All posts by : Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club

It was all about the relay meets this past weekend with the famous Drake and Penn Relays capturing the continent’s attention. At the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa it was strictly relay running for Lions athletes Adam Palamar and Matt Bedard. Palamar got things started Thursday, leading his Tulsa Hurricane team to a second place finish in the 4x1600m. Running anchor, Adam’s 3:59 leg helped Tulsa to a school record 16:19.62. In a similar vein, Matt Bedard led off for his North Dakota State Bison sprint medley team as they posted the third best time in the school’s history,completing the 1600m event in 3 minutes 24.96 seconds.
The Penn Relays in Philadelphia featured a wide range of line talent from Shona McCulloch’s third place finish in the High School Girls Championship 3000m, to Farah Jacques blistering anchor run for Canada in the USA vs The World Women’s 4x400m relay. Running with some of the top high school runners on the continent, McCulloch put forth a personal best effort, completing the seven and a half laps in 9:38.74. Jacques, on the other hand, laid down a 52.88 second anchor leg for Canada, helping the team to a time of 3 minutes 32.83 seconds that now ranks them 7th in the world heading into next week’s IAAF World Relays
At the Tom John’s Memorial in Gainsville Florida, Sekou Kaba continued to show his affinity for the sunshine state as he equaled his PB of 13.61 seconds for the 110m hurdles to finish third. Kaba had set his personal best just a few weeks prior on the same University of Florida track. On the other side of the country in the Golden State of California, Tim Nedow pushed his 16 pound ball out to a distance of 19.58m as he finished fourth in a star studded field at the UCSD Triton Invitational in San Diego.

The Ottawa Lions mourn the loss of long time club volunteer Jane Wardlaw who passed away Saturday at the age of 85. Jane, along with her husband of 61 years, Bob, were instrumental in the running of the club during its initial 15 years of existence as the East Ottawa Lions.
Reflecting on Jane, long time Ottawa official Barclay Frost added, “So sorry to hear of Jane’s passing. Both my wife, Janet and I have spent many a day working at track meets with both Jane and Bob. She was a great lady and we will always have fond memories of her doing the scoring and recording so effectively before the days of computers. She was a pioneer.”
Family and friends are invited to Beechwood, Funeral, Cemetery and Cremation Services, 280 Beechwood Avenue (East of Vanier Parkway), Friday, April 24, 2015 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 11 a.m. in the Sacred Space of Beechwood.
Jane’s obituary can be seen here.

Last night on a crowed downtown street in Lawrence, Kansas re-minted Ottawa Lion shot putter Tim Nedow opened his 2015 season and began his march to Beijing. Finishing fourth, with a best effort of 20.52m Friday night, the Brockville native surpassed the IAAF standard of 20.45m and all but assured himself a spot at this summer’s World Championships in China.
Nedow, a bronze medalist at last summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, competed for the Lions throughout high school and his first two years of university before choosing to compete unattached as he finished studies at Chicago’s DePaul University and then moving to Kamloops to develop at the national training center.
Now training in Växjö, Sweden under the tutelage of world renowned coach Vésteinn Hafsteinsson, Nedow decided to rejoin the Lions den in January after a chat with former coach Darrin Reesal. With Friday’s throw, Nedow easily surpassed the former club record throw of 18.05m set by Brian MacPhee in 2004.

As the University of Ottawa gathered tonight to celebrate the best in Gee-Gee athletics from the past eight months, four Lions athletes were honoured for their performances across cross country and track and field. The winners were as follows:
MATHIEU VIERULA – Men’s Cross Country
A third year medical student, this was Mathieu’s third time being named team MVP, having previously captured the award in 2008 and 2010. During his seven years as a student at the University of Ottawa, Mathieu has balanced his team cross country participation with outstanding academics and international team triathlon representation for Canada.  In what was a slow but consistently improving 2014 season, Vierula was the top runner for the Gee Gees at the OUA Championships with his life-time best individual finish and led the team to its best men’s team finish since 2006.
ISABELLE KANZ – Women’s Cross Country
This marks the fourth consecutive year Isabelle has been selected as the women’s cross country team MVP.  This year’s selection was without a doubt, the most significant and hardest earned of her Gee-Gee career.  After backing up the team all season as the team’s number two scorer in pre-championship meets, Isabelle surged to the top team position at the OUA Championships and led her team to its best finish in 17 year!  It was through Isabelle’s season long presence and competitive consistencies that the Gee Gee women would then go on to the CIS Championships for the school’s first appearance since 2002 where they would place ninth in the country.
NELSON CECEREU – Men’s Track and Field
A fourth year business major from Bainsville, ON, Nelson came on strong in 2015, establishing six life-time bests in the pole vault en route to capturing an OUA bronze medal and qualifying for his first-ever CIS Championships. Cecereu would finish seventh in the nation while establishing yet another lifetime best by clearing 4.72m. The mark moved him to second on the University of Ottawa’s all-time rankings. Nelson is the first pole vaulter in Gee-Gee history to be named team MVP.
DEVYANI BISWAL – Women’s Track and Field
Devyani Biswal becomes the first women’s hurdler in Gee-Gees history to be named team MVP honour. The fourth year math and economics major and team academic mentor from Ottawa’s Sir Robert Borden H.S. captured OUA Bronze in the 60m Hurdles and was a part of the University of Ottawa record setting women’s 4 x 200m Relay. In addition, Biswal also established life bests at all four sprint distances from 60 to 400 metres this season.  Despite entering the CIS Championships ranked 12th nationally, Devyani fought hard to qualify for the national final with a seasonal best
In addition to team MVP awards, two other Gee-Gees were recognized for their efforts with on and off the field of play.
Andrew Heffernan – President’s Award for commitment to athletics, academics, and community service
Heffernan is completing his Master’s in Public and International Affairs while also serving as a guide runner for Canada’s Paralympic Track and Field Team. After serving as a guide runner at the London 2012 Games, Heffernan will be aiming to return to the international stage at this summer’s Para-Pan Am Games in Toronto. The Peterborough native has also dedicated time to the Liberal Party of Canada over the last two and a half years as a volunteer in Justin Trudeau’s office.
KATIE PHILLIPS – Director’s Award for success on the national stage
Hailing from Kleinberg, Ontario, Katie Phillips was recognized for being named CIS Cross Country Rookie of the Year. The redshirt freshman was the team’s second scorer at the national championships, finishing on the heels of Ruth Burrows. Finishing 27th overall, Phillips was the top finishing rookie in the field. Prior to her success on the national stage, Katie had also been named OUA Rookie of the Year, helping the Gee-Gee women to a fifth place overall finish – the team’s highest placing since 1997.

Dear Members,
Due to circumstances beyond our control the Dome will be closed for all training Saturday April 11 2015. Sorry to all Coaches and Athletes for the inconvenience.
Ottawa Lions

Hurdles is all about finding your rhythm and Sekou Kaba appears to be finding his early this season. The Francophone Games champion dropped seven hundredths of his lifetime best in the 110m event, running 13.61 seconds to win his heat and finish ninth overall at the Florida Relays on Friday afternoon. In winning his heat, Kaba bested the likes of Asian Games medalist Kim Byoung Jun of South Korea, who was second in 13.63 and former NCAA champion and multiple All-American Jarret Eaton of the United States. Of the race, Kaba said, “I got out pretty well. Floated over [hurdles] 3 and 4. The rest was clean and blurry.”
Also competing Gainesville, Farah Jacques opened up her season with the 100m/400m double, running 11.67 and 55.29 seconds respectively. Jacques time in the 100m was the best opener of her life, running just a tenth off her personal best. In the women’s sprint hurdles, Karelle Edwards ran 13.66 to finish 23rd overall.
Also on the east coast, in Rochester, New York, All-American horizontal jumper Divya Biswal opened up her season in fine fashion by winning the long jump with a best leap of 5.39m. In the 100m hurdles, Biswal was third overall with a time of 15.46 seconds.
Out west at the Mondo Mid Major Challenge in Sacramento California, Matt Bedard improved his seasonal best in the 400m hurdles to 55.02 before helping his North Dakota State University teammates to a 3:14.47 clocking in the 4x400m relay.

While the weather was just peaking above the freezing mark at home on Friday, the trio of Sekou Kaba, Karelle Edwards and Oluwasegun Makinde were in the north of Florida looking for hot temperatures and even hotter times on the track as they open their 2015 seasons.
Competing in his specialty, the 110 metre hurdles, Sekou Kaba proved himself the class of the field at the University of North Florida Spring Break Invitational winning in a windy 13.91 seconds. According to Coach Andy McInnis, Kaba was slowed after getting in to a hitting battle with second place finisher Kemar Clarke of Bethune Cookman University. Sekou was also the top qualifier to the final, running a seasonal best 13.83.
In the women’s sprint hurdles, Karelle Edwards showed consistency in both the preliminaries and final on her way to a second place overall finish. After running 13.73 seconds in the preliminaries, Edwards followed up with a 13.75 clocking as she ran into a 2.4 metre per second headwind.
Working on finding his competition legs, sprinter Oluwasegun Makinde completed the 200m/400m double. Makinde finished fifth in his specialty, the 200m, in a time of 21.44 seconds before returning later in the day to run 48.80 in the 400m, just 0.07 seconds off his PB set in 2009.
At the Arkansas Spring Invitational in Fayetteville, Emma Galbraith finished third in the 800m in a time of 2 minutes 10.56 seconds. Galbraith was a 2013 CIS Rookie of the Year at the University of Ottawa before transferring to the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma this past fall.
At the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang, China, Claire Smith pulled out after completing the first of three two kilometer loops in the junior women’s race. Smith was the first Lion to represent Canada at world cross since Danelle Woods made back to back appearances in 2007 and 2008.

On Wednesday night’s broadcast of the Mercer Report on CBC, host Rick Mercer caught up with Lions athletes, Josh Cassidy, Jason Dunkerley and his guide Joshua Karanja. The trio give Rick an introduction to how they compete in the lead up to this summer’s Para Pan American Games in Toronto.
Dunkerley will be looking to improve on his silver (1500m) and bronze (5000m) performance from four years ago in Guadalajara, Mexico, while Cassidy will be looking for his first medal from the Para Pan Am Games.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJjw__QRRJM]

Championship weekend has come to a close and Lions athletes walked away with two silver medals from the Canadian Interuniversity (CIS) and NCAA Championships. Divya Biswal leapt to a silver at the NCAA Division III Championships while Ashley Connell grabbed her silver in the CIS women’s shot put.
Competing in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Saturday, Divya Biswal bounded out to a distance of 12.17m in the fourth round to secure her fourth national medal for St. Lawrence University. The distance also extended her own school record. The previous day, the fourth year student put forth a seasonal best effort of 5.46m in the long jump to finish seventh overall. For efforts at the championship, Biswal was awarded two All-American distinctions, pushing her career total to seven.
In Windsor, at the CIS Championships, thrower Ashley Connell rebounded from a disappointing seventh place finish in the weight throw to win her first CIS medal with a new lifetime best of 14.62m. The distance moved Connell, a second year student at the University of Guelph, into sixth on the Lions all-time list and also moved her into eighth in CIS Championship history.
In the women’s 60 meter hurdles, Devyani Biswal narrowly wedged her way into the final, grabbing the seventh and final spot. However, she proved she belonged, speeding to a new lifetime best of 8.53 seconds to finish fifth overall. The fourth year Gee-Gee must really enjoy the Windsor track as her previous best was set two years prior on the same track when she won OUA bronze. Alexia Lamothe, a freshman at the University of Windsor, finished 13th overall.
After meddling at the OUA championships two weeks prior, the University of Ottawa women’s 4x800m relay team was looking to get back on the podium. Despite the second best performance in school history, the quartet of Charlotte Gardner, Chelsea Gillies, Clare McGrath, and Lina Sadqi would settle for fifth overall with a time of 9:02.16. With at least three of the four expected to return next year, the future looks bright for another medal opportunity.
As the lone male representative, pole vaulter Nelson Cecereu did not disappoint as he leapt to a new lifetime best of 4.72m. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the fourth year Gee Gee as it took him three attempts to clear his opening height of 4.42m. The clearance put Cecereu in seventh overall on the count back and reaffirmed his third place position on the Lions all-time list.
Other results from the weekend included:
7th place – Women’s 4x400m relay – University of Ottawa 3:53.40 (Gift Okankwu, Charlotte Gardner, Chelsea Gillies, Charifa Labarang
8th place – Women’s 600m – Charlotte Gardner 1:34.41
11th place – Women’s Pole Vault – Felicite Kokron 3.41m
Lindsay Brandys, a freshman at the University of Toronto, ran in the women’s 4x200m preliminaries for the Varsity Blues. The Varsity Blues were also crowned CIS Women’s Track and Field Champions.

The Dome Super Saturday Series ended with a bang this past weekend with no less than 15 Dome records falling by the wayside. Leading the way was 15 year old Lauren Gale who broke no less than six age group records across the 100m, 200m and 400m.
With a new lifetime best in the 100m of 12.26 seconds, Gale took nearly three tenths off the previous standard set by fellow Lion, Shelani Fernando in 2010. As the distance expanded, Lauren’s performances kept improving as she took down both the midget and youth 200m records with a new personal best of 24.79 seconds. Saving the best for last, Gale sped to a 55.75 second clocking in the 400m, removing three and a quarter seconds off Fiona Callendar’s eight year old midget record. The time took down the youth and junior marks as well.
In each race, Gale finished second to Farah Jacques, who took down a few records of her own. With a time of 11.86 seconds in the 100m, Jacques, erased Genevieve Thibault’s nine year old standard of 11.88. While Jacques narrowly missed out on the 200m record, she managed to improve on the 400m record by more than half a second with her run of 54.53 seconds.
Below is a list of other Dome records broken by Lions athletes on Saturday:
Keira Christie-Galloway – Youth Girls 100mH 14.24 – Old Record 14.39 Ashlea Maddex 2009
Jeremie Venne – Open Men Mile 4:17.39 – Old Record 4:19.24 Allen Brett 2006
Jeremie Venne – Junior Men Mile 4:17.39 – Old Record 4:19.24 Allen Brett 2006
Owen Day – Youth Boys Mile 4:39.55 – Old Record 4:44.32 Ian Donald 2006
Jonathan Rioux – Midget Boys Mile 4:40.95 – Old Record 4:44.32 Ian Donald 2006
Erinn Stenman-Fahey – Open Women Mile 5:06.83 – Old Record 5:11.47 Janine MacLeod 2006
Erinn Stenman-Fahey – Junior Women Mile 5:06.83 – Old Record 5:36.72 Emma Norman 2005
Erinn Stenman-Fahey – Youth Girls Mile 5:09.66 – Old Record 5:36.72 Emma Norman 2005
Erinn Stenman-Fahey – Midget Girls Mile 5:09.66 – Old Record 5:36.72 Emma Norman 2005