All posts by : Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club

It was a successful start to the 2014 Canadian Youth National Championships for the Ottawa Lions in Langley, BC today. Distance standout Shona McColloch kicked things off in style by capturing her first national medal, winning the midget girls 1200m in 3:31.70. It was a tight battle for McColloch against Sevanne Ghazarian of Guelph who finished just a tenth of a second behind.
The other medal of the day came from Shyvonne Roxborough, who picked up a silver in the youth girls 100m. Running into a 1.3 m/s headwind, Roxborough crossed the line in 12.31 seconds, just 0.09 seconds behind Taryn Smiley of British Columbia. Colle Thompson finished sixth in the final with a time of 12.60 seconds.
Hurdlers also had a successful day one, with four Lions putting together top eight finishes. The top finisher was Keira Christie-Galloway, who finished fourth in the midget girls 80m hurdles in a time of 11.87 seconds. Teammate Alexandra Ethier finished eighth in the same race in 12.23. In the youth boys 110m hurdles, Geoffrey Lawson finished fifth in a personal best 14.65 seconds, while Hailie McKechnie finished eighth in the youth girls 80m hurdles in 15.89.
 

For more than 28 years, there was a noticeable void in Wendy Alexis’s non-stop life as a caring wife, mother and teacher.

It was nothing serious. But there was a task she had started as a teenager and hadn’t finished. Then an opportunity presented itself to revisit that plan and pursue some athletic happiness almost three decades later.

While driving her son, Jordan, to an Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club practice one day nine years ago, Alexis, then 50, was struck with the idea of making a comeback as a sprinter. She was one of the country’s best dashers in the early 1970s (Wendy Braiden), but her athletic career was crushed when she didn’t make the 1972 Summer Olympics team and had subsequent leg injuries.

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It was a successful weekend at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under 23 championships for sprint hurdler Ashlea Maddex and 400m runner Devin Biocchi. The pair each captured a medal at the biennial championship being held in Kamloops, British Columbia.
Maddex, a bronze medallist in 2012, got things started on Saturday by repeating the feat. Aided by a 2.2 m/s wind at her back, the native of Pascal, Ontario crossed the line in an all conditions best 13.19 seconds. The race was won by American LeTristan Pledger in 13.04 seconds. Maddex also picked up a silver medal as a member of Canada’s 4x400m relay.
Lining up in the men’s 4x400m relay, Biocchi captured his first international medal while running on the second leg. The Canadian team finished in 3:08.78 while the team from the United States won in 3:04.34.

Lions athletes will be in action on two continents tomorrow, competing in Belgium and British Columbia.
Competing at the Flanders Cup – Meeting Voor Mon in Leaven, Belgium tomorrow will be Sekou Kaba, Oluwasegun Makinde, and Farah Jacques. For Kaba and Jacques, this is their third stop on their European tour while Makinde joined the duo following the Commonwealth Games.
Sekou has had a successful tour, having run a hundredth of a second of his personal best in the 110m hurdles at his first competition last week in Ninove, Belgium and followed it up with a victory Wednesday night in Copenhagen. Jacques made the podium in both competitions while Oluwasegun placed fourth in the 100m in Copenhagen.
Makinde and Jacques will line up in the 100m while Kaba will race in his customary 110m hurdles.
Back in Canada, hurdler Ashlea Maddex is set to race at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under 23 championships. This is Maddex’s second time racing Canada at the NACAC championships. She previously won bronze two years ago in Mexico. Her final is set for 5:20 pm eastern.
Results from Belgium are available here.
NACAC results are available here.

As the summer of Ottawa Twilight Meets concluded Wednesday night at Terry Fox, we present to you the final instalment of the Twilight Meet 3 stars.
In no particular order:

• Tolu Makinde for completing the sprinting double, winning the 100m in 10.74, and the 200m in 21.89.
• Erinn Stenman-Fahey for winning the 400m in 57.16, more than four and a half seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.
•  
  Jason Dunkerley and his guide runner Josh Karanja for finishing second in the 3000m in a new Canadian T11 record of 9:07.55. The previous record 9:37.00 had been set by Jason in 2001.

Congratulations to all those who competed last night. We hope you all enjoyed another excellent summer of Twilight meeets.

With eight medals on the final day of the 2014 Athletics Ontario Bantam/Midget/Youth Championships, the Ottawa Lions secured their seventh provincial midget team title in eight years and tenth straight overall Ontario Club Championship.
Among the medallists was the midget girls sprint medley team of Keira Christie-Galloway, Alexandra Ethier, Lauren Gale and Shona McCulloch who took home gold in a time of 4:11.46 while also shaving three tenths off the provincial record set by Laurel Creek in 2012. For Christie-Galloway, it was her third gold medal of the weekend following her win in the 80m hurdles on Sunday.
Shona McColloch pick up two other golds on Sunday, to go with Saturday’s win in the 1200m, as she dominated the 2000m field, winning by more than 20 seconds in 6:28.74. McColloch was also joined the quartet of Natalie Day, Aja Penny and Jenna Rossi to win the midget girls 4x800m in 10:04.09.
Picking up a silver in the youth girls 200m final was Colle Thompson who set a new lifetime best as she crossed the line in 25.09 seconds with the following wind just under the allowable limit at 1.9 m/s. In the field, Emily Sprague cleared 1.60m in the youth girls high jump to grab a share of the bronze medal.
Also picking medals on the final day were the midget boys 4x800m and sprint medley relay team who won silver and bronze respectively.
 

Sultana Frizell didn’t get a chance to march in the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.
But she’ll be front and centre when the event wraps up tonight.
The hammer thrower was named Canada’s flagbearer for the closing ceremony after defending her gold medal from four years ago in impressive fashion.
Frizell — who set a new Commonwealth record in the event on three separate occasions in Glasgow — did not participate in opening ceremony on July 23 because she was still training at a camp in Portugal.
The 29-year-old from Perth, Ont., said she was both surprised and honoured to be asked to carry the Maple Leaf into Hampden Park.
“Last night everyone took me into a back room and they were like ’Sultana, we’ve got something to tell you.’ And I was like ‘Is somebody dead?“’ the bubbly Frizell joked. “It was never really in my head. I see the people carrying the flag and I’m like ‘Hey that’s really cool and it would be really nice to do it someday.’
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It was a successful day for the Ottawa Lions at the Athletics Ontario Bantam/Midget/Youth Championships, which kicked off Saturday morning at the University of Windsor. The tally was led by five golds, including a new Ontario club record in the midget girls 4x100m relay. The team of Mikayla Trudeau-Meisner, Lauren Gale, Keira Christie-Galloway and Alexandra Ethier crossed the line in a blistering fast, 49.28 seconds, a second and half ahead of the second place Windsor Legion. The previous record of 49.2h, set by the Scarborough Optimists, had stood since 1982!
For both Christie-Galloway and Ethier, relay gold was their second medal of the day as Keira grabbed individual gold in the long jump with a leap of 5.15m and Alexandra took home silver in the 200m hurdles.
Also picking up gold on day one was Shona McCulloch who put on a dominating performance the midget girls 1200m, winning by 12 seconds in 3:34.06. Finn Perrault stepped atop the podium in the midget boys 1500m steeplechase, winning a tight battle in 4:59.40, while Shyvonne Roxborough rounded out the gold medallists as she broke the 12 second barrier for the first time, winning the youth girls 100m in a windy 11.98. Shyvonne also teamed up with Colle Thompson, Hailey McKechnie and Kyesia Fraser to finish second in the youth girls 4x100m relay.
Bronze medals on day one were also awarded to the following relay teams:

• Midget boys 4x100m – Matteus Lawford, Ismael Toure, Aidan Schottler-Raymond, and Evan Wilson
• Youth girls 4x400m – Kathryn David, Caitlin Fischer, Gabrielle Campeau and Hailey McKechnie
• Youth boys 4x400m – Jonah Hayes-Cook, Eric Palamar, Austin White, and Justin Cuddihey

Melissa Bishop had stated at the outset of these Commonwealth Games her goal was to be in the final, which she accomplished with flying colours on Friday night in Glasgow. The pride of Eganville finished eighth in a race won by 2013 World Champion Eunice Sum of Kenya. After crossing the line in 2:02.61, Bishop reflected on the competition, saying, “I had a great two days.”
With 150m left to go in the final, Melissa looked poised to make a final kick for home, but just as she was getting ready to go wide to pass, it appeared she was boxed in by an oncoming English runner and was never able to break loose.
“The ultimate goal was to get to the final and anything else is a bonus,” said Bishop. “I am happy to be here, hope it is a building block for things to come.”
Also competing on Friday was Michael Robertson, who lined up on the anchor leg for Canada in the men’s 4x400m relay. After receiving the baton in third place, Robertson demonstrated patience, bidding his time until  the final corner before kicking past the Australian team to bring the baton across in 3:04.37 and temporarily earn Canada a spot in the final. However, it was later announced the team had been disqualified for starting outside of the takeover zone.
Reflecting on the events, Robertson said, “I am grateful and thankful for the experience and the support from everyone! Unbelievable time and I look forward to the success to come!”
 

It was a wet evening in Glasgow, as Josh Cassidy crossed the line sixth in the T54 1500m final with a time of 3:26.24. The slick track didn’t affect Cassidy’s race plan until the final push for home. “Felt good and didn’t have any troubles with the rain at all until the final max sprint,” said Cassidy on following the race.”
“I’ve been working on rain gear ,so surprised I had issues. It wasn’t a matter of having nothing left or being at the front. The race was slow and tactically, I played it well. But I wasn’t perfect in the end so I have more work to do. Frustrating, but letting go. I was fit and did everything I could. I really thought I’d have a medal tonight. Rain or not.”
Also in action on Thursday was Melissa Bishop. Competing in the 800m semi-final, the Eganville native used a race plan she’s employed many times before. Sitting in about fourth or fifth at the bell, Melissa waited until midway down the back stretch to really kick into high gear  as she started picking off competitors one by one. As she turned the corner for home she was in second, managing to hold of English athlete Jenny Meadows as she finished in 2:01.86. Kenyan Eunice Sum took victory in 2:01.38. The same trio will go at it again in today’s final, scheduled for 3:45 pm Eastern.
You can watch Glasgow 2014 live coverage on the Commonwealth Games YouTube Channel.
For video of Josh Cassidy’s 1500m final, you can watch here: WWW.CBC.ca/sports-content/commonwealthgames/video/#id=2480513221
For video of Melissa Bishop’s 800m semi-final, you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvFT0ZllbhI