All posts by : Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club

At the annual Athletics Ontario Awards Banquet held Saturday night in Toronto, four Lions picked up provincial hardware. Among those honoured was hammer thrower Sultana Frizell, who took home the award for Ontario’s top senior female thrower for the sixth straight year. Frizell, the only woman to win the award since its inception in 2008,  had a very successful campaign in 2013, which included winning her fourth Canadian Senior Championship in July, and a 16^th place finish at the IAAF World Championships in August.
Other victors on the evening included middle distance runners Adam Palamar and Melissa Bishop, while wheelchair racer Curtis Thom picked up the award for most outstanding track performance by a male in para-athletics.
Palamar, who received the award for top junior male distance runner, had a breakout summer in 2013. After just missing qualifying for the 1500m at the NCAA Championships in June, the University of Tulsa student returned home to finish second at the Toronto NTL stop, where he dropped nearly five seconds off his personal best, running 3:41.34. Success would continue for Palamar as he executed a very tactical race plan to finish third at the Canadian Senior Championships, before reaching the climax of his season at the NTL Vancouver stop. In Vancouver, Adam finished sixth, but his time of 3:38.92 eclipsed Kevin Sullivan’s 21 year old Canadian Junior record. The Merivale High School grad culminated his season by capturing his second straight Canadian Junior title over 1500m.
For 800m runner Melissa Bishop, the podium was a little crowded as she shared the award for top senior female distance runner with world championship teammates Sheila Reid and Kate Van Buskirk. Bishop’s season was highlighted by another personal best and provincial record, 1:59.76, her first Canadian Senior Championship and an appearance at the IAAF World Championships.
For Thom, one of Canada’s premier wheelchair races at 400m and under, 2013 was one to remember. He was awarded the After sweeping the T54 100m, 200m and 400m at the Canadian Championships, Thom rolled to gold as part of the championship record setting Canadian 4x400m relay team at the IPC Championships in Lyon, France. Thom was also a finalist over 200m and 400m at the global championships. Thom’s season culminated in a bronze medal effort at the recent Jeux de la Francophonie in Nice, France.
Also receiving consideration for provincial honours were bantam sprinter Lauren Gale, midget distance runner Owen Day, and decathletes Matthew Johnson (junior), Mark Chenery (senior) and Patrick Arbour (senior).

It’s that time of year again, as the Ottawa Lions get set to recognize the efforts of its many talented athletes and dedicated coaches and volunteers at the 2013 Ottawa Lions Awards Banquet. The ceremony will take place the evening of Saturday, November 9th at Jean Pigott Hall on the ground floor of Ottawa City Hall.
In addition to the annual awards that will be handed out, the Ottawa Lions will be inducting three outstanding former members into the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club Hall of Fame. Inductees include Olympians Stephen Agar and Sean Kaley as well as club heptathlon record holder Alison Doherty (nee Armstrong).
Tickets for the event are available for purchase at the club’s office at Terry Fox Athletic Facility or via email – info@ottawalions.com
Details:
2013 Ottawa Lions Awards Banquet
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Reception 6:00pm / Dinner and Awards 6:30pm
Jean Pigott Hall
Ottawa City Hall
110 Laurier Ave West
Tickets: $25

Oluwasegun Makinde and Melissa Bishop closed out the 7th Francophone Games with a bang today, together bringing home a complete medal set.
Makinde kicked things off with gold in the 200m, winning in 20.80 seconds. It was the second gold of the week for the University of Ottawa student after helping the Canadian 4x100m team to victory. “I just continued to stay focused on the task at hand and not get distracted,” was how Makinde explained his victory today.
With his first individual medal on the international stage, he was unable to put the accomplishment into perspective, stating only, “I’m just thankful I was able to get it. Hopefully there will be more titles in my future. ” Heading into 2014 and a  Commonwealth Games year, the victory is certainly a stepping stone for the young sprinter of 21 years. “It’s a great start to bigger things. Now it’s all about working hard, staying focused and executing when I need to. Hopefully things come together after that.”
Immediately following Oluwasegun’s performance, Melissa Bishop stepped onto the track, grabbing her first of two medals on the day as she was third across the line in the 800m. While she says 800m’s don’t always go as planned, she did reach the medal  podium as desired despite a near fall with 100m to go.  “I got tripped up the corner coming home and it threw me off a bit. First and second  place were able to pull away but they were too far ahead by the time I got my rythym back. I was able to pull away from the rest of the field just couldn’t get to the first two,” recounted Bishop following the race.
However, Bishop wasn’t finished after the 800m, stepping back on the track less than two hours ago to take part in the 4x400m relay. Running on the second leg, Melissa helped the team to a 3:34.25 clocking and a silver medal.  “The 4×400 was lots of fun! Very happy to be a part of that team and to be able to bring home two medals for Canada,” said the Eganville native. “My first two international medals are very rewarding; I know there is still lots left to come.” With the 2013 season now over and the focus shifting to the Commonwealth Games next July in Glasgow, Bishop still exercises some caution, explaining, “I don’t want to look too far ahead but every race you learn something new! “

Day four of athletics competition of the Francophone Games saw three Lions in competition with hammer thrower Sultana Frizell the only one competing in a final. After sitting in third for the majority of the competition with a best throw of 67.85m, Frizell was passed by Alexandra Travernier of France in the sixth and final round to push down into fourth.
On the track, both Melissa Bishop and Oluwasegun Makinde made it through their respective preliminaries to qualify for tomorrow’s finals. In the women’s 800m, Bishop’s  goal was  ” a top 2 finish to guarantee a spot in the final and really to just enjoy it.” Comfortably finishing second in the second semi-final in 2:06.76 achieved her goal with room to spare, noting “I thought the race went well for me, I got in a good spot and thought I responded well to others.”  Heading into tomorrow’s final, Bishop’s goal is simple, ” to be on that podium, I’d like to the end the season off well.”
After his relay gold Thursday, Oluwasegun Makinde return to the track for the 200m semi-finals. Running out of lane six in the first semi-final, Makinde ran away from the field, winning in 20.90 despite a 1.5m/s headwind. The time proved to be the fastest of the day, more than half a second ahead of the closest competitor. The former University of Ottawa Gee-Gee will again be in lane 6 for tomorrow’s final which goes at 9:30am eastern.
 

Ottawa Lions athletes kept rolling on day three of the Francophone Games in Nice as Oluwasegun Makinde and Curtis Thom each found their way onto the podium today.
Running the second leg of the 4x100m relay team, Makinde helped propel Canada to gold and a 39.14 second clocking. When asked if gold in France meant more to him than world bronze in Moscow he said he’d need a little more time to think about it, but he was certain about one thing. “I just hope I get to hear it a couple more times – on bigger stages,” said the former University of Ottawa sprinter when asked about getting to hear the Canadian anthem. “It’s one of those things that every athlete in the sport dreams of hearing.”
Makinde will have one more opportunity to hear “O Canada” as he prepares for the 200m heats tomorrow. He seems focused on getting back on the podium, sending out the message “1 down. 1 to go,” to his Twitter followers this afternoon.
For wheelchair racer Curtis Thom, he completed his one lap tour of Stade Charles-Ehrmann in 53.22 seconds to claim bronze in the T54 400m. It was Thom’s first individual international medal in the senior ranks. Earlier this year, Curtis was a member of the gold medal winning Canadian 4x400m relay team at the IPC World Championships. 
For decathlete Patrick Arbour, the day did not go as well as his Lions teammates. During his first attempt of the long jump, event two of the decathlon, Arbour popped two ribs out, which left him having trouble breathing and unable to bend forward. However, his never give up attitude persevered and he passed his first two throws of the shot put while team staff froze the area and the chiropractor worked to pop his two rib bones back in to place. He managed a third round effort of 14.11m to continue in the competition.  
After shot put, Arbour says “I couldn’t breathe or move . I got another needle to freeze the area and went head first into high jump. Didn’t move my left arm on any running or jumps and amazed everyone with 1.86. The drugs had kicked in and only landing made it hurt but at that point I figured I would be done the hard part of the jump so I was OK.” That would be his only clearance, leaving him with just a 400m sprint to end day one.
He finished the first day of competition with 3430 points and currently sits in 6th place. Focused on finishing day two, Arbour was looking forward to having 16 hours to ice, get some more treatment and rest, explaining on Twitter, the “only thing worse than quitting is not being able to put 100% into something I love.”

What can a little hard work and positive thinking do? Well for Lions hurdler, Sekou Kaba, it propelled him to the top of the medal podium today at the 7ieme Jeux de la Francophonie. Kaba, who battled some nagging injuries earlier in the season, was in fine form at Stade Charles-Ehrmann, claiming gold in the 110m hurdles with a season’s best run of 13.84 seconds.
Finishing on Kaba’s heels was the man running to his right, 2005 World Champion Ladji Doucouré of France. The 31 year old Beijing Olympic finalist was just 0.11 seconds behind Sekou, crossing the line in 13.95. “It means a lot to beat a former world champion;  simply shows that hard work and a little positive thinking can propel one to strive,” said Kaba. Finishing in third was Ingvar Mosley who just edged out Kaba at the line in this year’s Canadian Championships in Moncton.
Overcoming the hurdles off the track this year has added to the shimmer of this moment. “Gold feels great. I am very happy to have something to show for all the hard work I have put into this sport, let alone this year,” said the University of Ottawa student. “I felt like a MILLION BUCKS at the start line. Nothing was sore, no race jitters, simply had my eye on the task at hand.”
With his season now over, Kaba is “looking forward to a couple good weeks of rest, smart rest.” He hopes the time off will rejuvenate the body and help him come back for base training and work towards improving on these year’s results. “I’ll spend lots of time doing school work and visualizing next year’s goals and targets; which is to continue to improvement and represent [Canada] at major championships.”
Next up for the Ottawa Lions in Nice is decathlete Patrick Arbour, who enters the two day competition ranked third. Thursday’s events will see Arbour compete in the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m. On the track, wheelchair racer Curtis Thom will be competing in the T54 400m where he will be looking to get on the podium following at 6^th place finish earlier this year at the IPC World Championships.

With the Francophone Games entering the second day of athletics competition on Wednesday, Sekou Kaba will kick off the competition for the large Lions delegation in France. Kaba is scheduled to run in the 110m hurdle final Wednesday morning at 9am eastern time where he will line in lane four next to Ladji Doucoure of France, the 2005 World Champion.
Continuing for the Lions on Thursday will be decathlete Patrick Arbour as he begins his sixth multi of the summer. Arbour who set a personal best of 7593 points earlier this year and currently sits 31st in the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge rankings. Also competing Thursday will be wheelchair racer Curtis Thom as he takes to the line in the T54 400m final. This is Thom’s second trip to France this summer after he was a finalist over 400m and world champion in the 4x400m relay for Canada at July’s IPC World Championships in Lyon.
Kicking things off on Friday will be the club’s trio of IAAF World Championship competitors, Sultana Frizell, Oluwasegun Makinde and Melissa Bishop. Competing in the hammer throw final, Frizell will be looking for victory and a new Francophone Games Record. The current mark of 70.26m was set by Manuela Monteburn of France four years ago in Beirut, Lebannon. While Frizell is looking for gold, Bishop and Makinde will looking to qualify for Saturday’s finals. Both athletes have posted personal bests this year and will be gunning for the medal podium.
Live results can be found on the Francophone Games website.

Making headlines again, octogenarian speedster Ray Wardle will be recognized twice by Ontario Masters Athletics at the upcoming Athletics Ontario awards banquet at the end of the month.
Wardle is being recognized for his role in two world records this past season. Ray, was a member of the M80 4x400m relay team that broke the World Indoor record at the Canadian Masters Indoor Championships in March. He followed up that performance this summer by also breaking the M80 4x800m World Outdoor record at the Ontario Masters Outdoor Championships.
For his efforts, he will be awarded the OMA Male Hurdler/Sprinter of the Year Award with teammates, Bill Thompson, Earl Fee, and Ed Whitlock. The quartet is also part of the 2013 OMA Hall of Fame induction class.
Congratulations Ray on your well deserved honours.

It was a successful World Masters Games for two Ottawa Lions athletes who made their way to Torino, Italy last month, picking up a combined three medals. Leading the haul was sprinter Wendy Alexis, competing in the W55 category, as she picked up the sprint double, capturing gold in both the 100m and 200m. Alexis was the class of both fields, winning the 100m and 200m in 13.93 and 29.92 seconds respectively. As evidence of her dominance, her margin of victory in the 100m was 1.62 seconds and 1.56 in the 200m. For her efforts, Wendy was named Ontario Masters Athletics Athlete of the Month for August.
Finishing second to Alexis in the W55 100m was fellow Lion sprinter, Linda Tauvette,  who claimed silver in a time of 15.55 seconds. Also competing in the 200m, Tauvette finished fourth with a time of 33.36 seconds.

It was a successful week at the Canada Summer Games for 400m sprinter Devin Biocchi. The soon to be senior at the University of Ottawa started off by picking up bronze in the individual 400m on Thursday with a last second surge at the line.  The late surge gave Biocchi the edge over the fourth and fifth place finishes by a grand total of 0.003 seconds. Devin would follow that performance up the next day running the final leg of the Ontario 4x400m relay, crossing the line in 3:07.45 to capture gold and set a new Canada Games Record.

Also in Sherbrooke, Devyani Biswal completed her season with a sixth place finish in the 100m hurdles, crossing the line in 14.43  on a rain soaked track at the University of Sherbrooke. In the men’s 1500m final, Mohamed Souleiman completed three and three quarter laps in 3:48.76 to finish fifth at the games. Rounding out the results for Lions athletes was Alex Berhe who finished 11th in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:59.72.

In the forty years since the Ottawa Lions were founded in the fall of 1973, club athletes have represented Ontario or Quebec at each and every Summer Games, winning a total of 35 medals, including at least one at each Games since 1981.