All posts by : Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club

He picked up a javelin for the first time just a year ago as a high school senior at Ashbury College. Flash forward one year and Roan Allen has increased his lifetime best by more than nine metres and today earned his first Canadian title.
Allen surpassed his lifetime best of 57.93m an astonishing five times on his way to a new record of 62.68m this morning. The University of British Columbia student credited the improvement to a change made in his grip suggested by multiple national champion Kyle Neilsen.
“It’s good, but it’s kind of disappointing,” said Allen of his failure to surpass the Pan Am Junior Championship standard of 60 metres before last month’s deadline. “I just wanted to come in and prove that I could hit it and I did it twice.”
Advancing to the senior women’s 200m final were Charifa Labarang and Olympian Farah Jacques who qualified third and fifth respectively to tomorrow’s final. Labarang did so in a lifetime best of 23.86 seconds.
For the 22 year old sprinter originally from Cameroon, Labarang says she has struggled to regain the form she that made her one of the top juniors in the country.
“This is my first time running at senior nationals, so I’m happy to get that express ticket to the finals,” said Labarang after her semi-final win. “Now I want to place, even though I can’t get a medal.”
As a Cameroonian citizen, Charifa is ineligible for a medal in tomorrow’s final,but she will be representing her native country later this summer at Les Jeux de la Francophonie in the Ivory Coast.
Reilly Jones was another athlete to break through a four year rut as she ran her way to a new personal best of 1:02.35 in the 400m hurdle semi-final to finish 10th overall.
Jones credited her breakthrough performance to staying “really positive and not worrying very much about other people in the race – just focusing on what I can control.”
The Canadian Track and Field Trials continue Saturday night with Olympians Sultana Frizell and Melissa Bishop vying for another Canadian title.
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It was a very good day for the brothers Nedow in the discus ring Friday. After younger brother Tommy won bronze in the under 20 category, the veteran Tim came back in the evening session to snag a silver in the senior event.
After initially leading the competition with a best throw of 59.47m through four rounds, Nedow was passed by eventual winner Jordan Young who unleashed a 62.76m throw.
“It got me going,” said Nedow. “At the time I was leading. He got me in the fourth round then I tried to come back.” The Brockville native was able to improve to a seasonal best 60.03m in the sixth and final round.
The Olympic shotputter says this isn’t the last you’ll see of him tossing the platter. “I want to do discus at Commonwealth Games next year”
“I’ve been doing [discus] once a week to keep my mind off shot. I keep picking up and throwing close to 60m and my PB is only 61.49 and it’s always nice to get a PB.”
Nedow feels with some time he could improve his lifetime best up towards 63 or 64 metres which would certainly put him in contention for a medal next year in Australia.
Tim will wrap up his championships Sunday afternoon with his specialty – the shot put – where he will be looking for his fifth straight Canadian title.
Also on Friday night, Melissa Bishop comfortably advanced to the women’s 800m final with 2:03.80 clocking. In the field, Divya Biswal narrowly missed out on a medal in the long jump, falling 1 centimetre off the podium with a best leap of 5.99m.
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While the Nedow name is quite synonymous with podium finishes at the Canadian Track and Field Championships, this time the first name was slightly different.
Thomas Nedow, the younger brother of Olympic shot putter Tim Nedow, won his first national medal today in the under 20 men’s discus competition with a lifetime best toss of 54.07m. The effort added more than a metre and a half to his previous best.
“It was a big PB and a tough competition, so I was glad to come and hit that [PB] and get a medal,” said Nedow about today’s effort.
Following his silver medal performance at the OFSAA championships, Thomas set his focus on the Pan Am Junior standard of 51.50m, missing narrowly on multiple occassions.
While he won’t be going to Peru for the area championships, Nedow was very happy with his performance Friday. “It feels really good. That was my goal for the whole year. It did make me mad I didn’t get it in time, but now I finally got it, so I’m pretty happy with it.
Competition is not over for the Thousand Islands Secondary School grad as he will contest the shot put tomorrow evening at 5pm.
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Six more Lions advanced to run, jump or throw another day on Run Ottawa Distance Night.
Pole vaulter Julia Maine was the first to secure her place in the championship section of the Canadian Track and Field Championships last night, clearing a height of 3.10m. The clearance equaled her personal best set last month at the OFSAA Championships and secured the single qualifying position in the U20 event.
Also in the field, hammer thrower Leanna Garcia spun her ball and chain out to 45.18m to nab the fifth and final qualifying spot for Saturday night’s final. She will be joined in the final by Canadian record holder Sultana Frizell.
On the track, three Lions athletes ran their way in to Friday night’s semi-finals of the 800m. Leading the charge was Erinn Stenman-Fahey, who was the top qualifier in the women’s section with a time of 2:08.57. She will be joined by teammate Charlotte Gardner who was third across the line in 2:09.88.
In the men’s section, Stephen Evans posted a time of 1:54.39 to qualify 10th overall. Evans will looking the ultimate birthday present in Friday’s semi-final – a spot in Saturday’s final.
Lions athletes were victorious in the exhibition masters events Thursday night as Wendy Alexis took the women’s 100m in a windy 13.90 seconds while Liz Maguire captured the women’s 1500m event in 5:05.60.
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The opening session of the Canadian U20 and Senior Track and Field Championships saw 10 Lions athletes qualify on to semi-finals on the track or finals in the field.
Among the leading performances were hurdlers Tania Bambi and Alexia Lamothe who went 1-2 in the senior women’s 100m hurdles qualifying round. Both ladies now advance to Saturday night’s semi-final.
For Lamothe, today’s performance of 14.21 seconds was a seasonal best. The Carine Wilson grad has spent the better part of the past year and a half recovering from surgery, and looks primed to make a run at her lifetime best of 14.07 seconds set in 2014.
Also winning the qualifying round was Helena Jovic in the junior women’s 400m. Jovic, a multiple medalist at the OFSAA Championships last month, put forth a personal best effort of 57.12 seconds.
The only other personal best in qualifying came from 16 year old Ben Robinson. The Immaculata High School student ran 11.14 seconds to finish eighth in qualifying and earn his way in to tomorrow’s U20 semi-final. Robinson also advanced in the 200m.
Other qualifiers from this morning’s session include:

• Dillon Landon – U20 men’s 200m
• Joe Fast – U20 men’s 1500m
• Michael Mather – U20 Men’s 1500m
• Jecica Joseph – Open Women’s 400m
• Svetlana Martynova – Open Women’s 400m
• Gift Okankwu – Open Women’s 400m

As the 2017 Canadian Track and Field Championships continued on Tuesday, para events as well as the senior combined events began, bringing the Ottawa Lions their first medal of the championship.
Blind athlete, Larissa Brown and her guide Andrew Heffernan won the club’s medal, a bronze in the para 200m. Brown’s time of 27.87 seconds was just three tenths of a second off her Canadian T12 record set at last year’s championship.
Following the Canadian Championships, the 19 year old Brown, along side Heffernan, will compete at the IPC World Junior Para Championships in Switzerland next month.
In the para wheelchair 200m, Rachael Burrows placed seventh in a seasonal best 44.64 seconds.
The U18 and U20 combined events culminated Tuesday, with brothers Jordan and Ryan Thomsen finishing seventh and eighth respectively. Jordan scored 5373 points while Ryan finished with 5265 after failing to clear a height in the pole vault.
In the senior category, Kaleigh Hole sits in 14th after 4 events of the heptathlon with a score of 3029 points.
After five events of the decathlon, Lions athletes sit 19th, 22nd and 24th in the 24 man field. Leading the pack is USports silver medalist Telvin Tavernier with a score of 3296 points.
Action continues Wednesday through Sunday at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility at Mooney’s Bay.
For more information on the championship, visit athletics.ca

After day one of the 2017 Canadian Track and Field Championships, Ryan Thomsen ranks second in the junior men’s decathlon with a score of 3222 points.
Thomsen, who was recently named to Team Canada for the upcoming Pan American Junior Championships, is 145 points behind the day one leader, Kerlon Ashby of Trinidad and Tobago.
Thomsen’s younger brother Jordan is also competing. He currently sits in eighth place with a score of 2814 points.
In the under 18 girls heptathlon, an event part of the Capital Cup, Olivia Crewe finished day one ranked fourth, after failing to clear a height in the high jump.
Day two of the Canadian Track and Field Championships begins Tuesday morning with the the under 18 and junior men’s decathlon 110m hurdles at 9:30 am. Competition in the senior men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon commence, as well as the para events.

Buy #ACTF2017 Tickets
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Watch Live on AthleticsCanada.tv starting at 9:30AM ET on July 4th
Senior competition at the 2017 Canadian Track and Field Championships begins 10AM Tuesday at Terry Fox Stadium in Ottawa with the 2017 Para-Athletics International Challenge and Pan American Combined Events Capital Cup. A number of athletes who have earned the right to represent Canada at the IPC World Para Athletics Championships July 13-23 compete in the 200-metres, 800-metres and discus. Those athletes include: Marissa Papaconstantinou of Toronto, Kyle Whitehouse of St. Catherines, Ont., Pamela LeJean of Cape Breton, N.S., Ness Murby of Salt Spring Island, B.C., Jennifer Brown of Calgary, Renée Foessel of Orangeville, Ont., Ilana Dupont of Saskatoon, Sask., Jessica Frotten of Whitehorse, Y.T.
In the women’s Heptathlon, former junior Canadian record holder Nicole Oudenaarden of St. Albert, Alta., is currently the third ranked Canadian in 2017. Oudenaarden represented Canada at FISU in 2015 and is looking for a good score to propel herself to another Canadian team.
Pierce LePage of Whitby, Ont., of broke onto the senior decathlon scene last year with an score of 8027 points at the Decastar meeting. Currently the #2 ranked decathlete in Canada, LePage will need to a score of at least 8100 points to secure a birth to this summer’s IAAF World Championships.
Admission is free Tuesday and Wednesday. Tickets for #ACTF2017 Thursday-Sunday sessions are available at here. For those who can’t be in Ottawa, the meet will be broadcast live on AthleticsCanada.tv.
When to Watch
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Heptathlon (6200 points)
10:30 AM – 5:00 PM Decathlon (8100 points) 
11:30 AM Para Ambulatory Women 200m FINAL (All Classes combined)
Marissa Papaconstantinou (T44)
11:45 AM Para Ambulatory Men 200m FINAL (T37/38/43/44/46)
Kyle Whitehouse (T38)
12:30 PM Para Seated Women Discus
Pamela Lejean (F53)
1:00 PM Para Ambulatory Women Discus
Ness Murby (F11), Jennifer Brown (F38), Renée Foessel (F38)
1:15 PM Para Wheelchair Women 200m FINAL (all classes combined)
Ilana Dupont (T53), Jessica Frotten (T53)
4:00 PM Para Wheelchair Men 800m FINAL (T34/53)
Austin Smeenk (T34), Jean-Philippe Maranda (T53)
4:15 PM Para Wheelchair Men 800m FINAL (T54)
Alexandre Dupont, Curtis Thom, Tristan Smythe, Isiah Christophe
4:45 PM Para Ambulatory Men 800m FINAL (All classes combined)
Liam Stanley (T37), Mitchell Chase (T38)

Ottawa. – Nicole Oudenaarden and Pierce Lepage want to bring the Capital Cup Combined Events title home as they get ready to take on athletes from 11 countries at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility in the nations’ capital.
The continental event, held over three days with youth, U20 and senior athletes, also serves as the Canadian Combined Events Championships and is the eighth stop of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.
Oudenaarden, 23, has had a great season so far. A month after winning the Canadian University Championships, the University of Calgary student improved her 4-year old personal best to 5927 to put herself in a favourite position for the medals this week.
The 23-year old will be challenged by Jamaica’s Salcia Slack, the only athlete with an individual best over 6000 points (6141), from 2015.
Other medal favourites include Sarnia’s Jillian Drouin, the 2014 Pan Am Cup winner, who will be competing in her first heptathlon since the 2016 edition of the Ottawa event.
The USA contingent is led by Kelsey Herman, who has a personal best of 5820 points.
In the men’s decathlon, Pierce Lepage hopes to keep is solid Day 1 performance through the second day of competition.
Lepage had a comfortable 200-point lead after Day 1 in Ottawa last year but did not clear a height in the pole vault on the second day and finished a distant tenth. He finished the 2016 season breaking the 8000-point barrier (8027) in Talence, France.
In 2017, the 21-year old Ontarian has set four personal bests and trailed his fellow Canadian, World and Olympic finalist Damian Warner for second after Day 1 in Gotzis, considered as the unofficial Combined Events World Championships.
The challenge from USA’s Solomon Simmons, Thomas Fitzsimons and Robert Robinson, Cuba’s Santiago Ford and Briander Rivero and fellow Canadian Rostam Turner, runner-up in Ottawa in 2016, could push him beyond the 8000-point mark.
Fast-improving Jose Miguel Paulino could be in contention for medals. Second in the junior category in 2016, Paulino set a new national record for the Dominican Republic with 7518 points.
Youth and U20 athletes will compete Monday and Tuesday, followed by the senior athletes on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Cup kicks off a week of intensive athletic action at Terry Fox with the International Para-Athletics Challenge scheduled also Monday to Wednesday before the Canadian Track and Field Championships, to be held Thursday through Sunday.
End