All posts by : Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club

Josh Cassidy doesn’t care who won last year’s Boston Marathon or exactly how fast the winning time was.
The thing is, it was Cassidy who wheeled to victory in the storied race last year, and that world-record winning time is his.
The Canadian wheelchair racer will be gunning for his second consecutive Boston Marathon victory on Monday, but he’d rather not talk about last year. “Defending,” according to Cassidy, is a bad word.
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Ottawa – Athletics Canada today unveiled the list of athletes that will represent Canada in the USA versus the World portion the famed Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 27. Included among the 28 team members will be five members of the Ottawa Lions, headlined by Olympians Melissa Bishop and Oluwasegun Makinde.
 
Bishop, who became the third woman to break the two minute barrier in the 800m last season will team up with Canadian record holder Diane Cummins, Karine Belleau-Béliveau and Lemlem Ogbasilassie in the 4x800m where they will undoubtedly make a run at the Canadian record of 8:28.55.
 
Makinde will be a part of the 4x100m relay looking to qualify for this summer’s IAAF World Championships in Athletics taking place in Moscow. This will be Makinde’s third time being named to the Penn Relays team. He made his debut in 2011 where he ran the third leg against world record holder Usain Bolt.
 
Ottawa will be well represented in the 4x400m relay with three local runners being named to the pool of five athletes.  The list includes Michael Robertson, a 4x400m finalist at the 2011 Panamerican Games, 2010 World Junior 4x400m team member Devin Biocchi and Gord Frenke. For Frenke, an engineering graduate of Queen’s University, this will be his first national team appearance. The designated alternate from the men’s 4x400m will run the 400m leg of the men’s distance medley relay team.
 
Two other athletes with ties to the Ottawa Lions include 4x100m team member Gavin Smellie who has been training in Ottawa under national team Glenroy Gilbert for the past three seasons. As well, long time club member Alicia Brown has been named to the women’s 4x400m relay team. This is the first national team appointment for the recently named University of Toronto Female Athlete of the Year. 
 
USA versus the World Schedule
 
12:45pm ET  Women’s 4x800m
1:35pm ET    BMW Men’s 4x100m
2:05pm ET    Men’s Distance Medley
2:35pm ET    BMW Women’s 4x400m
2:52pm ET    Nike Men’s 4x400m
 
For a complete Penn Relays schedule visit http://pennrelaysonline.com/Results/schedule.aspx.

Tucson – Stepping on to the track last Thursday morning in Tucson, decathlete Patrick Arbour looked comfortable and confident. After a successful indoor season, the two time national bronze medalist was ready to set another personal best under the desert sun, but even surprised himself with a 7593 point performance to win the Jim Click Combined Events Shootout and set a new club record in the process. The mark should also qualify Arbour to compete in this summer’s World University Games and this fall’s Francophone Games.
 
From the first gun, Arbour only seemed to gain momentum as he opened up with new lifetime bests in the 100m (11.55), long jump (7.01m) and shot put (15.32m). He would round out day one with 1.87m clearance in the high jump and 52.25s in the 400m to finish more than 200 points ahead of his PB pace.
 
On day two, Arbour continued to heat up, much like the temperatures which exceeded 30 degrees, as he posted new lifetime bests in the first two events, the 110m hurdles (15.00) and discus (50.82m). In fact, the former thrower’s mark in the discus was not only a new personal best, but also surpassed the long standing club record of 50.34m set by Steve Lambrose in 1977. Arbour would round out the day with near best performances in the pole vault (4.40m), javelin (65.32m) and 1500m (5:03.62).
 
Arbour’s training partner, Mark Chenery, withdrew from the competition following the pole vault due to a knee injury.
 
In the heptathlon, Michele Krech led the way with a new personal best performance of 4908 points to finish 10th in the seven event discipline. The University of Ottawa law student’s performance was buoyed by personal best performances in the 100m hurdles(15.10), long jump (5.28m) and 800m (2:15.62). Michele had entered the competition with a best score of 4773 points set at home in Ottawa in 2011. Finishing right behind Krech in 11th was Karla Schleske Shephard, who scored 4875 points.

Ottawa – The University of Ottawa celebrated the year in athletics tonight at their annual awards banquet and four club athletes were honoured for their excellence on the track and the cross country trails.
Rookie distance runner Emma Galbraith and junior sprinter Devin Biocchi were named uOttawa track and field MVP’s for their CIS winning performances. Galbraith, who was named CIS Rookie of the Year, had a breakout season that not only included double gold at the national championships, but also a new Canadian Junior Record at 1000m.
Meanwhile, Biocchi had one of the most successful CIS Championships in the history of the University of Ottawa track and field team as he captured three gold medals. Biocchi was part of the 4x200m and 4x400m relays teams that repeated their double gold performances from 2012, He also added the 300m title this year.
In cross country, Remy Binns and Isabelle Kanz were named team MVP’s. Both runners were the top team finishers at the OUA Championshps. This was the first MVP award for Binns while Kanz repeats her MVP performance from a year ago.

Ottawa – Cuba’s Yorgelis Rodriguez and Jose Mendieta will return to Ottawa to defend their Panamerican Cup title as the Canadian capital prepares to host the 2^nd Panamerican Combined Events Cup June 1-2.
Rodriguez, 18, shone at the continental event last year before winning the world junior Heptathlon gold a month and a half later in Barcelona.
This season, the 2011 World Youth Championships silver medalist improved her continental junior record by over 300 points when she totalled 6186 at the National Championships in Havana in mid March.
“I have sweet memories from Canada last year. It was my first international win and a great boost in my preparation for the Junior Worlds. I look forward to competing again in Ottawa in June,” said Rodriguez.
The young Cuban will be joined by her training partners Yusleidis Mendieta and Yilian Durruty. 2011 World Youth champion Mendieta, 19, broke the 6000-point barrier (6024) for the first time in trailing Rodriguez at the National Championships in March.
Durruty, who shows a personal best of 5966 from 2012, wants to improve from her fourth place performance in Ottawa last year.
In the men’s field, Jose Angel Mendieta is also looking forward to defending his Panamerican crown.
“I am excited to return to Canada for a third time in four years. I competed at the Junior Worlds in 2010 and then won my first international event in Ottawa in 2012. I am still young and learning a lot in the Decathlon, so Ottawa will be another stepping stone in my career,” commented Mendieta.
The 21-year old set three personal bests in Ottawa en route to a 7782 score for the Panamerican gold. He improved his marks in three other events in mid March to take his Decathlon best to 7953 at the National Championships in Havana.
Mendieta will find a strong opposition from a more seasoned teammate. Yordanis Garcia won the NACAC Combined Events Cup in 2009 in a still standing personal best of 8496. The two-time Olympian and two-time World Championships finalist is expected to compete in his first decathlon of 2013 as he prepares for his fourth World Championships.
Manuel A. Gonzalez, who scored a best of 7535 at the National Championships, completes the Cuban trio. Coaches Gersin Luis and Yolaida Pompa will join the six athletes in Ottawa.
by Javier Clavelo

The Ottawa Lions would like to congratulate former club middle distance runner and Executive Director, Scott MacDonald, who was named the new High Performance Director of Athletics Canada on Thursday.
MacDonald, who was promoted from his position as Director of National Team Programs, was a standout runner for the Lions in the 90’s. The former University of Michigan runner’s name can be found on the Ottawa Lions all-time lists for the 800m, 1500m and the mile, where he is one of four Lions to break the four minute mile.
MacDonald was also a member of multiple Canadian national teams, including the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
To read the AC press release, please click here.

Your chance to become a qualified official and to help out at meets not only right here in Ottawa but anywhere in Canada has arrived. The Ottawa Lions are pleased to annouce they will be hosting an officials clinic on Saturday, April 20th. The clinic will take place at The Dome @ Louis-Riel from 1-5pm.
There will be no cost to attend the clinic, but numbers will be limited to the first 50 entries. Snacks will be served, including Joe’s world famous chocolate chip cookies!
You can register by filling out a registration form, found here.

It was championship weekend Thursday thru Saturday and Ottawa Lions athletes certainly rose to the occasion, bringing home a combined eight medals from both the CIS and NCAA championships.
At the CIS championships in Edmonton, Emma Galbraith put forth a performance that left no one doubting her CIS Rookie of the Year distinction that was handed out Thursday morning. The slender superstar from Merrickville kicked things off by claiming gold in the 1000m on Friday night in 2:52.09, as she seemed to control the race almost from the gun. It was a different story, however, in the 1500m final. Galbraith took the lead in the third lap and looked comfortable and didn’t relinquish it until the final 200m when OUA champion Andrea Seccafien made her move into the lead. With 75 meters to go, Emma found another gear and used her longer legs to eat into Seccafien’s lead before using one final dip at the line to regain her lead and win her second gold medal of the championship. When the time finally flashed on the scoreboard you could see just how close things got with Emma winning by just 0.01 seconds, 4:26.32 to Seccafien’s 4:26.33.
The only other Gee-Gee to win individual gold was third year sprinter Devin Biocchi, who showed his OUA victory was no fluke on Friday night. Running from an outside lane again, Biocchi looked calm and relaxed as he blindly sprinted away from the field to win gold in 34.11 seconds. The time was also a new lifetime best on a 200m track for the Orleans native. Biocchi’s teammates, Oluwasegun Makinde and Michael Robertson almost made it a clean sweep of the podium, finishing second and fourth respectively. For Makinde, it was his second individual medal of the meet after finishing third in Thursday night’s 60m final.
On Saturday, Biocchi, Makinde and Robertson teamed up with sprint hurdler Gabriel Tesfaye to reclaim the 4x200m gold the team had won a year ago in Winnipeg. In the 4x400m final Oluwasegun Makinde was replaced by his younger brother, Toluwalope, as the team defended that title as well with a 3:17.10 clocking.
At the NCAA Division I Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, 800m specialist Samantha Murphy continued to do what she has done all year long – run faster than she ever has before. The Perth native ran an impressive 2:03.95 in the 800m final to finish fourth and garner All-American honours. Saturday’s time was just the most recent life time best in a season that has seen Murphy improve by nearly five seconds.
In Naperville, Illinois, at the NCAA Division III Championships, triple jumper Divya Biswal bounded out to 11.92m on her fifth attempt to win her first NCAA silver medal as well as her first All-American distinction. Biswal has carried the success from last summer’s outdoor campaign back indoors this season as she raised the St. Lawrence University triple jump record on multiple occasions and also set a new personal best last weekend at the ECAC championships in New York City.
Both Murphy and Biswal will commence their outdoor seasons over the next couple weeks as the NCAA begins their outdoor campaign. Meanwhile, the Ottawa Lions are scheduled to open their outdoor campaign at the Cornell Springtime Invitational in Ithaca, NY on April 6 and 7.

Before the CIS Championships kick off today in Edmonton, Alberta, there was some hardware to be handed out and one piece is coming back to Ottawa. Gee-Gee middle distance standout Emma Galbraith has been named the top rookie in the nation for her performances at 600m, 1000m, and 1500m this season. Emma beat out fellow 600m runner, Jenna Westaway of the University of Calgary, long jumper Sarah Taplin of Dalhousie University, and triple jumper Audrey Bonneau of l’Université de Sherbrooke to claim the award.
The Franco-Ouest graduate’s season so far has been highlighted by record breaking performances, including setting a new Canadian Junior Record in the 1000m at the New Balance Collegiate Invite in New York City last month. In addition to her national standard, she has also rewrote the University of Ottawa record books, establishing new records at 1000m, 1500m and in the mile for the Gee-Gees.
Emma is the first Gee-Gee to ever win a national rookie of the year award in track and field. Hurdler Ashlea Maddex was previously nominated for the same award in 2011. Galbraith is also only the second University of Ottawa student to recognized by the CIS following long jumper Christopher Greenaway’s Field Event MVP award in 2010.
Emma will look to continue her success as she races in the 1000m final tomorrow evening at 7pm eastern. She will follow that up with the 1500m and 4x400m finals on Sunday. You can follow the athletic endeavours of both Emma and her uOttawa teammates online this weekend with live streaming of the meet available at http://CIS-SIC.tv

The 2013 CIS Championships kick off this afternoon in Edmonton where the University of Ottawa Gee Gees will represented by six men and five women. At last year’s championships, the men finished fifth with 63 pts, while the women placed 13th with 20pts.
Leading the men this year will be veteran and team captain Michael Robertson. For Robertson, this will be his final CIS competition and he will undoubtedly be looking to add to his collection of five medals, including golds from both the 4x200m and 4x400m relays last year. He is slated to compete in the both relays again as well as the 300m, where he took home silver last year.
Robertson will be joined by the three gentlemen who helped him bring home gold last year, Oluwasegun Makinde, Devin Biocchi and Toluwalope Makinde. Both Oluwasegun and Devin will join Michael in the 300m, where the trio enter the meet all within the top four ranks. Oluwasegun will also be contesting the 60m hurdles and the flat 60m.
Rounding out the men’s team will be Gabriel Tesfaye and Hubert Chevrette-Belisle. Tesfaye will be run the 60m hurdles and is also a member of the relay pools. Chevrette-Belisle will join his two teammates in the hurdles Friday night, but he will compete in the gruelling five event pentathlon Thursday afternoon.
The women will be led by the young faces of rookie Emma Galbraith and sophomore Devyani Biswal, the only two Gee-Gees to enter the competition ranked in a medal position.
Galbraith will contest both the 1000m and 1500m after dropping the 600m following the OUA Championships. Emma enters the meet on the strength of her best ever 1500m last week in Ottawa as she set a uOttawa record of 4:20.23. The 1000m will take place Friday night with the 1500m going Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Biswal has continued to improve week in and week out this season, culminating in her a personal best run of 8.57 seconds to finish third at the OUA Championships two weeks ago. Incidentally, that mark also has her ranked third in the CIS and she will need to be in top form to hold on to that spot in Friday’s finals.
Rounding out the women’s team will be Sarah de Carufel, who will run the 60m this evening. The soccer player turned sprinter, enters the competition ranked seventh. De Carufel and Biswal will also team up with Charlotte Gardner and Gift Okankwu in the 4x200m heats this evening. Galbraith with replace Biswal in the 4x400m relay finals on Saturday.
You can catch all the CIS action live from Edmonton on CIS-SIC.tv