Farah Jacques

Jacques and Bishop-Nriagu win in Montréal

by linkinbioNational

The Lions wrapped up their two stop Montreal tour last night with La Classique d’Athlétisme de Montréal, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze event, with a pair of victories from Farah Jacques and Melissa Bishop-Nriagu.

Jacques, running under much better conditions than the rain storm that fell on the national final three days earlier, bested Mariam Abdul-Rashid in the tightest finish of the evening. The pair of runners were awarded equal times of 13.28 seconds, but it was Jacques who was able to out lean Abdul-Rashid, by just eight thousandths of a second, for gold.

Since returning from an early season competition tour in the United States, Jacques has seen a continual improvement in her results on the track including last night’s performance, which was the fourth fastest of her career. The 2016 Olympic finalist will be waiting this week to see if her efforts were strong enough to earn her another spot on Canada’s 4×100 metre relay team in Tokyo.

For Melissa Bishop-Nriagu, her spot in Tokyo is secure, and she has been using the recent series of domestic competitions to work on racing tactics in her run for an Olympic medal. The tactics were working well Tuesday night as she was victorious over an almost identical field to the OIympic Trials in a time of two minutes and 1.69 seconds.

Next up for the decorated runner will be the Monaco Diamond League event on July 9th followed by the London Diamond League four days later. The first round of the 800 metres in Tokyo goes in one month from today.

In the men’s 1500 metres, Robert Mitchell set a new lifetime best of 3:59.08 to finish eighth in the open section. This was Mitchell’s first time cracking four minutes in the 1500. The open women’s 400 metres was won by Alexandra Telford in 57.51 seconds. It was the second fastest time of Telford’s life in her first race since February 2020.

Rounding out the Lions contingent was Stephen Evans who placed sixth in the elite section of the men’s 800 metres with a time of one minute and 52.37 seconds.

Next up for the Lions is the kick off of the 34th annual Summer Twilight Series, which begin tonight at Terry Fox. For more information on upcoming twilight meets, please check out the schedule.

Presidents_corner_banner

President’s Corner for June 2021 – with Jennifer Dumoulin

by adminlinkinbio

It’s that time again! Hi everyone – and welcome to the Monthly President’s Corner!

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.

So, what happened at our last Board meeting?

The Ottawa Lions Board of Directors met on Monday, June 7th, 2021 over Zoom following the exciting Tokyo Qualifier series meet hosted by the Club on June 4th and 5th at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility.

Our Executive Director, Richard Johnston, highlighted the key health and safety measures put in place that ensured a safe and successful High Performance meet over the weekend. Having hosted this High Performance meet bodes well for the club to host Twilight Meets again later this summer. We are also looking forward to running summer camps again at Terry Fox. While the number of registrants this year has already exceeded that of last year, there is still room available to register!

Richard also announced that the Club’s Youth Ambassador Program has its first official hire, who will reach out to community groups in low SES neighbourhoods across the city. We hope to facilitate partnerships and provide philanthropic initiatives to serve those facing barriers to participate in our sport.

President Jennifer Dumoulin, along with a few other members of the board, attended the High Performance meet as Safety Officers, and we look forward to coming out to help again at Twilight meets when they resume this summer. Jenn also discussed the City of Ottawa’s Parks and Recreation Facilities Master Plan. The City is holding consultations on the plan, and while the sport of track and field is presently excluded from the plan, Jenn hopes to see what can be done for track and field in the city.

Our Charity Champions – James and Jen P. – have been researching various options to facilitate the process for making donations to the Club. They will be presenting their recommendations soon. The Board 101 Champions – Dave and Jenn D. – are looking into creating videos for internal training and for recruiting.

With Ontario now in Step 1 of its Roadmap to Reopen, we are excited for the facility to reopen to our members and for programs to start again soon.

That’s it for this month! We look forward to seeing our athletes around the track soon!

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)

Copyright Bertrand Brault/Athletics Canada

Jacques hurdles to bronze medal at Olympic Trials

by linkinbioNational

It wasn’t an ideal scene for a national final, but for Farah Jacques and her fellow competitors, they still managed to put on a show. With a significant amount of rain beating down on the Claude Robillard Stadium and the Canadian Olympic Trials, organizers took the decision to push the start of the 100 metre hurdles a few hours in hopes of gaining some reprieve from Mother Nature. Despite the prayers to the weather gods, and some fervent squeegeeing it was still a wet and raining race.

However, the rain drops didn’t slow the field down as Farah Jacques sped her way to a bronze medal and the second fastest time of her season (13.44 w+2.3).  Behind gold and silver medalists Michelle Harrison and Mariam Abdul-Rashid, Jacques was in a constant battle over all ten barriers with Astrid Nyame. In the end it was Jacques faster feet off the final hurdle and a well time lean that brought her home the bronze, just four hundredths ahead of Nyame. Jacques had previously won hurdles bronze in 2018.

Across the pond at the French Olympic trials, Maeliss Trapeau posted a seventh place finish in the 800 metre event. The recent University of Ottawa graduate had been struggling with a nagging injury most of the spring, only opening her season two weeks ago. However, a strong push in the homestretch of the semi-final earned her the last spot in the final, which she put to good use with a seasonal best effort of 2:05.26. The time was also the fourth fastest of her career.

With the conclusion of the Olympic Trials, next up for the Lions is Tuesday’s Montreal Track Classic that should see six Lions in action including Trials medalists Farah Jacques and Melissa Bishop-Nriagu.

Final decisions on members of Canada’s Olympic Team heading to Tokyo will be out later this week and we will have a run down of Lions heading to Japan when that is announced.

Bishop-Nriagu_Melissa_800m_02_20210625_medium

Bishop-Nriagu takes silver in Olympic Trials 800

by linkinbioNational

The 2021 Trials in Montreal kicked off Friday night with a silver medal at 800 metres for Melissa Bishop-Nriagu.The two-time Olympian hit the Olympic standard of 1:59.50 dead on Friday night at the Claude-Robillard Stadium, marking the third time she’s made the mark this season.

From the moment the gun went off, Bishop-Nriagu made a bee line for the front of the pack and comfortably lead the field through splits of 57 seconds and 1:28 for 400 and 600 metres respectively. The four-time Canadian champion entered the home stretch with her sights on making it five golds, but British Columbia’s Lindsay Butterworth, who had spent most of the race in third, was able to find another gear in the final 100 and was able to pass Bishop-Nriagu to take gold.

“I think it was good. The conditions really cleared up for us, and I already have Olympic standard, so this is an opportunity for me to get out and try something new and we did,” said Bishop-Nriagu of her race and tactics.

Next up in her Olympic preparation, Melissa will head to Europe to race in the Monaco and London Diamond League events before leaving for Tokyo. Bishop-Nriagu set her Canadian record of 1:57.01 in Monaco in 2017.

In the men’s 800 metres, the results largely played out according to the pre-race seeds, with Stephen Evans running 1:50.23 to finish fourth. It was the highest finish at the Canadian Championships for the 24 year old.

You can find full race videos of both 800 metre finals on our Instagram.

The Trials continue today with Farah Jacques contesting the 100 metre hurdles at 1pm. Catch all the action live on AthleticsCanada.tv and use the code: BellTrials

(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.