All posts by : Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club

In the small town of Sant Cugat, 30 minutes north of Barcelona, the athletics portion of the 2018 Cerebral Palsy World Games got underway yesterday featuring the Lions’ own Rachael Burrows. The multiple time Canadian medalist got right to work, finishing third in the T34 100m .
Burrows, a veteran on this year’s team, is competing in her second CP World Games following her debut 17 years ago in Nottingham, UK. A competitor at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Burrows credits the experience in 2001 to her developing into a Paralympian.
While she will contest the 200 metre (tonight) and 400 metre finals (tomorrow), Burrows will also be doing work off the track. “[The World Games] is really one of the first experiences athletes will have at an international level. At these Games, I want to be a mentor to the up-an-coming athletes,” Burrows said prior to heading to Spain.
 

It was a record breaking weekend for Liz Maguire as she ran to victory at the Ontario Masters Championships in Toronto. The 51 year old’s two golds highlighted a 25 medal haul from the Lions.
Running her first 1500 metre race of the season Saturday morning, Maguire set a new meet standard with her five minute 12.03 second clocking. The time took nearly four seconds off the previous standard set in 2016 by Annie Bunting. The record breaking continued Sunday in the 800 as Maguire’s time of two minutes 35.48 seconds eclipsed Christine Lavallee’s 10 year old mark of 2:35.96.
Two other women also picked up double gold – Kim Ethier and Petra Ciobanu. Both athletes, competing in the 50 and over category, were the busiest of the pride, garnering medals in four events each.
Ethier’s victories came in her specialty, the javelin, and high jump. The former World Masters Champion in the javelin had a commanding victory, winning by nearly four metres with a best throw of 33.61m. Emblematic of her affinity for the combined events, she also captured silvers in the long jump and 200 metres.
Ciobanu, a 1984 Olympian for her native Romania, was well featured in the throwing events winning discus and weight throw gold with throws of 25.14 and 8.92 metres respectively. She also took silver in the shot put and completed her full set of medals with bronze in the javelin.
Another gold came from the club’s oldest member, Bob Stavely, who at the age of 84 took victory in the men’s 80 and over javelin competition. Stavely, the club’s founding member, had a best throw of 18.51 metres to out distance his nearest competitor by more than two metres.
 

Approaching the end of its second week, the Ottawa Lions European Tour featured stops in Karlstad, Sweden and Castres, France today highlighted by a lifetime best performance by Farah Jacques in the 100m hurdles.
Jacques, who transitioned to the 100 metre hurdles earlier this year, took another step towards her goal of returning to the Olympic Games with a new lifetime best performance in France today. The Montreal native crossed the line in 13.31 seconds to finish third behind French nationals Franny Quenot and Rosvitha Okou. Jacques, who was third at nationals, had set her previous best of 13.36 seconds just over a month ago at the Speed River Inferno.
Also in France, Saj Alhaddad had a break through performance in the 400 metres placing second in his heat. Alhaddad, who is more accustomed to his one lap races having ten barriers to avoid, crossed the line today in 48.43 seconds – his fastest time in five years and the second best of his career.
After two bronzes in the long jump to start of the European Tour, Divya Biswal finally had the chance to return to her specialty, the triple jump, today in France. A third round leap of 12.64 metres was all the Canadian silver medalist could muster in the strong field, failing to register marks in all five of her other attempts.
In the Swedish town of Karlstad, a three and a half hour drive west of Stockholm, Madison Clarke and Sebastian Saville toed the line in the 800m. Clarke, who had set a personal best to open up the tour back on July 14 in Grootebroek, posted the third fastest time of her career, 2:08.22, as she finished fourth in the B final.
Saville didn’t manage to fare as well, finishing seventh in the C Final in 1:54.72. The Carleton University graduate had a clear lead through 600 metres, splitting 1:19, but tied up on the homestretch. Saville’s legs could be forgiven as this was his third 800 metre race in five nights and coming off the second best performance of his life Sunday where he finished in 1:49.04.
The tour continues Saturday night in Ninove, Belgium where Devyani and Divya Biswal, Farah Jacques, Sebastian Saville, Madison Clarke, Svetlana Martynova, Saj Alhaddad and Tim Nedow will all be in action at the Memorial Rasschaert Meeting.

The Athletics Ontario Championships wrapped up Sunday afternoon at the University of Windsor’s Alumni Stadium with four more medals for the Lions – all silver. Two familiar faces led the haul on day two as Joe Fast and Leewinchell Jean each picked up their second individual event medals of the Championship.
Fast, who won U18 1500 metre gold on Saturday was looking to make the distance double with 3000 metres on Sunday. However, the grade 11 student fell just short of gold, 1.2 seconds to be precise, as he finished second in eight minutes 46.17 seconds. It was Fast’s third medal of the championship.
In the U18 boys 400 metre hurdles final, Leewinchell Jean improved upon his sprint hurdle bronze from Saturday, taking silver in 56.92 seconds. The Gisele Lalonde student, who battled injuries through much of the high school season has really rounded into form in recent weeks. Sunday’s performance was the seconds fastest of Jean’s career, less than half a second off the personal best he set a week ago at the Ontario Legion Championships. That mark currently has him ranked third nationally in the event.
After a bronze a week ago at the Quebec Championships, Erin Sweeney heaved the shot put out to 12.88 metres Sunday to to moved up a notch on the podium and into the silver medal position. The Opeongo High School student has been on a tear the past week with two provincial medals and two personal bests. The first came last weekend, where she broke the 13 metre barrier for the first time and then she followed it up with a 13.23m heave at Wednesday’s Twilight Meet. She currently sits 12th in the Canadian rankings.
The final medal of the day came from one of the final events, as Logan Ladurantaye pick up a silver in the U14 boys 800m final. Crossing the line in two minutes 22.49 seconds, Ladurantaye picked up his first individual medal at the provincial championships after twice winning gold a year ago in both the 4×100 and 4×800 metre relays.
Also, taking this past weekend was the Quebec Senior Championships, with a handful of Lions athletes competing. A total of five athletes made the trek to Quebec City where they won a total of eight medals including two golds.
Jodd Nelson won the 100m in a time of 10.79 seconds and followed that performance up with 200m silver in 22.39. Christina Hertner was the other champion, taking the women’s shot put title with a best heave of 12.71 metres. The University of Ottawa student also picked up a bronze in the discus with a best toss of 34.99 metres.
Other medalists included:
SILVER – Nicole Istead (Senior 100m Hurdles)
BRONZE – Nicole Istead (Senior Long Jump)
SILVER – Grace Macmillan-Sayers (Junior Shot Put)
SILVER – Grace Macmillan-Sayers (Junior Hammer Throw)

While the rain came down on day one of the Ontario U14/U16/U18 Championships today in Windsor, it didn’t drown the competitive spirits of the Lion athletes who picked up five medals on the day including a gold.
Things got off to a quick start with Joshua Van Der Laan picking up the first medal of the day in the first event on the track – U16 1500m Steeplechase. The 14 year old Van Der Laan finished second, crossing the line in five minute 30.49 seconds. However, it wasn’t the only medal for Josh on the day as he anchored the U16 4 x 800 metre relay to a silver as well. Running with teammates Keaton McGrath, Cameron Porter and William Egan, the quartet finished in nine minutes 11.69 seconds.
Also grabbing a medal in a 4 x 800 metre relay was the team of Yared Tereke, Jackson Roy, Carter Demers and Joe Fast. The ensemble’s time of eight minutes 52.54 seconds was good enough for silver in the under 18 division.
Like Van Der Laan, anchor Joe Fast also came away with two medals on day one. . The Ridgemont High School student picked up his 10th Ontario title since joining the club in 2015, this time winning the 1500 metres in a time of three minutes 58.63 seconds.
The final medal on day one came from from the sprint hurdles where Lee Winchell Jean edged teammate David Adeleye for bronze in the U18 110 metre event. Jean prevailed in a time of 14.72 seconds to Adeleye’s personal best effort of 14.94.
 

The five hour plus bus ride back from Laval University’s PEPS Stadium was made all the more enjoyable by the clang of medals around athletes necks. In total, 29 athletes brought home 20 medals from the Quebec U14/U16/U18 Championship led by Joe Fast and Brandon Ovington who combined for five golds.
Fast is no stranger to success on the track with a fair share of hardware already in his possession. The Ridgemont High School student added to the totals this past weekend sweeping both the U18 800 and 1500 metre distances and helping the 4×400 metre relay team to victory. While victorious, Fast was pushed in each of his individual events by Éliott Héroux of the Zenix track club in Trois Rivieres, where his combined margin of victory was less than half a second.
While the four time OFSAA champion took the 800 metre title in a swift 1:56.17, the 1500 metre gold was a more tactical battle as he crossed the line in 4:07.31. Victory in the relay was more decisive as the quartet of David Adeleye, Zachary Meredith, William Earle and Fast crossed the line in 3:40.48 – seven seconds ahead of second place.
In the field, Brandon Ovington continued his dominance of the throwing ring capturing both the U18 shot put and discus competitions. A silver medalist in the discus at the recent Canadian U20 Championships, the West Carleton Secondary School student entered the competition as the odds on favourite and did not disappoint, hurling the platter out to a distance of 47.27 metres – nearly five metres further than his nearest competitor. Ovington was also dominant in the shot put, winning by more than two metres with a heave of 15.75 metres.
Many of these athletes will be back in action this coming weekend at the Ontario BMY Championships in Windsor.
For a full list of medalists:

In a press release issued Monday, USports, the governing body for university athletics in Canada, announced that Lions record holder Michael Robertson and his Canadian 4×400 metre relay teammates had been upgraded to gold from silver. The move follows a doping infraction by a member of the Russian team, who were originally declared the victors in a time of three minutes 3.70 seconds.
Robertson, who was a late addition to the team back in 2013, teamed up with Benjamin Ayesu-Attah, Tyler Harper, and Brendon Rodney to finish in a now winning time of three minutes 5.26 seconds. The performance ranks third best in Canadian history according the Athletics Canada website.
“U SPORTS celebrates the efforts of these five student-athletes,” said U SPORTS President and CEO Graham Brown. “We congratulate them on their success at the 2013 FISU Summer Games and applaud FISU for its rigorous anti-doping efforts.”
It has not yet been announced when Robertson and his teammates will receive their gold medals.

Six more inches and it could have been a different ending Sunday morning as the 14th IAAF U20 World Championships concluded in Tampere, Finland with the customary running of the 4×400 metre relay.
While Sharelle Samuel and her teammates posted a Canadian Junior record time of three minutes 31.90 seconds, the quartet fell three hundredths of a second short of bronze, finishing fourth behind Jamaica. The previous record had been set by Canada’s bronze medal winning quartet two years ago at the U20 World Championships where they had run three minutes 32.25 seconds.
Samuel had received the baton in third place, about twenty metres down on the Jamaican squad and with a small lead over the Australians. However, anchor Carley Thomas of Australia had closed the gap on Samuel by 200 metres and used her silver medal winning 800 metre speed and strength to also reel in the Jamaicans as they finished with silver. Samuel almost narrowed the gap on her Jamaican counterpart thanks to her 53.0 second lap, but simply ran out of real estate, finishing just inches behind the Caribbean nation.
Samuel becomes the fifth Lion to currently hold a a Canadian relay record. Denray Jean-Jacques (U18), Oluseyi Smith (U20) and Todd Pyper (U20) all set their marks in the 4×100 metre event while Canadian 800 metre record holder Melissa Bishop set hers as partof the 4×800 metre relay team at the 2013 Penn Relays.
 

It was a good morning for Sharelle Samuel and her Team Canada 4×400 metre relay teammates on the penultimate day of competition at the 14th IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland as the quartet handily advanced to tomorrow’s final.
Running third, Samuel helped her Canadian team to a second place finish in semi-final number two, half a second behind the quartet from Australia. Finishing in a seasonal best of 3:36.14, Canada posted the sixth fastest time in qualifying and will race out of lane eight in the tomorrow’s final.
In the 100m hurdles semi-final, Keira Christie-Galloway’s race was almost over before it started when the field was recalled for an apparent false start. While the replays appeared to indicate movements in the lanes to her outside, it was Keira’s lane showing a reaction time of 0.999 seconds, one one-thousandth of a second below the legal limit.
Thankfully for Kristie-Galloway, she was only shown a yellow card and was able to continue the race, where she placed fifth in her heat with a time of 13.71 seconds. She would finish 17th overall, a marked improvement over her placing from two years ago in Bydgoscz, Poland. Keira was also the lead off runner for Canada’s 4×100 metre relay entry on Friday which finished fifth in their heat in 45.68 seconds, but failed to advance.
Lauren Gale made her debut at a global championship Friday morning in the 200 metres. The Colorado State University bound runner, failed to replicate the form she showed in winning the Colorado 4A state championship in May, finishing seventh in her heat with a time of 24.78 seconds. She did not advance.
 

Just four days ago, after a third place finish in the Utica Boilermarker 15k, Joshua Cassidy said, “Felt good, happy with my performance but some things to work on.” Clearly, the two time Paralympian found the quick fix as he captured gold in the wheelchair 1500m last night at the Haute Performance Nationale meet in Quebec City.
Competing in a field reminiscent of last Thursday’s national final, Cassidy posted his best performance since May 2012, rolling to victory in two minutes 55.98 seconds. It was a tight battle for the victory, with Alexandre Dupont just three tenths of a second behind in second place.
To highlight the quality of the performances Friday night, Cassidy moves to second on the global list, with Dupont right behind him. Even third place finisher Tristan Smytg now ranks fifth in the world.
Friday night’s event marked the culmination of a busy ten days in athletics for Cassidy. It’s included a 10 kilometre race in Atlanta, a 15 kilometre race in New York state and of course his 1500 metre races in both Ontario and Quebec. However, for gentleman who routinely kicks off his racing season with back to back marathons on two different continents, it’s almost certain he still as a little something left in the tank.