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Senechal-Becker ascends national podium

by linkinbioNationalUniversity

Despite a new personal best and school record of 2.17 metres, it was clear University of Ottawa Gee-Gees high jumper Thomas Senechal-Becker was left yearning for gold following the OUA Championships. However, at the USports Championships in Saskatoon this past weekend the second year student got exactly what he was yearning for – a national title. 

The road to the top of the podium did not go nearly as smoothly as originally envisioned as Senechal-Becker came down with what he believes was a severe stomach flu three days before Friday night’s high jump final. The ailment forced Senechal-Becker to alter his game day routines to conserve energy, and thankfully making first attempt clearances on all of his heights helped as he made it over 2.14 metres to take top spot. The performance ranks as his second best in a Gee-Gees uniform.

Garnering her first USports medal was Vanessa Lu Langley. The third year chemical engineering student at McGill University ran third leg on the Martlet’s 4×200 metre team as they finished second in a time of 1:41.47. It was the first nationals medal in the event for the Montreal based school

Elsewhere on the track, David Adeleye found himself just off the podium in the 60 metre hurdles. The third year student at the University of Toronto left a trail of barriers in his pathway as he finished fourth in a time of 8.18 seconds. Leewinchell Jean, competing for the Windsor Lancers, just missed out on a spot in the final – finishing 10th in a time of 8.33 seconds. 

Competing in one of the most gruelling events of the weekend, Audrey Goddard placed seventh in the five event pentathlon with a score of 3458 points. The OUA Rookie of the Year was the highest finishing first year student in the event. 

The weekend ended on a high note for Carleton’s Adam Nuraddeen in the triple jump. Qualifying by virtue of his victory at the RSEQ Championships, Nuraddeen entered Saturday’s event as the lowest seed with a best performance of 13.61 metres. However, the fourth year psychology student popped a massive 29 centimetre personal best to break the sand at 13.90 metres. The jump would push the Ravens record holder to a new school record and an eighth place finish in his first USports Championship. 

Other results for Lions athletes from the weekend included:

Gillian Porter and Elizabeth Vroom (Queen’s) 4x800m – 9:11.40 9th

Katie Manor (uOttawa) 60m – 7.66 11th

David Moulongou, Fabrice Nonez,Thomas Kukla-Colby, Lucas Zanetti (uOttawa) 4x400m – 3:23.39 10th

Katie Manor, Doyin Ogunremi, Brooklyn McCormick, Kennedy Banton-Lindsay (uOttawa) 4x400m – 3:56.37 12th

For full results from the USports Championship, visit our results page.

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Nuraddeen’s gold leads five medal haul for Ravens at RSEQ Championship

by linkinbioUniversity

Eight years. That was the length of time between competitions in a Lions uniform for Adam Nuraddeen. The fourth year psychology student at Carleton University returned to the sport in earnest last summer, competing in the annual Twilight Series of meets before donning the black singlet of the Ravens this past fall. In the time since, he has re-written the school record book in the triple jump and last Friday, he jumped his way to an RSEQ Conference championship and a spot in the national university championships. 

In Friday’s competition, Nuraddeen led the Ravens to a 1-3 finish in the triple jump – the first time it’s happened in school history. Although falling short of his one week old school record, the Glebe Collegiate graduate’s leap of 13.31 metres was good enough to best the rest of the field by more than a metre and earn himself an automatic bid into the USports Championship next week as the conference champion. 

Joining Nuraddeen on the podium Friday was teammate Samuel Chilima, who placed third. The first year student extended his personal best by more than a quarter of a metre to land out at 12.06 metres.

The men’s triple jump medals were part of a four medal haul for the Ravens on day one of the Championship.

Getting it done in the field was another first year student, Connor Fraser, in the men’s shot put. Fraser, heaved the 16 pound shot put out to a personal best 14.43 metres to take home the bronze. Fraser’s effort fell just short of the Raven’s record of 14.55 set by last year’sRSEQ silver medalist Alec Jeffrey.

Rounding out day one was a bronze medal effort in the 4×200 metres by the team of Michael Pinnock, Samuel Chilima, Kanique Thomas, and Lachlan Mahan. The quartet got the stick around to finish in a time of 1 minute and 36.10 seconds, just ahead of the University of Sherbrooke. 

The only medal on day two for the Ravens came in the very first event as first year student Kendal Williams took home the bronze in the women’s weight throw on her birthday. Williams’ best throw of the day measured 10.58 metres.

In addition to the Ravens’ medal haul, Lion Vanessa Lu Langley picked up a silver and bronze. Running on the McGill 4×200 metre relay team on Friday, Lu Langley helped the Martlets to a bronze medal before running a personal best of 9.09 seconds the next morning in the 60 metre hurdles to claim silver. It was Lu Langley’s second straight RSEQ silver in the hurdles.

For complete results from the RSEQ Championship: https://ottawalions.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023_RSEQ_Track_Results.pdf

For updated Ravens rankings, visit: https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings

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Senechal-Becker shines at OUA Championship with yet another Gee-Gees record

by linkinbioUniversity

It was a high jump battle for the ages Saturday afternoon in Windsor. With the 4×4 relays wrapped up on the track, the focus turned to the infield of the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse where the University of Ottawa’s Thomas Senechal-Becker and Toronto’s Aiden Grout put on what could be considered the greatest OUA Championship battle of the century. Unfortunately for Senechal-Becker, not even a third school record in as many weeks was good to secure the gold medal. 

Despite a miss at his opening height, Senechal-Becker’s first attempt clearance at 2.05 metres put the second year health sciences student in the competition’s driver’s seat. With a virtually clean sheet, Thomas would ride the lead right through a new lifetime best clearance of 2.17 metres on his first try. It was at this point things got interesting as Grout, still in second, passed to 2.20 metres for a shot to repeat as OUA champion. 

Despite some strong attempts at 2.20, Senechal-Becker could only watch as Grout pulled out a third attempt clearance for a new lifetime best of his own as the men re-took their same spots on the medal stand from the year before. 

The next highest finish for the Gee-Gees also came from a second year student – Vienna Courteau. Competing in just her second pentathlon, Courteau was firing on all cylinders as she strung together five fine performances, led by an eight centimetre personal best in the high jump, to score a personal best 3226 points and finish fourth overall. 

Just one rung up on the pentathlon leader board was fellow Lion Audrey Goddard, competing for Western University. The first year student recorded a lifetime best of 3564 points on her way to bronze as she secured her spot in the upcoming USports Championship in Saskatoon in just under two weeks. 

In Friday’s 4×800 relay, Lions Gillian Porter and Elizabeth Vroom ran the final two legs for Queen’s University to help propel the Gaels to bronze. Porter took the stick in fifth place and proceeded to run the fastest 800 metres of her life to move Queen’s to fourth before Vroom followed suit with a similar performance to narrowly pass McMaster and find a way on to the podium. 

The pair followed up their relay podium with a pair of personal bests in Saturday’s 1500 metre final. Vroom covered the seven and a half laps in 4 minutes and 35.31 seconds on her way to a fifth place finish. Porter was 13th in 4:42.18.

In the men’s 60 metre hurdles, Club U23 record holder David Adeleye just missed out on the podium. Running for the University of Toronto, the third year human kinetics student ran the third fastest time of his life, 7.97 seconds, to place fourth – just four hundredths off the podium. 

Other notable finishes from the weekend included:

Brianna Asiamah (4th – Shot Put)
Katie Manor (7th – 60m)
Jackson Colquhoun (7th – Triple Jump)
Doyin Ogunremi (8th – 300m)
David Moulongou (8th – 600m)
Katie Manor, Brooklyn McCormik, Kennedy Banton-Lindsay, Doyin Ogunremi (7th – 4x200m)
Katie Manor, Brooklyn McCormik, Kennedy Banton-Lindsay, Doyin Ogunremi (8th – 4x400m)
Fabrice Nonez, Thomas Kukla-Colby, Lucas Zanetti, David Moulongou (8th – 4x400m)

OTTAWA - July 14, 2021: Kimberley Howitt competing at Ottawa Summer Twilight #11 at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility.

Masters athletes take home 14 medals from Canadian Championship

by linkinbioNational

The indoor season came to a close yesterday for masters athletes across the country with the conclusion of the two day Canadian Championships at York University. Before all was said and done on the track and in the field, Lions athletes walked away with a total of 14 medals including six gold.

Leading the way was Stan Seitz and his double gold performance in the men’s 75 and over high jump and pole vault. Seitz equalled his Ontario M75 record in the high jump with his clearance of 1.25 metres on Sunday. On Saturday, Seitz brought his career total of national indoor pole vault titles to an even five as he vaulted up and over 2.30 metres to win by nearly a metre. 

Kimberley Howitt, who was the Club’s top masters athlete in 2022, picked up a resounding victory in the W35 800 metre event. Howitt’s time of 2 minutes and 30.47 seconds nearly 21 seconds ahead of the second place finisher from Nova Scotia. Howitt also added a silver in the 400m. 

Howitt’s victory at 800 metres was part of a three gold medal haul in the event with Fritzlor Auguste and Michael Conway each taking top spot in the M30 and M35 categories respectively. Fritzor also added a silver in the 1500 metres, while Conway picked up a silver at 400 metres.

The final victory from the weekend came from the second youngest masters competitor from the Club, Jay Sneddon. The 30-year-old produced a 9 minutes and 43.52 second effort to take top spot in the 3000 metres. Younger teammate Sam Shi was second in 9:45.20.

It took one of the world’s fastest masters runners to defeat Wendy Alexis in the 50 and 60 metre events on the weekend. Alexis, a 25-time Canadian Masters champion indoors and out, took silver in times of 7.89 and 9.25 seconds respectively behind her best friend and world record holder Karla del Grande. 

Also reaching the podium in Toronto were Gilles Frenette and Mike McInerney. Frenette won a silver in the M45 800 metres while McInerney finished second in the M55 3000 metres.

Full results are available at: https://ottawalions.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023_CMA_Indoor_Results.pdf

(Canton, United States---03 December 2022) Thomas Senechal-Becker competing in the 2022 St Lawrence University Saints Holiday Relays. Photograph Copyright 2022 Miles Ryan / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Records set at Ravens Last Chance

by linkinbioUniversity

It’s all in the title. The Ravens Last Chance Meet Saturday at the Dome @ Louis-Riel was a final opportunity for university athletes to improve their position ahead of next weekend’s conference championships. For a number of our varsity athletes it was an opportunity well used as 41 new personal bests were achieved – including a new high jump record for the Gee-Gee’s Thomas Senechal-Becker. 

Coming off a new school record the week before, Senechal-Becker was looking for a couple more centimetres ahead of the Ontario University Athletics Championship heading into Saturday’s competition and he did not disappoint. The second year health sciences student had already upped the record with a third attempt clearance at 2.10 metres when he upped the ante by raising the bar to 2.15. 

Following a narrow miss on his first attempt, Senechal-Becker could be seen seeking out Head Coach Richard Johnston. While the rationale wasn’t clear at the moment, as soon as he stepped back onto the apron to attempt his second jump it was all quite evident. The Canada Games silver medalist removed his Gee-Gee split shorts to jump only in his half length tights. 

The shorts were all the drag that appeared to be holding him back as he sprung up over the bar that stood more than seven feet in height and returned to the mat with cheers of exuberance ringing throughout the south end of the facility. With his new school record, Thomas now sits second in the USports rankings, one centimetre behind the University of Toronto’s Aidan Grout. 

A trio of Gee-Gee relay teams also showed they were rounding in to form ahead of the championship season – recording seasonal bests on Saturday. The biggest changes came in the 4×400 metre relays with both the men and women dropping well over three seconds off their previous bests. 

The men’s team of Fabrice Nonez, Thomas Kukla-Colby, Lucas Zanetti, and David Moulongou dropped four and a half seconds off their season’s best as they took second spot in a time of 3:19.15. The mark was the fastest by a Gee-Gees team since the 2014 USports Championship. 

On the women’s side, Katie Manor, Doyin Ogunremi, Brooklyn McCormik, and Kennedy Banton-Lindsay set a new meet record with their winning time of 3 minutes and 54.50 seconds. The quartet’s time should be fast enough to put them in the fastest section for the OUA championships. 

On the Ravens side, a pair of records were set by Laura Cross and Adam Nuradeen. A first year Biochemistry student, Cross broke the school record in the women’s 600 metres with her time of 1 minute and 39.61 seconds. The previous record of 1:40.48 had been set by Miryam Yakub Aga in 2018. For Mr. Nuradeen, it was his second record in as many weeks as the triple jumper added 19 centimetres to his previous best to land at 13.61 metres on Saturday. 

Both varsity programs return to action on Friday in their respective OUA and RSEQ Championships. 

For updated rankings, please visit the following links:

Lions Rankings – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings

Gee Gee Rankings – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/uottawatf_rankings

Ravens Rankings – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings

OTTAWA - July 14, 2021: Stephen Evans competing at Ottawa Summer Twilight #11 at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility.

Evans leads record breaking showing for Lions in Boston

by linkinbioUniversity

The Track and Tennis Center on the campus of Boston University has become synonymous with fast running and breaking records. Living up to the moniker, the venue was the site of 20 new lifetime bests by Club athletes this past weekend at the annual Valentine Invitational. 

Headlining the list of performances was Stephen Evans as he ran his way into the record books with a new Club standard in the 1000 metres. The 26 year old Evans finished second in Saturday’s race in a time of 2 minutes and 21.39 seconds, more than a full second ahead of the previous Club best set by Mohamed Souleiman in 2014. Evans had narrowly missed the record by 0.13 seconds last month at McGill, when he won in 2:22.59.

Elizabeth Vroom ran her way to ninth on the Club’s all-time mile list Friday night as the first year Queen’s University student won her heat in a time of 4 minutes and 53.30 seconds. Vroom’s performance also ranks as the third fastest U20 performance at the distance for the Lions. 

Also in the mile, the University of Ottawa’s Nina Gunther continued her string of personal bests by running 4:56.54 – a near 20 second lifetime best. Gunther’s time moved her ahead of former USports medallist Madison Clarke and into second on the Gee-Gees all-time list. 

On the men’s side, Kevin Robertson improved his time in the mile with a 4:06.28 effort, while André Alie-Lamarche trimmed nearly six seconds off his previous best, running 4:15.14 to set a new Gee-Gee’s record.

The high jump produced another Gee-Gee record as second year student Thomas Senechal-Becker cleared 2.09 metres in a jump off to win in Boston. His clearance added one centimetre to the previous record set by the late Steve Nkusi in 2016. Senechal-Becker is currently ranked second within USports.

A final school record came from Carleton’s Adam Nuraddeen who bettered his own mark in the triple jump. The fourth-year psychology student bounded out to 13.42 metres to place 10th overall. 

(Canton, United States---03 December 2022) Sydney Smith competing in the 2022 St Lawrence University Saints Holiday Relays. Photograph Copyright 2022 Miles Ryan / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Fast times in Boston; Masters rake in medals at provincial championship

by linkinbioProvincialUniversity

Just two weeks removed from the second fastest 1000 metre performance in Club history, Stephen Evans returned to his favourite indoor venue to lay down his fastest indoor 800 metre time ever. Evans took top spot at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational on the notoriously fast Boston University track in a blistering time of 1 minute and 48.31 seconds.  

It was a bit of a come from behind effort for Evans who spent the first three laps of the 200 metre track back in fourth place. Entering the bell lap, the University of Ottawa graduate was able to maintain his pace over the final 200 metres and turn an eight tenths of a second deficit into a nearly two tenths of a second margin of victory.

Like Evans, Sydney Smith also produced an indoor career best 800 as she took third in her heat with a time of 2 minutes and 6.59 seconds. The performance ranks third for Smith regardless of venue and was good enough for 13th place overall in the field of 66.

At the Jud Logan Giver Open in Ashland, Ohio, Leewinchell Jean gave’r as he ran his way to a personal best of 8.22 seconds in the 60 metre hurdles to place fourth in the final. With the performance, the University of Windsor student sits in ninth place on the Club’s U23 rankings and 12th overall. Jean also posted an indoor best of 50.15 seconds in the 400 metres to place 16th. 

The York Open in Toronto featured three Lions in combined events action. In the women’s pentathlon, Audrey Goddard (Western) placed second with a score of 3379 points while Charlotte Murchison (York) scored a personal best of 2804 points for fifth. Murchison’s score moves her to eighth on the Club’s U20 list. 

On the men’s side, Leo Wallner appeared poised to set a new personal best in the heptathlon before he was forced to pull out during the final event – the 1000 metres. Before withdrawing, the first year Western University student did manage a new best of 3.70 metres in the pole vault.

Finally, the weekend wrapped up with the Ontario Masters Indoor Championships where Lions athletes captured a total eight medals including six gold. The ageless leaper, Stan Seitz picked up gold and silver respectively in the M75 pole vault and high jump. The medals bump up Stan’s career take from the Championship to 12. 

The middle distance crew put on an impressive performance as well, pulling in four golds at 800 metres followed by a gold and silver at 1500. The 800 metre victors were Fritzlor Auguste (M30), Michael Conway (M35), Gilles Frenette (M45), and Kimberley Howitt (W35). At 1500 metres, Jay Sneddon (M30) won in his masters debut, while Mike McInerney took silver in the M55 race.

To view updated Club rankings and medal totals, visit https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/

Toronto, ON -- 10 August 2018: Canadian head coach Glenroy Gilbert at the 2018 North America, Central America, and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) Track and Field Championships held at Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images).

Gilbert and U18 XC girls recognized as best in city

by ClublinkinbioLocal

When Glenroy Gilbert stepped off the track for the final time as an athlete he knew he didn’t want to stray too far from the sport that took him from the sand pits of Laurentian High School to the top of the Olympic podium. Less than a year later, Gilbert was back in the sport as a coach. In the 20 years that have followed, the man affectionately known as “G” has again risen to the top of his craft. On Wednesday night, he was once again recognized as Ottawa’s Male Coach of the Year – the fifth time he has been bestowed the honour.

It was a banner year for Gilbert in 2022. The national team head coach led Canada to its highest ever finish at the World Athletics Championship, a tie for sixth with China. However, in the eyes of most, Gilbert’s major success will be as the leader the men’s relay program and the image of Andre DeGrasse crossing the finish line of the 4×100 in Eugene, arms fully stretched out in celebration, as Canada claimed its first global title in the event since 1997. Coincidentally, Gilbert was a member of that team too. 

With his fifth Coach of the Year Honour, Gilbert inches closer to famed Carleton basketball Coach Dave Smart’s record of six. 

After reaching the top of the podium at the Canadian Cross Country Championships last November, the Lions U18 Girls were named Ottawa’s Female Team of the Year. It is the second straight year the team has been honoured at the Ottawa Sport Awards. 

Led by scorers Amelia Van Brabant, Joceyln Giannotti, Louise Stonham, and Quinn Coughlin the U18 girls team enjoyed a 30 point cushion over second place South Simcoe Dufferin. The victory was the Club’s 12th national team title and the team became only the second in Club history to win back-to-back championships.

On an individual level, Lauren Gale was recognized as the City’s top performer in Athletics. The 23-year old had the best season of her career as she set three new Canadian Records indoors and was a first team All-American in the 400 metres after her eighth place finish. She continued the strong running outdoors, setting new Club records at 200 and 400 metres and helping the Lions set a new Canadian Club Record in the 4×400 metre relay. Her season culminated at the World Championships where she became the first Club member to ever compete in two individual events at a global championship.

A triple gold medalist at the Canadian Championships, Bianca Borgella was recognized as Ottawa’s top Parasport athlete. The University of Ottawa student set national records in both the T13 100 and 400 metres enroute to gold medals at the national championships before anchoring the Lions U20 4×100 team to gold. Borgella finished the 2022 season ranked third and seventh globally in the 100 and 400 metre events respectively. 

Saul Taler was recognized as the city’s top cross country runner for 2022. The grade 10 Glebe student had a impressive string of performances last fall, beginning with a gold medal at the OFSAA championships – the first by a Lions since 2017. He followed that performance up with a silver medal at the Ontario U16 Championships where he also led the Lions to a team title. He rounded out the season with a top-50 finish in the U18 boys race at the Canadian Championships.

Matteo Padoin-Castillo was recognized as a member of Immaculata High School’s OFSAA winning junior boy’s cross country team. Matteo finished 54th overall in the race and was Immaculata’s third scorer. 

Former Lions, Mike Evelyn (bobsleigh) and Mirela Rahneva (skeleton) were also recognized Wednesday as the top athletes in their respective sports at the Ottawa Sport Awards. Both athletes were members of Team Canada at the Beijing ‘22 Olympic Winter Games last February. 

(Ottawa, Canada---08 June 2022) David Adeleye racing in the 110m hurdles competing at Ottawa Summer Twilight Series Meet Three. 2022 Copyright Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images

Adeleye’s U23 Club record highlights 17 medal haul at Kane Invite

by linkinbioUniversity

Along David Adeleye’s relatively short career as hurdler, his progression has been marked by continuous small improvements – the kind more likely to be found in the hundredths rather than the tenths of a second. The third year student at the University of Toronto knocked a few more hundredths of a second off his 60 metre hurdles best Saturday afternoon on his way to setting a new Club Under-23 record . 

Racing at the Kane Invitational in Ithaca, New York, Adeleye bested the field with a 7.91 second clocking to edge past the previous standard of 7.92 seconds set by Sekou Kaba in 2012 when he won the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now USports) Championship. Now sitting third on the Club’s all-time list, David will undoubtedly turn his attention towards Kaba’s 7.77 second best and Charles Allen’s Club record of 7.70.

Adeleye’s victory was 1 of 17 medals on the day for the Lions family, including four other golds. Gee-Gee athletes were responsible for the remaining victories.

David Moulongou took top spot in the 600 metres with a time of 1:22.85. The second year student was joined on the podium by teammate Lucas Zanetti who finished a half second back to take third. 

High jumper Thomas Senechal-Becker continued his strong season, picking up his third victory. The Canada Games silver medalist cleared 2.06 metres for the second week in a row as he was unchallenged by second place finisher Smith Charles of Cornell who finished 14 centimetres back. 

It was a sweep for both the men’s and women’s 4×400 metre relays teams on Saturday. The men’s quartet of Fabrice Nonez, Thomas Kukla-Colby, Lucas Zanetti, and David Moulongou enjoyed a comfortable 14 second margin of victory, finishing in a time of 3:26.17 – their second fastest time of the season.  The women’s team of Sia Mahajan, Brooklyn McCormik, Doyin Oguremi, and Kennedy Banton-Lindsay enjoyed a similar dominating performance as the won in 4:04.44 – exactly 13 seconds ahead of second place Binghamton. 

Below is a full list of the remaining medalists from the Kane Invitational.

Silver

Paulina Procyk (UofT) – 200m (26.04)
Doyin Ogunemi – 300m (40.60)
Brooklyn McCormik – 600m (1:38.50 PB)
Vienna Courteau – Long Jump (5.41m PB)

Bronze

Laura Cross – 600m (1:42.62 PB)
Pippa Norman – 3000m (10:49.22 PB)
Paulina Procyk (UofT) – 60m Hurdles (8.81)
Elizabeth Moreland – High Jump (1.48m)
Ella Lalonde – High Jump (1.48m)
Michael Pinnock – 300m (36.21)
Jackson Colquhoun – Triple Jump (13.57m PB)

(Ottawa, Canada---26 November 2022) Jay Sneddon (1586-- MAXCXS) competing in the 2022 Athletics Canada Cross Country Championships. Photograph Copyright 2022 Miles Ryan / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Ottawa to host 2023 Canadian Cross Country Championships

by linkinbioNational

Athletics Canada is pleased to announce that the 2023 Canadian Cross-Country Championships, known in short as ACXC, will take place at Mooney’s Bay and Terry Fox Athletic Facility, in Ottawa, for the second consecutive year.

The Athletics Canada Competition Committee has decided to return to Mooney’s Bay’s hilly course, following an athlete, coach and volunteer survey that gave the 2022 event a ranking of 8.8/10 for its level of participation, organization, scheduling and course quality. This year’s edition will take place on Saturday, November 25.

“After an outstanding 2022 Championships held under clear skies and relatively warm temperatures, we are thrilled to return to Ottawa and the course at Mooney’s Bay,” said Chris Winter, Director of Domestic Programs and Safe Sport at Athletics Canada. “We heard it loud and clear from our athletes, coaches, and spectators that the course, organization, atmosphere, and competition in Ottawa was first rate and we are eager to build on that success to deliver an even better Championships in 2023.”

Once again this year, the Ottawa Lions and Run Ottawa will work in tandem with Athletics Canada to host the event. Ian Fraser, executive director at Run Ottawa, said his team was proud of last year’s championship weekend, but is preparing to outdo itself this November.

“We listened to participant feedback from 2021 (when we hosted in Wesley Clover Parks) and made the 2022 experience memorable for them,” he said. “We are very excited about the Championships returning to Ottawa for 2023 and we’re looking forward to building on last year’s success!”

The news was also well-received by Ottawa Tourism, as President and CEO Michael Crockatt said the organization was honoured to once again welcome the country’s largest cross-country championship.

“As the capital city of Canada, Ottawa is proud to once again play host to such a prestigious event and to showcase our city’s world-class facilities, vibrant culture, and warm hospitality,” he said. “We look forward to welcoming back Canada’s most talented runners and their families, and we are confident that they will have an unforgettable experience and will leave with unforgettable memories.”

The 2023 Championships will be the third of five Canadian Championships to be held in a six year span with the Lions set to also host the 2025 and 2026 Canadian Track and Field Championships at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility.