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On a warm August afternoon in Calgary, Maxime Cazabon stood at the edge of the high jump apron, the bar set just shy of two metres. At 15 years old, the Garneau student already had multiple national titles to his name, rewritten club age-group records, and emerged as one of the most exciting young talents in the country. But this attempt carried added weight. Only one Lion in history had ever cleared higher at his age.

Cazabon took his approach, rose cleanly off the ground, and floated over 1.96 metres.

It was a moment that captured the essence of the 2025 season for the next generation of Lions athletes: the future didn’t wait its turn.

Emergence, Not Anticipation

While Part One of the Lions’ 2025 Year in Review highlighted performances on the world’s biggest stages, the story beneath it was just as compelling. Across youth and junior competition, Lions athletes didn’t merely develop – they arrived, producing results that reshaped record books and accelerated timelines.

Cazabon was emblematic of that surge. Over the course of the year, he claimed three national championships, established himself as Canada’s top U16 high jumper, became the first Lion his age to surpass the 13-metre barrier in the triple jump, and broke Club speed barriers. By season’s end, his marks put him shoulder to shoulder with marks set by Olympians decades earlier, a rare position for an athlete still early in high school.

Collective Speed, National Impact

If Cazabon’s season illustrated what individual talent can become, the U20 men’s 4×400 metre relay showed what happens when that talent is assembled with intent.

Over the course of 2025, Zachary Jeggo, Ayoub Shangai, Ange-Mathis Kramo, and William Sanders evolved from a promising quartet into one of the country’s most formidable relay units, culminating in a series of record-breaking performances that rewrote club and national benchmarks.

The defining moment came at the Canadian Championships in Ottawa, where the Lions stormed to gold in a stunning 3:10.62, obliterating their own Canadian U20 club record while also surpassing existing U23 and Open Canadian Club records. The performance ranked 25th in the world among U20 relay squads in 2025, a rare distinction for a Canadian club team.

More than the time itself, the relay’s success reflected the depth of the group. Jeggo anchored the quartet as one of the country’s most complete quarter-milers, lowering the Club U20 record to 46.62 and narrowly missing the Canadian high school record in the 400-metre hurdles with a 51.76 earlier in the season. Alongside him, Kramo (47.33) and Shangai (47.39) emerged as two of the world’s top U18 400-metre runners, ranking 41st and 45th globally in their age group. Together, they embodied a central theme of the Lions’ year: the future was arriving in full formation.

Speed Forged Through Pressure

On the track, Jorai Oppong-Nketiah delivered one of the defining performances of the Lions’ 2025 season – not just through speed, but through timing.

Racing in front of a home crowd at the Canadian Championships, she completed the elusive Canadian U20 sprint double, capturing gold in both the 100 and 200 metres. Her winning times,  11.44 and 23.54, ranked 13th and 22nd in the world respectively among U18 athletes – a demonstration of peak performance when it mattered most.

The victories carried historical weight. The 100-metre title marked Oppong-Nketiah’s second consecutive Canadian U20 crown, moving her within one of equalling the national record of three straight titles set by Saskatchewan’s Jenni Hucul. 

Still early in her career, Oppong-Nketiah’s place in that conversation underscores a defining theme of 2025: emerging athletes weren’t just collecting medals – they were positioning themselves within the sport’s historical arc.

Racing Without Fear

If Oppong-Nketiah showcased explosive speed under pressure, Daniel Cova illustrated the same composure at the opposite end of the spectrum.

At the Canadian Championships, Daniel Cova announced himself as a rising force in Canadian middle-distance running, earning U20 silver in the 5,000 metres with a lifetime best 14:24.11 that moved him to second on the club’s all-time U20 list behind Olympian Mike Woods. He returned later in the meet to add bronze in the 1,500 metres, capping a season of rapid progression in which he lowered his personal best by more than 12 seconds to 3:47.95, now seventh all-time among Lions U20 athletes, all with another full year of U20 competition still ahead.

Technical Precision and Rapid Progression

Eli Mordel spent much of 2025 doing what he does best: finding obstacles and clearing them.

The U18 standout captured double bronze indoors at the Canadian U18 Championships before becoming the first U18 Lion to break eight seconds in the 60-metre hurdles. Outdoors, he added another milestone, setting a new Club U18 record of 14.00 seconds in the 110-metre hurdles at the Royal Canadian Legion Championships.

True to form, his range extended beyond the hurdles. Mordel cleared a personal-best 4.30 metres in the pole vault at the Canadian U20 Championships, moving to second on the club’s all-time U18 list – further proof that obstacles were rarely more than temporary inconveniences.

Even as a late addition to the Lions, Anabelle Muir wasted little time making her presence felt. In just her first two competitions, she became the first U16 woman in club history to clear three metres before quickly raising the bar to 3.30 metres, establishing herself as one of Canada’s most promising young vaulters.

Earning the Maple Leaf

Momentum extended beyond the oval as well. Saul Taler delivered one of the Lions’ most significant distance performances of the year, earning selection to Team Canada for the upcoming World Athletics Cross Country Championships.

Competing in the U20 men’s 8km, Taler finished 11th overall on a demanding course, becoming the first Lions male to qualify for a World Cross Country team since Allan Brett in 2006.

From High School to the Next Level

One of the clearest indicators of the Lions’ developmental strength in 2025 was the number of athletes transitioning successfully to the university ranks.

This fall, Daniel Cova began his studies at Iona University, Grace Streek enrolled at Miami University, Zachary Jeggo joined Simon Fraser University, and Quinn Coughlin headed to Colorado State. Closer to home, Kaiya Woodcock embraced a two-sport role at the University of Guelph, Mason Brennan took his talents to the University of Toronto, while Saul Taler, Tessa Knight, and Juliette Murchison attended Queen’s University. Others, including Timeo Atonfo, Kyle London, and Amy Zhang, remained in Ottawa at the University of Ottawa.

Looking ahead, Oppong-Nketiah has committed to the University of Kentucky, while Canadian javelin champion Mallea McMullin plans to attend Clarkson University for hockey, following in footsteps of former Lions shot putter Dominique Thibault.

Momentum, Measured

By the close of 2025, the Ottawa Lions’ future was no longer theoretical.

Young athletes weren’t waiting behind senior success – they were contributing alongside it, rewriting records, stepping onto national podiums, and accelerating toward international relevance.

And if Maxime Cazabon’s clearance in Calgary was any indication, the next era of Ottawa Lions excellence isn’t approaching quietly.

It’s already in the air.

On a warm evening in mid-July, as the sun dipped behind the grandstand at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility, Wendy Alexis stepped onto the track with a quiet confidence that belied the moment she was about to create.

At 70 years old, Alexis had already spent the season rewriting what was possible in masters sprinting. World records had fallen. National titles were to come. And yet, as she settled into the blocks for the women’s 100 metres at the Canadian Track and Field League Final, the sense was not that she was defending history, but chasing it again.

Moments later, she crossed the line in 14.54 seconds, lowering her own W70 world record for the second time that summer.

It was a fitting snapshot of the Ottawa Lions’ 2025 season: history made not once, but repeatedly, and never treated as final.

A Season Defined by Big Stages

From January through September, Lions athletes were at their best when the lights were brightest. World championships, national finals, provincial championships, and hometown  pressure all became proving grounds for an organisation that has long measured success not by isolated performances, but by sustained excellence.

Alexis’ season set the tone early. Indoors, she captured a world title in the W65 60 metres just days before aging into a new category, while also leaving her mark across multiple events, setting a W70 world indoor record in the 200 metres, anchoring Canada’s gold-medal W65 4×200 metre relay to another world record, and adding silver in the mixed 4×200.

Outdoors, she picked up exactly where she left off. Competing in the W70 ranks, Alexis began dismantling the record books once again, lowering the global standard in the 100 metres three times over the course of the summer while continuing to show age is just a number. Her performances weren’t anomalies – they were methodical, repeatable, and rooted in years of consistency.

That same ability to deliver under pressure defined the Lions’ senior elite core throughout the year.

Gale’s Reliability, Trapeau’s Breakthrough

Few athletes embodied composure at the international level like Lauren Gale in 2025. Already a two-time Olympian, Gale’s season revolved around contribution, particularly in relays, where margins are unforgiving and execution matters more than reputation.

At the World Athletics Relay Championships, Gale played a central role in qualifying two Canadian relay squads for the World Championships in Tokyo. On successive days, she delivered sub-51-second splits that moved Canada into qualifying positions, including a national-record performance in the mixed 4×400 metre relay. Four months later, she returned to the global stage in Tokyo, again leading Canada’s efforts and producing the team’s fastest split as the Canadians posted a seasonal best, narrowly missing the final.

If Gale’s year was defined by reliability, Maëliss Trapeau’s was defined by arrival.

In August, racing in front of a home crowd at the Canadian Championships, Trapeau surged past a deep field to claim her first senior national title in the women’s 800 metres. The victory carried historical weight: she became only the second Lion to win the event, following three-time Olympian Melissa Bishop-Nriagu.

Weeks later, Trapeau confirmed that the moment was no outlier. At her first World Athletics Championships, the University of Ottawa graduate raised her game another step, qualifying for the semi-final and eclipsing the 1:59 barrier for the first time to place among the world’s top middle-distance runners and delivering the club’s strongest World Championships result since 2019.

Championships Built on Depth

While individual breakthroughs defined many of the Lions’ biggest moments in 2025, the foundation beneath them was a program deep enough to produce those performances repeatedly. That depth translated into team success at the Ontario Championships, where the club captured its 60th provincial team title since 2000, sharing Open honours and winning the U20 championship outright. The achievement reflected balance across the roster, with sprinters, middle-distance runners, jumpers, throwers, and relays all contributing meaningful points.

Senior Performances Under Pressure

The club’s strength at the senior level was perhaps most clearly reflected in the results at the Canadian Championships themselves. Competing in front of a home crowd, the Lions produced their highest national medal total since 2019, collecting eight medals across five days of competition.

That success was led, once again, by the senior women. The Lions’ 4×400 metre relay quartet of Alexandra Telford, Sydney Smith, Maëliss Trapeau, and Lauren Gale delivered a composed, authoritative performance to claim national gold in a seasonal-best 3:38.31, the second-fastest run in Canadian club history, trailing only the Lions’ own 3:35.46 record set in 2022. The victory marked the seventh consecutive national title for our senior women in the event, reinforcing a dynasty built on depth and execution.

Individually, Smith continued to establish herself among the country’s most reliable middle-distance performers. Just weeks after capturing her fourth consecutive Ontario senior 800 metre title, a feat unmatched by any woman in club history, she delivered her highest-ever finish at the national championships, placing fifth in front of the home crowd.

The championships also featured one of the meet’s most rewarding comeback stories. After missing the entire 2024 season due to injury, Alexandra Telford returned to the national stage in peak form, running a seasonal best 59.86 seconds to claim bronze in the women’s 400 metre hurdles. The medal marked her first individual national podium finish, adding to a résumé that already included seven national relay medals.

On the international stage, David Moulongou delivered when it mattered most. At the FISU World University Games, he posted a personal best of 52.24 in the 400 metre hurdles heats before leading Canada’s relay pool with the team’s fastest split as they finished sixth in the 4×400 final. He carried that momentum forward, anchoring the Lions men to national bronze in the relay before dropping a flat 400 best of 47.69 seconds, another marker of a season defined by measurable progression.

Field Events Claim Their Place

The Lions’ 2025 success was not confined to the oval.

In the throwing circle, Jessica Gyamfi authored one of the most important seasons in the history of the University of Ottawa program. She medalled at both the OUA and U SPORTS Championships, becoming the first woman in Gee-Gee history to earn a national field-event medal. Her performances carried her onto Team Canada and Team Ontario rosters, extending a tradition of excellence established by the women who came before her and reinforcing the program’s recent strength in the throws.

Connor Fraser added to the narrative with multiple silver medals on the national level in the discus, continuing a streak of podium finishes that placed him among the most consistent throwers in the country.

That success extended to the next generation of senior throwers as well. First-year senior Liam Davis qualified for two events at the U SPORTS Championships, reached the national final in both the shot put and hammer throw, and posted a personal-best 50.69 metres in the hammer at the Canada Summer Games to move to fourth all-time in club history. He closed the year by setting a new Club U23 record in the 35lb weight throw (18.17m), breaking a mark that had stood since 1991.

Legacy Moments, Reinforced

The year also served as a reminder of the club’s lineage.

Hall of Fame inductions for Tim Nedow (DePaul University), Melissa Bishop-Nriagu (Athletics Ontario), and Sultana Frizell (Perth and District) tied the present to the past, not as nostalgia, but as context. The standards being set in 2025 were built on decades of excellence, now carried forward by a new generation.

The Measure of the Year

With the year in its closing days, we look back at what the Lions have accomplished – world records, national titles, international medals, and historic firsts. But perhaps the clearest measure of 2025 is not what was won, but how often it was repeated.

From Wendy Alexis lowering her own world record again and again, to our women’s relay team living atop the National podium, the Lions didn’t chase moments.They set standards.

Part Two of the Ottawa Lions’ 2025 Year in Review, focused on the next wave of talent, record-breaking youth performances, and the foundation being built for the future, will be published tomorrow.