training partner and second place finisher Mary Ollier (1:37.08). Brooklyn McCormick was third to make it a clean sweep of the women’s podium.

Smith would set another record on the day, as she teamed up with McCormick, Lucy Hempstead and Marie-Eve Dahms to set a new meet standard in the 4×400 metre relay. The Gee Gees quartet finished in 4:05.73 to shave three and a half seconds off the previous standard.

The other meet record of the meet came from Doyin Ogunremi who finished top of the field in the women’s 300 metres. The Redeemer Christian student’s time of 42.17 seconds cut more than a half second off the previous meet best and is the second fastest time of her life.

Continuing a long history of strong hurdling in Canton for the Lions, Tyler Dacosta and Nafthalia Lucien swept the 60 metre hurdles event. Dacosta won in a time of 8.85 seconds while Lucien took the women’s race in 9.20 seconds, three tenths ahead of second place.

High schooler Elena Tyman and Gee Gees freshman Luke Jones swept the 1000 metres with Tyman crossing the line in 3:17.93. Jones dominated the men’s event, winning by more than 10 seconds in 2:37.43.

The women’s mile saw Holly Hicks and Skye Pellerin dominate the race from the gun. Victory for Hicks never looked out of question during the race as she crossed the line first in 5:15.96 – eight seconds ahead of Pellerin in second. On the men’s side, Robbie Mitchell won the mile by a comfortable five second margin, finishing in 4:31.86.

Other medalists from the Holiday Relays are as follows:

Men’s 500m Matthew Dean GOLD 1:16.21
Men’s 4x200m Tyler Dacosta, Mathew Deans, Abili Onyepunuka SILVER 1:34.88
Women’s 4x400m Doyin Ogunremi, Pippa Kolking, Skye Pellerin, Elana Tyman BRONZE 4:23.06
Men’s 4x400m Luka Vukovic, Matthew Tang, Robbie Mitchell, Luke Jones SILVER 3:40.96
Women’s Shot Put Brianna Asiamah BRONZE 11.84m
Women’s Long Jump Kadiatou Wann SILVER 4.96m
Women’s Pole Vault Annabelle Gagne GOLD 3.05m

When he crossed the line at Saturday’s Canadian Cross Country Championships in Abbotsford, BC, Kevin Robertson put a great end to a phenomenal year of running. The 18 year old Robertson was third across the line in the U20 men’s race, completing the eight kilometre course in 25 minutes and 0.88 seconds in his one and only cross country race of 2019. The Syracuse University freshman has had a breakout out year that has included steeplechase titles at both the OFSAA and Canadian Championships, an athletic scholarship to a major NCAA program and now a spot on his first national team.

With only a two mile trial on the track under his belt this fall, Kevin Robertson pushed hard to the front of the pack over the opening 400 metres, choosing to hang in with that lead back for the bulk of the race. When eventual winner Andrew Davies of the Windsor Legion made his break on the third of four loops of the Clearbrook Park Course, a number of runners went with him, but Roberston stayed the course.

“I kept running my own pace and eventually people kept coming back to me and then in the last lap coming down the hill, I really went for it down the hill and ended up right in the perfect position to go for a medal,” said the Bell High School graduate. “I got out kicked at the end, but still good enough for a third and I’m really happy with it.”

Competing in his first Canadian Championships Callum Saravanamuttoo compared the event to OFSAA, noting the fields were smaller, but certainly faster. The early speed may have gotten to Saravanamutoo as noted he may have gone out a little too hard, but the Glebe Collegiate student still managed a 26th place finish in a time of 25:55.81.

Despite a bit of a niggle heading into Saturday’s race, Joe Fast laid it all out on the course, placing 30th in a time of 26:17.52. “I tried my best, tried my hardest. I left it all out there and I was happy with it,” said Fast of the effort.

Fellow Glebe student Adam Sanger took a slightly different path to nationals than the rest of the Lions having come straight from Nepal where he had spent to previous three weeks. While his teammates may have joked he was getting in some altitude training, Sanger managed to finish 52nd overall in a time of 27:13.64. He was a one place and 12 seconds ahead of teammate Colby Frost.

As a team, the quintet placed fifth overall in a tightly bunched group. Amassing 111 points, the Lions were just 15 points off the podium and 21 from gold. Noteworthy was the fact all but Robertson were still eligible to run in the U18 category, but the boys said they wanted to race as a team. With everyone scheduled to return in a years time, look for these gentlemen to bring home some shiny hardware in 2020.

For the first time in history there was more on the line at the varsity intersquad then seeing where your fitness levels were. This past Saturday, Team Black consisting of members from the Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Lions were the winning team with a combined 175 points, 9 ahead of Team Garnett and 15 in front of Team Grey.

While picking up victories in five events, Team Black’s strong finish was bolstered by their team of male sprinters. To this point, the quartet of David Adeleye, Brandyn Martineau, Michael Pinnock and Alex Manual swept the top four spots in the 60 metres, picking up 29 points between them. Other winners for the Carleton and Lions combined team included Doyin Ogunremi (women’s 300m), Beatha Nishimwe (women’s 3000m), Sebastian Saville (men’s 500m) and Callum Saravanamuttoo (men’s 3000m).

The third placed Team Garnet only managed three victories enroute to their second place finish with all three coming in the field. Pole vaulter Caroline Poirier was in great early season form, clearing 3.45 metres to take victory. The Louis-Riel graduate is now in her second year at the University of Ottawa and certainly looks primed to improve upon her fourth place finish at last season’s OUA Championships and take a run at her personal best of 3.70 metres. In the shot put, freshman Brianna Asismah pushed the 4 kilogram ball out to 11.28 metres for victory. Kyle Sprague was victorious in the long jump.

The only athlete to pick up more than one victory Saturday was University of Ottawa senior Emily Sprague who captured both the 60 metres and long jump. The combined events athlete showed off her versatility with a personal best of 8.26 seconds to take the 60 and a 4.76 metre effort in the long jump. Her two wins for Team Grey represented a third of the team’s total.

Off the track, the NCAA Cross Country Championships took place Saturday with both Farah Abdulkarim and Shona McCulloch in action. On a cold and rainy course in Terre Haute, Indiana McCulloch moved up 73 spots over last year’s finish as she placed 115th on the 6 kilometre course in a time of 21 minutes and 20.3 seconds. McCulloch and her Washington Husky team placed 11th overall with 296 points.

In the men’s race, Farah Abdulkarim had to pull out just over two kilometres in following an early race injury. The Ole Miss senior said he slid on the turf and suffered a hip strain in the race’s opening kilometre. However, Abdulkarim is confident about a speedy recovery, simply stating, “I’ll be good to go,” in a message following the race. His Rebel teammates certainly missed his leadership and points on the championship course as they fell back from a pre-race ninth place ranking to finish 22nd.

For photos of Saturday’s Intersquad Meet, please check out the album on our Facebook page.

With collegiate teams south of the border fighting to qualify for the NCAA Championships at six regional events last weekend, the Rebels of the University of Mississippi and the Huskies from Washington earned a spot at nationals thanks to a little help from some Lions.

For the second year in a row, Farah Abdulkarim will make his way to Terre Haute, Indiana for the NCAA Championships as he and his Ole Miss teammates dominated the South Region race in Florida. While the senior runner from Glebe Collegiate dropped back to 9^th in the standings this year following a bronze last year, the Rebels were still able to secure their second straight South Region Championship. Abdulkarim finished the 10 kilometre course in 30 minutes and 33.1 seconds, sandwiched between teammates Cade Bethman and Waleed Suliman who finished a tenth of second before and after him. The SEC Champions scored 69 points to win over Middle Tennessee State and will enter the NCAA Championships ranked 11^th nationally.

On the west coast, Shona McCulloch and her Huskie teammates traveled to in state rival Washington State University in Colfax for West Region supremacy. McCulloch was the third runner for Washington, completing the 6 kilometre course in 20 minutes and 12.6 seconds to finish 11^th – 17 spots higher than in 2018. While the Huskies certainly had the deepest team in the field, placing all seven runners within the top 30, only the top five placings are counted and Washington was edged out by Stanford 39-49 as Cardinal runners took the top two spots.  With the NCAA Championships set for next weekend, the Huskies have a strong chance at a national medal as they enter the event ranked fourth behind Arkansas, Stanford and BYU.

In the Great Lakes region, Owen Day and his Eastern Michigan Eagles were 10^th overall. Day, more known for his exploits over 1500 metres, placed 66^th overall in 32 minutes and 4.6 seconds. He was the Eagles third scorer.

The NCAA Cross Country Championships take place this Saturday in Indiana with the women’s race scheduled for 11:15 am ET and the men’s race follows and hour later. For live results, click this link http://pttiming.com/events/87931616.

After a season of lifetime bests, it was nagging injury that soured Josh Cassidy’s final race week on the track in 2019. Competing at the World Para Athletics Championship in Dubai, the Canadian champion at 800, 1500 and 5000 metres in the T54 category failed to advance out of the heats in each of his events – a result he attributes to a shoulder injury that’s been bothering him since before September’s Berlin Marathon.

The multiple time Paralympian finished near the back of the field in each of his three heats in Dubai. After pushing 1:41.05 for 800m last Friday to finish ninth in his heat, Cassidy attempted to roll away from the field during Monday’s heats for the 1500m. After seeing teammate Alexandre Dupont crash out of the heat before him, he attempted get away from the field by pushing to the front as he hit the bell. “Strategically I was in a great spot, even pushing on the outside lane,” said Cassidy of the effort. “I took the gamble of taking that last lap from the front, but my max speed isn’t there.” He would end up seventh in the heat in a time of 3:10.79, well off his best set earlier this year.

In the 5000m, Cassidy was at or near the lead for the bulk of the race, leading through 1000, 2000, and 4000 metres before slipping back to seventh in the final kilometre. After splits of 2:10, 2:09, 2:20, and 2:08, the race pace ramped up in the final kilometre as Cassidy dropped down to 2:05, but still finished nearly six seconds back of Chinese winner Yang Zhong with a time of 10:54.09.

It is expected Cassidy will enjoy a short break before resuming training to begin his push towards the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. If he is to qualify, it will mark his fourth appearance at the quadrennial event.

It was a big two days for cross country runners this past weekend with the USports and Athletics Ontario Championships taking place  Saturday and Sunday respectively. The University of Ottawa was represented by Rebecca Brennan and Nicholas Roberts in Kingston while 15 runners ventured to King City.

Brennan was the top finisher at the USports Championships for the Gee Gees, finishing 27th overall in 29:38.2. The result was a significant improvement over last year’s Championship where she placed 79th in 31:12.2 on the same Fort Henry course. Roberts cracked the top 100, finishing 99th in the men’s race with a time of 33 minutes and 51.8 seconds over the 10 kilometre course.

At the Athletics Ontario Championship, Charlotte Murchison was the top individual finisher as she placed 17th in the U16 category with a time of 19:01 over the 4 kilometre course. Teammate Cara MacDonald was 18 seconds behind in 34th. The pair, along with Cassidy Bradley (74th) and Freya Hurst (75th) finished eighth overall as a team.

The U18 girls team, led by a 21st place finish from Skye Pellerin, was 12th overall while the U18 boys placed 9th as a team with Sebastin Cino (35th), Jackson Roy (41st), Cameron Porter (53rd), and Liam Lemery (70th) as the top four scorers.

Every year on November 11, Canadians pause in a moment of silence to honour and remember the men and women who have served, and continue to serve Canada during times of war, conflict and peace. We remember the more than 2,300,000 Canadians who have served throughout our nation’s history and the more than 118,000 who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Among the many who have served is one of our founding fathers, Sam Estwick. A coal miner in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Estwick’s initial application to serve as a fighter pilot was rejected by the Royal Canadian Air Force because of the colour of his skin. Even after writing his member of parliament who brought the matter up in the House of Commons, the recruitment office in Halifax would not budge from its position.

While rejected as a pilot, Estwick was accepted into the RCAF as a radar technician where he was top of his class. Estwick was sent overseas in 1942 where he saw active service in England, Africa and India and worked the radar for the planes on bombing runs. His daughter Leslie would told the Ottawa Citizen that crews would say, ‘I want him on board, in case anything goes wrong’.

After the war, Estwick decided to remain in the air force’s telecommunications branch. That was good for the service, because Corporal Estwick was the “only radar mechanic still available in the RCAF who is thoroughly familiar with the maintenance of radar equipments. [He] is exceptionally well qualified,” Group Captain Walmsley wrote on Jan. 28, 1946.

Over the next decade, he instructed at Clinton, Ont., and worked at various radar sites, besides climbing the promotion ladder to Warrant Officer Class 1 – making him possibly the first black man to achieve the RCAF’s highest non-commissioned rank. In 1955, he was finally commissioned as an officer. He retired in 1963 as a flight lieutenant, the RCAF equivalent of captain.

In addition to his service to Canada, Sam Estwick was a Community volunteer who joined the East-Ottawa Lions Service Club in the early 1970’s and through his involvement with their sports committee, became the driving force for the creation of the East Ottawa Lions Track & Field Club. When he served as Club President, he introduced management principles to the Club and built an administrative organization, with parents and other volunteers doing the business-type functions so the coaches could devote their time to coaching. He is one of the few lifetime members of the club. After stepping down as President, he continued to officiate at meets and promote participation in the club. Throughout his life, Sam struggled with and surmounted adversity. In 1982 an award was created in his honour presented each year to the outstanding athlete with a disability.

Samuel Malcolm Estwick was born Oct. 8, 1915, in Padmore Village, Barbados. He died in Ottawa of natural causes on Feb. 13. He was 92.

Our final entry in our High School Cross Country Athlete of the Week series brings about our first two time winner as Ridgemont’s Joe Fast got the nod from Coach Kirk Dillabaugh for the week of October 27 to November 2.

Fast was the top individual of all Lions runners at last weekend’s OFSAA XC Championships, placing fifth in the highly competitive senior boys event in a time of 21 minutes and 41.34 seconds. It was a stark improvement for the grade 12 student who finished 49th a year prior. Fast was running with the top four finishers early on before they made a break from the pack. While he did fall to sixth place at one point, a strong kick home brought him back to fifth and just a second and a half out of fourth.

Coach Dillabaugh characterized Fast’s performance in one word – gutsy.  “Joe fulfilled the OFSAA XC motto to “Finish on Empty” as he gave it everything he had. He said he’s never wanted it more but it’s never hurt so much,” said Dillabaugh.