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Nedow and Gale kick off 2022 season with NCAA victories

by InternationallinkinbioUniversity

The 2022 NCAA indoor season kicked off this weekend with a pair of Lions finding success on the track and in the field. Thrower Tommy Nedow and sprinter Lauren Gale were each victorious in their season debuts.

Nedow, competing for Southeastern Louisiana University, swept both of the throws at the Purple Tiger meet at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge on Friday. The fourth year athletic therapy student kicked off the competition with a new lifetime best of 16.57 metres in the weight throw. The distance was more than a full metre ahead of the second place finisher and added 69 centimetres to his previous best in the event. Nedow took an even more commanding victory in the shot put as he defended his Purple Tiger title from a year ago. His best throw of 16.26 metres outdistanced the competition by nearly three metres.

On the west coast, Olympian Lauren Gale kicked off her season in style with a new indoor personal best over 200 metres. Competing at the Potts Invitational on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder, Gale dominated the seventh and final heat of the 200, winning easily in 23.52 seconds. The performance moved her to third on Colorado State University’s all-time list and equaled Canada’s number two all-time U23 performance. However, as the facility in Boulder is an oversized track (300m) the performance could not count for Canadian record purposes.

The NCAA season continues next weekend with Gale’s CSU Rams headed to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, while we may see hurdler Keira Christie-Galloway open her season for the Arizona State Sun Devils at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

OTTAWA, ON -- 05 July 2018: Josh Cassidy racing in the para wheelchair 1500m at the 2018 Athletics Canada National Track and Field Championships held at the Terry Fox Athletics Facility in Ottawa, Canada. (Photo by Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images).

Cassidy fourth at New York City Marathon

by InternationallinkinbioLocal

For Josh Cassidy, competing in last Saturday’s New York City Marathon just 27 days after placing fifth at the Boston Marathon would normally not be a newsworthy fact. He is after all, a man has regularly raced Boston on a Monday in April, hopped a plane and contested the London Marathon just six days later. However, nine days following Boston, Cassidy’s partner Laiken gave birth to son Henrik – leaving Cassidy without a full night’s sleep for three weeks heading into one of the more difficult marathon courses on the circuit.

Despite the lack of sleep, and time off training during that time, Cassidy pulled off his highest ever finish in New York, placing fourth in 1 hour 40 minutes and 38 seconds.

“Expectations low, motivation high, I wasn’t sure how it was going to go,” was how Cassidy described his mindset heading into the race. The focus was a top-6 finish to be in the prize money.

As he reached the 1-mile mark atop the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn, Cassidy had already settled into fourth, between two packs. The following 25 miles would become a game of cat and mouse with American Daniel Romanchuk for bronze.

Cassidy held a ten second advantage at the mid way point, but Romanchuk was able to overtake him by the 25 km mark. Cassidy would narrow the gap to two seconds at the 20 mile marker, before hitting a wall in the final kilometres to hold on to fourth.

“Pretty emotional at the end, after an exhausting few weeks, tough marathon, a lot to overcome mentally and physically,” wrote Cassidy on Instagram this week. “Super proud of this one, and great way to end the season.”

In a road race closer to home, Nic Roberts took home top spot in The Great Big Cookie Run 5km last Sunday. Roberts crossed the line in a time of 15 minutes and 57.0 seconds, to finish nine seconds up on second place.

On the women’s side, Club President Jennifer Dumoulin finished in 22:26.0 to place 18th.

Copyright Brian Rouble/Shuttered Moments

Cassidy fifth at Boston Marathon; XC competes in Sherbrooke

by InternationallinkinbioUniversity

The world’s oldest marathon race returned to the streets of Boston Monday morning with a familiar face near the top of the leader board. Canadian record holder Joshua Cassidy placed fifth with a time of 1:28:56 – his fastest marathon since the 2017 edition of Boston.

Traditionally held on Patriots Day, the third Monday in April, the 125th edition of the BAA Boston Marathon was pushed to the October date as a result of COVID restrictions following its cancellation in 2020.

Monday’s event almost didn’t happen for Cassidy, who almost pulled out of the event in September after losing two and a half weeks of training due to a sinus infection. Despite the break, the three time Paralympian held tight to the front of the pack throughout the race. Cassidy battled for third with South African Ernst Van Dyk all the way up Heartbreak Hill, a 600 metre ascent between the 32 and 34 kilometre marks. Continuing the battle towards the finish, Van Dyk narrowly pulled away, while Cassidy nipped at the line by American Aaron Pike, who finish one second ahead.

Cassidy, who is also awaiting the birth of his first child with partner Laiken appeared content with the result, writing on Instagram “not bad, needed a bit more quality training, but so happy to be out there, happy to be home again, and grateful for everyone with the Boston Marathon team.”

Back in Canada, a small collection of Lion, Gee-Gees, and Ravens took part in the the Vert et Or Invitation cross country race on the campus of the University of Sherbrooke on Sunday. Nico Pedersen was the winner of the open men’s eight kilometre race with a time of 25 minutes and 49.4 seconds. Nathan Meraw of the Gee-Gees was the top male in the university section, placing 43rd in 27:58.8. The top female honour went to Kylee Fowler, a first year student with the Gee-Gees, who placed 42nd in 34:02.3. Carleton’s Sophy Wood was the top Raven in 46th.

Complete results from the Vert et Or Invitation can be found on the FQA website.

(Ottawa, Canada---08 July 2017) Lauren Gale competing in the U20 400m final at the 2017 Canadian Track and Field Championships. (Photo by Sean W Burges / Mundo Sport Images).

Olympic Profile – Lauren Gale

by Internationallinkinbio

As we get set to enter Day 7 of competition at the Olympic Stadium we wanted to help introduce you to the third and final Lion competing this year in Tokyo – Lauren Gale.

At 21 years of age, Gale is the youngest member of the Canadian athletics team in Japan and is expected to run as part of Canada’s 4×400 metre relay team in Thursday morning’s heats.

The Colorado State University record holder set a lifetime best of 51.96 seconds over 400 metres at the NCAA West Regional back in May to qualify for Team Canada. The mark is the second fastest in Club history. Gale set the Club record over the 200 metres as well this year with her 23.15 second clocking at the Mountain West Conference Championships.

We had a chance to connect with Olympian Lauren Gale prior to the start of the Games and ask her a few questions to help you get to know her a little better.

Q: How did you get started in track and field?

Gale: I was always super speedy when I was playing soccer. I always got to the ball first. So we tried switching into running and it took off from there! It didn’t really start being competitive until I joined the Lions!

Q: Name your favourite place to compete.
Gale: My favourite place to compete was the Bahamas, who wouldn’t love it there! All the teams got to stay in the same hotel on different floors and it was a great environment, lots of fun!
Q: What drill or exercise do you enjoy the most?
Gale: I love doing band + block. It really helps me with my block starts and I am able to focus on form.
Q: If you could do any other event in track and field, which would you choose?
Gale: I would love to do long or triple jump. I think getting to be so explosive and landing in sand would be fun!
Q: What is your go to pre-competition meal?
Gale:  I usually have something protein filled with lots of veggies and fruit!
Q: What is in your warm-up playlist?
Gale: I usually go with rap.
Q: What are you binging on Netflix right now?
Gale: It’s always HGTV. I love the home renovation shows!
Q: What book are you reading/most recently read?
Gale: I have been reading my HDFS 350 (Applied Research Methods) textbook! I’m taking a summer class so that’s what has been taking up most of my time recently.
Q: What are you looking forward to the most about competing in your first Olympics?
Gale: I think just getting to take in the atmosphere even though it might be a little different this year. Getting to be surrounded by and competing against amazing athletes will be a great experience. Getting to see the Athlete village with the Olympic Rings everywhere is gonna be awesome too!

The women’s 4×400 metre heats are scheduled for 6:25 am EDT Thursday morning. Canada will run in the second of two heats. The top three plus the next two fastest times will qualify to Saturday’s final.

For more information on Tokyo 2020 and links to results and the live stream, check out our Tokyo Olympic Hub.

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Lions Olympic History

by Internationallinkinbio

As the torch inside Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium was lit Friday night, the latest set of Lions athletes to compete in the Olympic Games watched together with their track and field teammates at their pre-competition camp in Gifu, about 275 kilometres west of Tokyo.

The trio is comprised of Olympic veterans Melissa Bishop-Nriagu and Tim Nedow, as well as Olympic rookie Lauren Gale. The 21-year-old Gale becomes the 16th Lion to compete at the Olympics, following in the footsteps of Team Canada Head Coach Glenroy Gilbert who made his debut back at the 1988 Games in Seoul.

Gilbert was part of the original class of Lions Olympians back in Seoul when he competed in the long jump (7.61m – 22nd). He was joined in the South Korean capital by fellow Lions Hall of Famer and high jumper Brian Marshall (2.22m – 19th) as well as 10,000 metre runner John Halvorsen (28:29.21 – 16th), who competed for his native Norway. Four years later, Halvorsen (29:53.91 – 19th) would again join Gilbert (4x100m – DNF) in Barcelona.

At the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Gilbert would live out the Olympic dream of claiming gold as part of Canada’s 4×100 metre relay team (37.69 NR – 1st). If you’re wondering, we do indeed love “Saturday nights in Georgia”. Glenroy also placed 22nd in the 100m with a time of 10.28 seconds. He was not alone at these Games as he was joined by Lions record holders Steve Agar (3:43.02 – 37th) in the 1500 metres and Lesley Tashlin in the 100 metre hurdles (13.61 – 37th) and 4x100m relay (44.34 – 14th). Agar, also a member of the Lions Hall of Fame, was representing his native Dominica.

Gilbert’s final Games as an athlete was as a member of the 4×100 metre relay (38.92 – 11th) team in Sydney, while Hall of Famer Sean Kaley made his only Olympic appearance, running the 10,000 metres (28:36.07 – 39th).

At the 2004 Games in Athens, Richard Adu-Bobie was named to his first Olympic team after setting the Canadian U20 record for 100 metres at the Trials. He would serve as an alternate for the 4×100 metre relay team that placed 7th overall.

Adu-Bobie would again serve as an alternate on the relay squad at the 2008 Games in Beijing that would go on to place fifth. Adu-Bobie was joined in the Chinese capital by first time Olympian, Sultana Frizell in the hammer throw (65.44m – 33rd)

The London Games of 2012 featured a record five Lions, with Sultana Frizell returning in the hammer throw (67.45m – 22nd). Melissa Bishop-Nriagu made her debut at 800 metres (2:09.33 – 28tth) while Oluseyi Smith ran the second leg on Canada’s 4×100 metre relay team that crossed the finish line in third but was ultimately disqualified for a lane violation. Oluwasegun Makinde served as an alternate for the 4x100m relay team. Rounding out the contingent was Delphine Atangana, who contested the 100 metres (11.82 – 48th) for her native Cameroon.

The 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro equalled London for the largest contingent of Lions with five athletes. Melissa Bishop-Nriagu was 4th at 800 metres in a national record 1:57.02. A pair of Club record holders made their debut, Sekou Kaba in the 110 metre hurdles (13.70 – 28th) and Tim Nedow in the shot put (20.00m – 16th). Farah Jacques led off Canada’s 4×100 metre relay team (43.15 – 6th) and Oluwasegun Makinde was again an alternate on the men’s 4×100 relay team that would win bronze.

We look forward to the new Olympic memories this year’s trio will bring. Melissa Bishop-Nriagu kicks off the competition with heats of the 800 metres on the opening day of competition. Heats of the women’s 800 are schedule for 8:55pm eastern on July 29th. Tim Nedow will compete in shot put qualifying on August 3rd at 6:15 am eastern, while Lauren Gale and the women’s 4×400 metre relay team run in the heats on August 5th at 6:25 am eastern.

The Lions would also like to congratulate Club record holder Mike Woods on his fifth place finish in the cycling road race and wish best of luck to former Club members Alicia Brown (women’s 4x400m) and Alejandro Perlaza (400m and 4x400m) competing for his native Colombia.

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Three Lions athletes to represent Canada at Tokyo Olympics

by Internationallinkinbio

The Ottawa Lions are please to announce three Club members will represent Canada later this month at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. This morning, Athletics Canada, in conjunction with the Canadian Olympic Committee, confirmed Melissa Bishop-Nriagu, Tim Nedow, and Lauren Gale will wear the red and white into the Japan National Stadium later this month.

This will be the third Games for Bishop-Nriagu who was 28th in London and 4th in Rio. As one of the faces of Team Canada heading into Tokyo, the 2015 World silver medalist is on the hunt for the Olympic medal she narrowly missed out on five years ago. “I’m really excited for these Games. I think the extra year really did us some good,” said Bishop-Nriagu, whose finish in Rio was the best by a Canadian in the event since 1928. “It’s going to be my third Olympic Games; I’m really looking forward to getting to Japan and being in the Olympic spirit. I feel like it’s been so long since we’ve been able to experience that, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

For shot putter Tim Nedow, Tokyo will be his second Games experience following a 16th place finish in Rio. The Brockville native hit the Olympic standard in his first competition of the season, with a monstrous throw of 21.11 metres at a competition in Pennsylvania. With COVID-19 restrictions in place in Ontario and the standard in his pocket, Nedow decided to stay state side where he has competed sporadically and been focusing on his preparation for Tokyo. He took a similar approach in the lead up to the 2019 World Championships in Doha, where he placed ninth in the strongest competition in the history of the event.

The youngest member of Team Canada’s track and field team is 400 metre runner Lauren Gale. The 21-year old sprinter will be part of Canada’s 4×400 metre relay squad that was fourth five years ago in Rio and a finalist two years ago at the World Championships. Gale, who has been busy training since culminating her collegiate season at Colorado State University with a personal best 51.96 seconds, is the fourth fastest 400 metre runner in Canada this year, right behind Olympic teammate and Lion alum Alicia Brown, who will be participating in her second Games.

“I am unbelievably excited,” said Gale of her first Olympic team nomination. “It is so awesome to get to represent Canada on the biggest stage and run against my idols. I can’t wait [for the Games]!”

Leading the team will be Head Coach Glenroy Gilbert, who will be making his debut in the lead role. However, Gilbert is no stranger to Olympic competition, having represented Canada as an athlete five times (4 summer, 1 winter) and as relay coach in the previous four Games. In the press release from Athletics Canada, Gilbert praised the athletes for their resilience and unwavering commitment to see their Olympic dreams though under challenging circumstances. “Our team has shown a great deal of determination to get where we are today. When faced with adversity, these athletes rose to the occasion, performed on demand and made the most of every opportunity they were given,” said Gilbert. “Athletics Canada is fielding a strong team, with significant depth in a number of events. In Tokyo, I’m confident that they will be at their very best and will make Canada proud.”

Among Gilbert’s coaching staff is Lions 60 metre hurdles record holder Charles Allen, who will be making his second Olympic coaching appearance.

Competition in Tokyo gets under way the morning of July 30th (July 29th in Ottawa) with Melissa Bishop-Nriagu running in the heats of the 800 metres.

-With files from Athletics Canada

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Lions compete at NCAA Preliminaries; Gale lowers best again

by InternationallinkinbioUniversity

The preliminary rounds of the NCAA outdoor championships took place this past weekend with the top 48 ranked athletes from each of the east and west regions fighting for a top 12 finish to advance to the finals in Eugene next month. Among the more than 3000 athletes competing were three Lions – Lauren Gale and Keira Christie-Galloway in the west and Tommy Nedow in the east.

Gale, a junior sprinter at Colorado State University narrowly missed earning a spot in Eugene despite a personal best 51.96 second clocking in the 400 metres. The performance placed the four-time Mountain West Conference Champion fourth in her heat and 13th overall. Saturday’s performance was just the latest in a string of personal best performances this year, dropping just over sevenths since the start of the season. “I’m very excited to be part of the 51 second club,” said Gale of her performance. “I ran my first 200 well and then just held on and pushed the rest of the way.”

With the new lifetime best performance, Gale ranks third among Canadian women in the 400 metres this year, and leaves her in a prime position to be selected to Canada’s 4×400 metre relay for the Tokyo Olympics. In preparation for a possible Olympic nomination, Gale has decided to forego the Canadian Championships in Montreal, and the required quarantine period, and will stay in Fort Collins, Colorado to continue training with her collegiate coach.

Staying in the west, Keira Christie-Galloway posted her fastest time of the season in the 100 metre hurdles. The Arizona State Sun Devil was clocked in a windy 13.36 seconds to finish fifth in her heat. The performance ranked the Glebe grad 29th overall, improving 19 spots on her seeding.

On the east coast, discus thrower Tommy Nedow could only manage a throw of 47.74 metres. The distance placed Nedow 38th overall.

Outside the collegiate ranks, Stephen Evans ran 1:51.48 for 800 metres to place 19th at the Portland Track Festival. Back in Florida, Farah Jacques ran a seasonal best in the 100 metre hurdles of 13.58 seconds in the heats of the Pure Summer Invitational . She would run 13.67 seconds in the final to place third overall.

Copyright Brian Rouble/Shuttered Moments

Cassidy wraps up Swiss Racing Series

by Internationallinkinbio

For many athletes, the COVID-19 pandemic has had immense implications on their ability to compete and ultimately try and find their way to this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Joshua Cassidy is no exception. While Cassidy had achieved the necessary qualification performance prior to the pandemic, the selection process for the Paralympic Games remains a fluid one, with Athletics Canada not nominating the team until July 21.

The Canadian Paralympic Committee will make the final declaration of team members on July 29th based on quota spots determined by the International Paralympic Committee.

For the three-time Paralympian, his recent trip to Switzerland for the Swiss Racing series marked just his second competitive opportunity since the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships and a chance to improve upon his qualification marks from 2019. While recognizing the risk of travel, Cassidy spoke about not wanting to have any regrets with respect to the Tokyo Games on video posted to Facebook earlier this month. “I obviously can’t just sit back and hope everything works out,” he said in reference to the possibility of his pre-pandemic marks qualifying him to the Games.

Across the set of meets in Nottwil and Arbon, the defending Canadian champion over 800, 1500, and 5000 metres was consistent in his performances – finishing between fifth and tenth in each competition. Cassidy’s fastest performance came in the 800 metres in Arbon last weekend where he rolled to a time of 1:34.83, a half second behind his best ranked performance in the event from 2019. The performance placed him sixth in the near global final like field.

While the weather was on occasion less than ideal for producing fast times, Cassidy was happy to get back on the track and race. “You monitor numbers in training to gauge where you are at, but it doesn’t compare to high level international competition,” he said in a post on Instagram yesterday. “It was good to just be in the pack, sharpen up, see where others are at, have some tactical races.”

While disappointed to not reach the podium on his Swiss Tour, Cassidy focused on the positives. “Definitely good to see where work needs to be done. Looking forward to the summer.”

Copyright Miles Ryan Rowat

Bishop-Nriagu smashes Club record in 1500 metres

by InternationallinkinbioUniversity

Melissa Bishop-Nriagu concluded her US tour of meets on a high note Saturday, running a blazing time of four minutes and 4.42 seconds for 1500 metres at the Sound Running Track Meet in Irvine, California, to smash her personal best and Club record. The time was nearly a full five second improvement on her previous record of 4:09.36, set in 2019 and equaled earlier this spring, as well as being just 22 hundredths off the Olympic standard for the event.

The two time Olympian looked at home in Saturday’s race despite only running the distance six times over her career. As the gun went off, Bishop-Nriagu pushed right to the lead pack as they made their way around the oval at Crean Lutheren High School. With the field hitting the bell lap in about three minutes flat, the Eganville native found herself about eight tenths back in ninth place. However, she put her 800 metre speed to great use, producing the third fastest final lap, 63.51 seconds, to navigate her way up to fifth to finish just behind 2017 steeplechase World Champion, Emma Coburn.

On the collegiate side of things, Lauren Gale continued her winning ways in the 400 metres at the Mountain West Conference Championship. Fresh off Friday night’s Club record at 200 metres, the Colorado State junior put some of that speed to great use in the one lap race, running to a personal best 52.22 seconds. This was Gale’s fourth straight Mountain West title at 400 metres, having swept the indoor and outdoor titles as a freshman, and taking the victory indoors in 2020. Due to COVID-19, the conference did not host an outdoor championship in 2020 or an indoor championship in 2021. In her 200 metre final, Gale produced the third fastest time of her career, 23.77 seconds, to place sixth overall.

In other conference championship action, Tommy Nedow placed fourth in the Southland Conference shot put with a best of 16.16 metres. Nedow will wrap up his championship today with the discus throw, where he enters ranked second. At the PAC-12 Championships in Los Angeles, Keira Christie-Galloway just missed a spot in the 100 metre hurdle final, finishing ninth overall in 13.75 seconds.