(Ottawa, Canada---February 1997) Stephen Evans of the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club running to win running in the 600m at the Carleton Ravens U-Sport Last Chance Qualifier in the The Dome at Lois Riel, Ottawa. 2020 Copyright Photo Sean W Burges / Mundo Sport Images.

Olympic Trials kick off with Bishop-Nriagu and Evans in 800m

by linkinbioNationalUncategorized

The Canadian Championships and Olympic Trials kick off today at Claude-Robillard Stadium in Montreal. The Lions will be represented by its smallest delegation at nationals since the Club’s earliest years with just three athletes set to compete.

Participation at the championship has been limited to in scope to adhere to public health guidelines, with nearly every event offered capping participation at eight athletes. In addition, the event’s program has been limited to events with Olympic or Paralympic qualification implications.

Up first on Friday is Melissa Bishop-Nriagu as she looks to cement her position on her third successive Olympic team at 800 metres. The former World medalist has already surpassed the Olympic standard of 1:59.50 this season with a 1:58.62 clocking last month in California. In addition to her early season success at 800, the Eganville native has also shown some strength with her new Club record of 4:04.42 at 1500 metres. While she enters as the favourite, it is expected Bishop-Nriagu will be pressed by defending Canadian champion Maddie Kelly and Lindsey Butterworth, who are both within a second of dipping under the Olympic standard.

Stephen Evans will follow in the men’s 800 metres where he enters the event ranked fourth and is looking for his first national medal outdoors. With the lock down in Ottawa hampering access to training facilities and competition, the former USports champion spent most of his spring training and competing in the United States. Evans is undoubtedly looking to build off his seasonal best of 1:49.47 earlier this month at an event in Nashville.

The women’s 800 metres is scheduled for 7pm with the men’s race following at 7:30pm. You can watch both events live on AthleticsCanada.tv using the CODE: BellTrials

Terry Fox Finish Line

Summer programs to resume June 14th

by adminCOVIDlinkinbio

Dear members.

Almost a year ago to the day we were first able to stretch our legs and start re-opening programs at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility. I am overjoyed to announce that with Ontario’s re-opening Roadmap kicking in yesterday we will be opening registration pages for all summer programs at noon today! Program spaces will be limited and those who had registered for the “paused” spring programs have be notified first and given the option to save their spot for summer programs or request a refund that will open spaces for new members. Please see program notes below for further details.

Summer programs will officially kick off on Monday, June 14th following the safety measures implemented between the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club, City of Ottawa and Ottawa Public Health. Our updated safety protocol has been updated on our club website here.

All athletes, coaches and staff should be familiar with the safety protocols and time lines set in place. Everyone will continue to complete the mandatory daily health questionnaire before their practice. Respecting the municipal and facility safety measures such as physical distancing (3m), wearing masks when and where they are required, cleaning equipment and respecting the comfort of your fellow Ottawa Lions. Please notify club management if there are any concerns regarding the health or well being of yourself or your child.

Admittedly, the spring months have stretched our patience and I respect that many may still be hesitant to rejoin our club programs in full until vaccination numbers improve and case numbers are down. We are not in the clear and that we must continue to navigate the challenges COVID-19 present during the re-opening and vaccination phase of this global pandemic. We are incredibly proud of what was accomplished, but we must not drop our guard.

Thank you to everyone for your support over the past few months. While Step 1 of the Provincial Roadmap keeps things pretty limited, we can all look forward to possibly extending time slots, combining training groups and the return of our Summer Twilight Series at Step 2!

Youth Evening Programs
Monday: 4:30-5:30pm, 5:45pm-6:45pm
Tuesday: 5:00-6:00pm (XC/Endurance)
Wednesday: 4:30pm-5:30pm
Thursday: 5:00-6:00pm (XC/Endurance)
Saturday: 8:00-9:00am, 9:15-10:15am

Foundation
Our spring Foundation registration was at capacity and may remain full even after this announcement.
Monday: 4:00-5:00pm, 5:00-6:00pm (North Field)
Tuesday: 4:00-5:00pm, 5:00-6:00pm (XC/Endurance)
Wednesday: 4:00-5:00pm
Thursday:  5:00-6:00pm (North Field/Park)
Saturday: 8:00-9:00am (XC/Endurance), 9:00-10:00am

Aspire
Our spring Aspire registration was at capacity and may remain full even after this announcement.
Monday: 4:00-5:00pm, 5:00-6:00pm (North Field), 5:00-6:30pm (XC/Endurance)
Wednesday: 4:00-5:00pm
Thursday: 5:00-6:30pm (XC/Endurance), 6:00-7:30pm (North Field/Park)
Saturday: 8:00-9:00am (XC/Endurance), 10:00-11:00am

Competitive/Masters
During Step 1 – 1hr time slots (contact rjohnston@ottawalions.com for scheduling)

Monday 5:00-9:00pm
Tuesday 4:00-6:00pm (North Field)
Wednesday 5:00-9:00pm
Thursday 4:00-6:00pm (North Field)
Saturday 9am-12:00pm

All competitive members will be able to book time on their own (outside our exclusive hours) through the City of Ottawa booking link that will be activated on Saturday here under “schedules”.

Booking time outside our hours is included in your Lions membership.

Summer Camps
Our summer camps are still going full steam ahead. With nearly 400 campers already registered there are a couple morning sessions that are completely sold out. Morning session throughout August are also filling up quickly but we have plenty of space in our afternoon camps.
Summer camp details can be found here.

Members who registered for Spring & Summer together can contact info@ottawalions.com for partial refund.
Please note that NO registration will be completed via phone this weekend! All registration is to be completed online via Trackie.

Sincerely,

Richard Johnston

(Ottawa, Canada---05 June 2021) Farah Jacques racing in the 100m hurdles at the Ottawa High Performance Weekend, held at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility. Photograph copyright 2021 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images

Lions kick off domestic season with Tokyo Qualifier Series event

by linkinbioLocalNational

After nearly 10 months away from competition Lions athletes were thrilled to be back on the track and in the field this past weekend at the Ottawa High Performance Weekend. They were joined by more than 70 other athletes from Ontario, Quebec, and as far away as Alberta, all in search for a mark to get them to the Olympic Trials in Montreal later this month and to the Games in Tokyo later this summer.

In total, 10 Lions competed in the two day event, highlighted by Farah Jacques’ victory in the 100 metre hurdles on Saturday evening. A finalist in the 4×100 metre relay in Rio, Jacques has spent the past three seasons fortifying her hurdling technique in hopes of returning to the Games in Tokyo this summer. She moved closer to that goal with a seasonal best time of 13.56 seconds in Saturday’s heats. Her time of 13.66 in the final was more than half a second faster than second place.

The men’s 400 metre hurdles was the only event to feature a pair of Lions competing – Leewinchell Jean and Saj Alhaddad. While Alhaddad, the defending Canadian silver medalist, held the upper hand heading into the homestretch, Jean produced a surge over the final 100 metres to over take his teammate as well as Royal City TFC’s Matthew MacNeil for second in 54.29. The time was the 2019 Canadian U20 Champion’s best season opener ever. Alhhaddad placed fourth in 54.53.

Sticking with the hurdles, 19 year old David Adeleye produced a time of 15.21 seconds in the 110 metre event in his first go at the international height. The performance ranks Adeleye 10th in Club history among U23’s.

Never one to shy away from a come back, Jason Dunkerley returned to the track Friday night in the 1500 metres with guide Alex Behre. The five-time Paralympic medalist who had stepped away from competitive running in the fall of 2018, returned with a 4:27.24 effort. The performance was just outside Athletics Canada’s minimum entry standard of 4:26.64, but to return to the Games, Dunkerley will likely need to better the AC Top-8 standard of 4:16.20 to be considered for selection.

Lions athletes will be back in action this weekend at the Johnny Loaring Classic in Windsor.

For results and photos from this past weekend’s event, please visit ottawalions.com/results/2021-results.

Gale Header2

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.

Copyright Sean Burges/Mundo Sport Images

Gale sets 200 metre record at Mountain West Championships

by linkinbioUniversity

Conference championship weekend south of the border has gotten off to a blazing start for Lauren Gale. The Colorado State junior laid down a blistering time of 23.15 seconds to take second place in her 200 metre semi-final. The time eclipses Farah Jacques Club record of 23.21 seconds set five years ago and also betters Ashley Purnell’s Club Under 23 mark of 23.28 seconds set at the 2002 World U20 Championships. Gale’s also broke the Colorado State record with her performance.

Running out of lane six, in the second of three semi-final heats, Gale shot out of the blocks, overtaking the two runners to her outside runners by the time they hit 60 metres. As she entered the straight-away, University of Nevada Las Vegas senior Cassondra Hall had a couple metres on Gale. Hall would hold to victory with Gale narrowing the gap as the pair hit the line.

In Gale’s other semi-final run, the 400 metres, the contest wasn’t remotely as close. As a three time conference champion indoors and outdoors as well as holding the top time in the conference, Gale’s victory was not a surprise. However, the authority with which she dominated the race was impressive. Running in lane seven, she made up the stagger within 15 steps and was nearly 15 metres clear of the field at the 150 metre mark. After hitting the 200 metre mark in 24.6 seconds, she would cross the line in 52.73, more than two and a half seconds up on second place.

Gale will have a busy final day with the finals of both the 200 (11:45pm eastern) and 400 (10:10pm eastern), but she is also slated to run on both the 4×100 and 4×400 metre relays for the Rams. You can watch all the action live on Mountain West TV.

At the Southland Conference Championships in Humble, Texas Tommy Nedow posted a top five performance in the hammer throw to garner four valuable points for his Southeastern Louisiana Lions. The Brockville native whipped the 16 pound hammer out to 54.61 metres Friday, just shy of his personal best set two weeks ago. Nedow will be back in action Saturday when he competes in the shot put where he will no doubt be looking repeat his victory from the indoor championship. He’ll wrap up his weekend with the discus throw Sunday.

Thursday night at the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in Raleigh, North Carolina, Syracuse sophomore Kevin Robertson ran a personal best 3:50.60 to finish 27th overall. Robertson, who focused on the steeplechase in high school, has made great strides in the 1500 metres this season, dropping nearly six seconds from his best.

 

Presidents_corner_banner

President’s Corner for May 2021 – with Jennifer Dumoulin

by adminlinkinbio

Welcome to the monthly President’s Corner update!

The monthly President’s Corner is an opportunity to see what’s happening within the Club, to hear about what our Board of Directors is working on, and to learn about what we discuss at our monthly meetings.

What happened at our last Board meeting?

The Ottawa Lions Board of Directors met on Monday, May 3rd, 2021 over Zoom. Richard Johnston kicked off the meeting by discussing the possibility of hosting meets if restrictions are eased later this month. We are hoping for good news and are eager to see some High Performance and Twilight meets at Terry Fox this summer and early fall!

Richard and Jessica have also been hard at work applying to various grants. We are happy to report that we have grants coming in from Young Canada Works, Canada Summer Jobs, and the Renewable Recreation Grant, among others.

Jennifer D. also announced that our Club has signed a one-year contract with uOttawa Varsity Athletics for the upcoming 2021-2022 season. This marks an important step in reinforcing our ongoing relationship with the University of Ottawa.

What are our Champions up to?

We presented our new strategic initiative last month and our Champions are already off to an exciting start.

  • Working with Richard, Andrew and Kirk – our Diversity and Inclusion Champions – have discussed the possibility of involvement with the North American Indigenous Games.
  • The Alumni Relations Champions, Noah and Zeena, are looking forward to reconnecting with former Lions and hearing how they may want to get more involved with our Club.

All of our Champions are looking forward to continuing working with you to achieve our Club’s vision to be a leader in the community as well as in the realm of athletics and to be the most inclusive, comprehensive and successful Track & Field club in Canada.

See you next month!

We hope everyone is continuing to stay safe and healthy. Check out our club’s Strava feed to see how our members are staying active and keeping up with their workouts!

Jennifer Dumoulin

President, Board of Directors
Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club
president@ottawalions.com

(prepared jointly with Zeena Rashid, Secretary, Ottawa Lions Board of Directors)

(Montreal, Canada---28 July 1995) From right to left, Sonya Paquette, Lesley Tashlin, and Keturah Anderson at the 1995 Canadian National Track and Field Championships. Photo 1995 Copyright Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images.

Students pushing to honour Lesley Tashlin in Haliburton

by linkinbioLocalNational

The word “champion” can mean different things, depending on context. Lesley Tashlin earned the title by virtue of her winning the 100-metre hurdlers at the 1995 Canadian Track & Field Championships. Now a new generation has championed a new campaign to recognize her, and her brother’s, career achievements.

The students at J. Douglas Hodgson Elementary School in Haliburton, Ont., are used to short trivia and facts with their morning announcements. On one occasion, those announcements touched on the athletic achievements of 1996 Olympic hurdler Lesley Tashlin and her younger brother, CFL defensive back Taly Williams. When the school’s Grade 7/8 French Immersion class were assigned to write a biography, one student chose the sporty siblings.

After researching their careers, the students could not believe that they hadn’t heard of two such accomplished local athletes and came up with a plan. They have started a campaign to have Tashlin and Williams represented with murals on the walls of the A.J. LaRue Arena in Haliburton, which already hosts murals of five other local sport stars.

“I’m naturally quiet, so this is a lot for me to take in,” said Tashlin. “At first, I was like ‘Go for it!’ and it has become so much more than I expected. The kids are great. If it was me, I might have given up the fight at the first sign of trouble, so their dedication is impressive.”

Continue read at Athletics.ca

(Montreal, Canada---26 July 2019) Melissa Bishop-Nriagu running in the 800m semi-finals at 2019 Canadian Track and Field Championships at the Claude Robillard Sports Centre in Montreal. 2019 Copyright Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images.

Bishop-Nriagu hits standard; Nedow sets new discus best

by InternationallinkinbioNationalUniversity

A big weekend on the track and in the field produced a number of marks to celebrate for the Lions, highlighted by Melissa Bishop-Nriagu hitting the Olympic standard in the 800 metres and Tommy Nedow adding nearly two metres to his discus best.

After a disappointing race in Oregon two weeks prior, Melissa Bishop-Nriagu stepped onto the track in Chula Vista, California Sunday aiming to do one thing that had eluded her since stepping away three years ago to give birth to daughter Corinne – break two minutes for 800 metres. Beneath the two minute barrier was also the Olympic standard of 1:59.50 – a necessary step on the path to returning to the Olympic final and running for a medal. Bishop-Nriagu smashed both barriers, stopping the clock in a time of one minute and 59.04 seconds on her way to victory.

Pacing Sunday night’s race was 2019 World 1500 metre finalist Nikki Hiltz, who carried the pack through 600 metres in a speedy 1:27. From there, Bishop-Nriagu told CBC Sports, “it was about focusing on finishing strong and getting to that line in under 1:59.50.” Despite bettering the standard, the Eganville native’s ticket to Tokyo hasn’t been printed yet. “We still have a (potential) National Championship coming up where I will need to qualify. The depth in our women’s 800m in Canada is as strong as ever and we can only send three spots. This is not a given, this has to be worked for still,” she told followers on Instagram.
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Competing in a final tune up meet ahead of the Southland Conference Championships, scheduled for May 14-16, Tommy Nedow unleashed some big throws to move him to the top of the conference rankings. The Brockville native had a big break through in his primary event, the discus, whirling the two kilogram disc out to 53.74 metres to place second. Nedow’s throw added nearly two metres to his previous best set in 2019. Nedow also chalked up a personal best in the hammer throw, adding four metres to his previous best to finish third with 54.87 metres. He rounded out the competition of a 16.26 metre heave to place third in the shot put.

At the University of Kansas, Lauren Gale continued her winning ways in the 400 metres, crossing in 53.84 seconds. The Colorado State University junior battled some unusually strong winds, registering peaks of 8.1 metres per second in the adjacent triple jump, to stay undefeated in the one lap race this outdoor season.  She will look to continue the streak at the Mountain West Championships May 14-16, where she will also be looking to pick up her fourth conference 400 metre title in as many tries.

In other competitions, Stephen Evans placed fifth over 800 metres at the Kansas City Qualifier in 1:50.11. Down in Louisiana, Farah Jacques took ninth in the 100 metres hurdles at the LSU Alumni Invite with a 13.90 second clocking. Out west, fellow hurdler Keira Christie-Galloway finished fourth at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Arizona with a time of 13.75 seconds.