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Lions athletes win 11 medals at Hal Brown Last Chance

by linkinbioUniversity

Back on track in Toronto last night, the Gee-Gee and Ravens athletes had a fruitful visit to the provincial capital, capturing 11 medals including 3 gold.

André Alie-Lamarche was one of the three victors, taking top spot in the 1500 metres in a time of 3:59.54. Alie-Lamarche, who only ran his first metric mile since before the onset of the pandemic last week, admitted to feeling kind of nervous in returning to the event that is synonymous with tactical running. “However, under the coaching of Helen [Cooper] and great training partners, I feel like I’m getting back in the groove,” explains Alie-Lamarche who is now victorious in back-to-back races.

Another back-to-back winner was Alexandra Telford, taking the women’s 300 metres in a time of 39.67 seconds. Coming off a new Carleton University record last weekend, Telford was aiming for the USports standard of 39.23 seconds on the flat track at the University of Toronto, but was happy she’ll get a bump in the rankings due to the conversion.

The final gold medal performance came in the women’s 4×800 metres, where veteran Sydney Smith anchored the Gee Gee women to a run of nine minutes and 43.22 seconds. Smith also posted a top three finish in the 600 metres, where she ran a personal best time of 1:32.01 – her second PB in as many weeks. The graduate student’s performance will be converted to 1:30.91 based on running on the flat track, which will place her sixth in the current USports rankings.

Other medalists from Friday’s competition include:

SILVER

Men’s 300m – David Moulongou 36.79 (Gee-Gees)
Men’s 3000m- Jackson Roy 9:02.41 (Gee-Gees)
Women’s 4x200m – Emma Martins, Doyin Ogunremi, Coralie Ostertag, Kelly Brennan 1:52.27 (Gee-Gees)

BRONZE

Women’s 60m – Emma Martins 8.04 (Gee-Gees)
Women’s 300m – Doyin Ogunremi 42.31 (Gee-Gees)
Women’s 1000m – Hannah Frazer 3:04.88 (Gee-Gees)
Men’s 4x800m – André Alie-Lamarche, Jackson Roy, David Moulongou, Fabrice Nonez 8:37.86 (Gee-Gees)

For full results, click here.

Copyright Sean Burges/Mundo Sport Images

Gale sets Canadian record at 200m

by linkinbioUniversity

There is a new name in the Canadian record books this week and she goes by the name of Lauren Gale. However, it’s just not in the event you’re thinking it is. 

The 22 year old Gale sped to a third place finish in Friday night’s Don Kirby 200 metre event with blistering 23.08 second clocking. The previous standard of 23.32 by Angela Bailey was the second oldest mark on the Canadian record books – set 16 years before Gale’s birth in January 1984. Gale’s time has also moved her to 11th on the NCAA ranking list where the top-16 receive an invitation to the national meet scheduled for early March.

Originally, Gale had envisioned it would be Jillian Richardson’s national indoor 400 metre record of 51.69 she would be trying to better heading into the competition in New Mexico. The Colorado State senior had dipped under Richardson’s mark the week prior, but was not eligible for the record due to her performance taking place on an oversized 300 metre track. However, the morning after the 200, Gale and her coach made the decision to sit out the 400 due to some tightness in her hamstring. 

Gale will have this weekend off as she prepares for next weekend’s Mountain West Conference Championships back in Albuquerque. She will be looking for her third successive 400 metre conference title.

Staying south of the border, Stephen Evans may just move to Boston after he set his third straight indoor personal best at 800 metres at the Boston University Valentine Invite. Evans placed fourth among the field of more than two hundred runners with his 1:48.65 clocking. Prior to 2022, Evan’s best 800 metre performance indoors was a run of one minute and 49.24 seconds back in 2020 – also set at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center. 

Evans wasn’t the only Lion dropping PB’s in the Massachusetts’ capital. Syracuse junior Kevin Robertson may have finished 44th in the 3000 metres Saturday night, but his time of 8:08.97 was nearly 23 seconds faster than he had ever covered the distance before. It was Robertson’s third personal best in successive weeks, which also saw the 20-year-old trim more than nine seconds off his mile best across two efforts. 

The third year student explains the improvement has been part of continual progression since recovering from Lyme disease contracted during the summer of 2020, but acknowledged he’s made some changes away from the track as well. “In contrast to my freshman year, I’ve been handling my life outside of running better to help me be less stressed and more confident which I feel has made a difference for me,” explained Robertson. 

Closer to home the varsity programs at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University returned to action for the first time in 2022 at the York Open. Combined, athletes representing the two schools took home five victories over the two day competition.

Among the victors was Alexandra Telford, who topped the women’s 300 metre field with a personal best and Carleton record  time of 39.25 seconds. The architecture graduate student had set the previous record of 41.58 back in 2018 while she was completing her undergraduate degree. With the record breaking performance, Telford currently sits sixth in the national USports rankings. 

Telford, who also set a personal best in the 60 metres over the weekend, was pleased to see the progress she’s noticed in practice translate into some early season success in competition. “It’s good motivation to see how much faster we can get in the next few meets,” said Telford of her preparation for the RSEQ and Usports Championships coming up in the next two months. 

University of Ottawa first year student Katie Manor also found herself in the USports top ten after the first weekend of competition. The École secondaire catholique Paul-Desmarais graduate laid down a personal best time of 7.66 seconds in the 60 metre preliminaries last Friday, which currently ranks her tenth nationally. She would place fifth, just behind Telford, in the final with a time of 7.75 seconds. 

Other winners from the York Open included Sydney Smith, who topped the women’s 600m field with a 1:32.58 clocking. Yasser Riad won the men’s 1000 metres in 2:35.36 while Gee-Gees teammate Andre Alie-Lamarche finished three seconds ahead of the men’s 1500 metre field in 4:06.11. The final victory came from the field, where third year University of Ottawa student Jackson Colquhoun hopped, skipped, and jumped his way to 13.22 metres in the triple jump. 



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Evans wins in Boston; Robertson sets new best in New York

by linkinbioUniversity

It was a little quieter on the competition front with only three Lions in action this first weekend of February. However, while the numbers were small, the performances were quite large.

After such a good experience in Boston last weekend, Stephen Evans stuck around for a second go producing a new indoor best at 800 metres and walking away with the victory at the Scarlett and White Invitational. The 25-year-old led the field from start to finish, crossing the line in a time of one minute and 48.72 seconds. Evans’ previous indoor best was set last weekend at 1:49.09 and he holds an outdoor best of 1:48.28.

Also in Boston, Amelia Van Brabant made her season debut with a 5:02.87 effort in the mile. The grade 11 student placed 29th in the university dominated field of 83.

New York City was the scene of the another personal best time in the mile for Kevin Robertson.  The Syracuse junior placed fifth in the college section with a time of 4:06.50, shaving nearly four seconds of his previous best set last weekend in a win at Cornell. While Robertson had indicated he was hoping for a sub-4:05 effort at The Armory, he can take some solace in the fact he has now dropped nearly nine seconds off his personal best the last two weeks and has moved to 13th all-time in Club history.

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Good luck to the Lions in Beijing

by Internationallinkinbio

With the opening of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing this morning, the Ottawa Lions will be cheering extra hard for a quartet of familiar faces to the Club. The group includes bobsledders Cody Sorensen and Mike Evelyn, skeleton racer Mirela Rahneva, and curler Rachel Homan.

Beijing will mark the second Games for former hurdler Cody Sorensen, having competed eight years prior in Sochi. The 35-year old left the sport completely after the Games in Russia, and was working as director of mergers and acquisitions with Welch Capital Partners here in Ottawa before taking some time off this fall to return to the World Cup circuit as part of driver Chris Spring’s sled.

Prior to joining the Canadian bobsled team, Sorensen was an accomplished hurdler with the Club, winning multiple medals at the provincial and national level, including take home a  national university title in the 60 metre hurdles while studying at the University of Guelph.

Sorensen will be joined in Spring’s sled by Mike Evelyn, who is making his Olympic debut. Prior to finding bobsleigh via RBC’s Training Ground competition, Evelyn skated for the hockey team at Dalhousie University, where he earned his degree in electrical engineering. While hockey was his passion growing up, Evelyn was a member of the Club during the 2010 season where he was a provincial finalist in the discus at the under-18 level.

For skeleton racer Mirela Rahneva, this will be her second Games after finishing 12th fourth years ago in Korea. She is coming off a pair of top-5 finishes on the World Cup circuit, including a bronze at her most recent event in St. Moritz. Rahneva’s roots in sport came were formed in the Club. As an 11-year-old, she’d bike 10+ km each way from home near the Nepean Sportsplex to Terry Fox to attend our annual summer camp. According to meet results her focus at the time was in the middle distance events rather than her current specialty in the speed/power domain.

Rachel Homan’s is synonymous with the sport of curling, but few likely knew she interned with the Club during her fourth year of human kinetics studies at the University of Ottawa. Homan, who competed in the women’s curling competition in 2018, is paired up with fellow Ottawa native John Morris in the mixed doubles event this time around, which started play on Wednesday. The pair is already 3-1 in early round robin play and sits in a tie for second.

Also in Beijing is former sprinter/bobsledder Oluseyi Smith. While not competing on the field of play, Smith is competing for a spot on the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission, which will be voted on by athletes throughout the Games.

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Record breaking weekend for Lions athletes

by linkinbioUniversity

With the largest number of competitors so far in 2022, the Lions closed out January with a bang. By the time the weekend had closed, a new Club record and University of Ottawa record were in the books as well as a number two all-time effort.

Sydney Smith set the tone for the weekend when she posted a speedy 1:13.36 clocking for 500 metres in her first race in nearly two years. The University of Ottawa graduate student was more excited than surprised at the new school record flashing on the scoreboard, besting the previous mark of 1:13.91 set by Charlotte Gardner in 2014.

“Although it’s been so long since I last competed, the last couple of years have been full of hard work, training, and just all around continued focus,” said Smith of her race. “I’m super excited about the record – it feels motivating especially because this was our season opener, so I’m really looking forward to see what else we can work towards!”

A day later, another woman would re-write the record book, with Olympian Lauren Gale taking top spot at the Colorado Invitational 400 metres in a new Club record 51.53 seconds. Gale’s time bested the previous standard of 51.70 set by Esther Akinsulie in 2009 and now gives her every 400 metre record in the Club from U16 on up.

“It feels SO AWESOME,” wrote Gale in a message about setting the new record. “The Lions have been one of my biggest supporters throughout literally my entire track career and being able to have my name attached to the Club in this way is awesome.”

Gale, who was a member of Canada’s 4×400 metre relay team in Tokyo last summer admits the title of Olympian has added a little pressure this season, with meet announcers regularly including the title in their introductions. However, the title also leaves her wanting to prove something. “It’s made me want to run faster!”

Faster she has gone, as the Colorado State University senior has been off to a speedy start to this indoor season, which includes a 23.52 clocking at 200 metres. However, she insists her and coach J.J. Riese haven’t made too many adjustments to her training this season. “I think just improving on what we’ve been doing, so like we’ve been working on starts and adjusting more each time or working on lactic and going faster paced each time or lifting the same type of lifts but heavier, it’s been the same style just working harder,” is how Gale described this year’s training.

She will continue to stay the course as she prepares for the Mountain West Conference Championships at the month where she will be looking for her third straight indoor 400 title and qualify for her first NCAA Indoor Championships. She is currently ranked first in the event across the NCAA.

Back in the eastern time zone, Tommy Nedow continued his undefeated season – sweeping both the shot put and weight throw at McNeese State in Louisiana. The Southeastern Louisiana student whirled the 35 pound weight out to 17.90 metres on his second effort of the competition to secure victory. The performance added nearly a metre and a half to his previous best set two weeks earlier and moves Nedow to number two in Club history behind former Canadian hammer throw champion James Fahie. Nedow also comfortably took top spot in the shot put with his throw of 16.66 metres – more than two metres further than second place.

Syracuse junior Kevin Robertson also found a spot on the “PB train” this weekend with his 4:10.15 effort to win the mile at the Kane Invitational hosted by Cornell University. Robertson led from the gun, constantly pushing the pace against what he deemed a weaker field and slower, flat track at Barton Hall. As the laps accumulated, so did the distance between him and the rest of the field – two seconds, four seconds, four seconds, eight seconds, eight seconds, ten seconds, and then finally twelve seconds for each of the final two laps.

Robertson will be back in the mile this coming weekend at The Armory in New York where he’s looking to ride the train again. “With more competition and a faster track, I think I’ll be able to run a lot faster,” he said. “Maybe under 4:05.”

The weekend culminated back where it started, in Boston. The Nor-Easter which blew through town and dropped more than two feet of snow in the Boston region pushed the second day of the competition to Sunday. However, the delay in running didn’t seem to affect Stephen Evans too much. Competiting in his speciality, the 800 metres, set a new indoor best of 1:49.09 to place third overall.

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Annual General Meeting to be held February 7th

by adminlinkinbio

The Ottawa Lions will host their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the evening of Monday, February 7, 2022, at 8:30pm EST. Due to COVID-19, the meeting will take place virtually on Zoom. All members are invited to attend.

REGISTRATION LINK:

http://www.trackiereg.com/2022-ottlagm

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email. Meeting details will be sent out the morning of February 7th, 2022. 

Members interested in putting their name forward to sit on the Board of Directors may do so in advance as well as during the meeting. There are currently three (3) vacant positions on the Board of Directors.

For further information, questions may be directed to Jennifer Dumoulin, President, Board of Directors, Ottawa Lions Track & Field Club via email at president@ottawalions.com.

 

 

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Gale continues winning ways in 2022

by linkinbioUniversity

Only three full weeks in to the new year and it appears sprinter Lauren Gale is looking to make 2022 a year to remember. The fourth year student at Colorado State University won her second meet in as many weeks, topping the 400 metre field at the Air Force Academy Invitational with a time of 52.98 seconds.

Saturday victory was the fourth consecutive for Gale at the annual event in Colorado Springs. Each successive year has seemingly seen her margin of victory grow over the field from less than a second in her freshman year to 2.71 seconds yesterday.

Gale currently sits in 14th and 12th on the early season NCAA rankings for the 200 and 400 metres respectively. She and her CSU Rams teammates return to action next week at the Colorado Invitational in Boulder.

Elsewhere in the NCAA it was a quiet week for Lions members with Kevin Robertson (Syracuse), Shona McCulloch (Syracuse), Joe Fast (Princeton), Sharelle Samuel (Harvard), Tommy Nedow (Southeastern Louisiana) and Keira Christie-Galloway (Arizona State) all not competing.

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Nedow and Gale kick off 2022 season with NCAA victories

by InternationallinkinbioUniversity

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

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

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

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

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By the numbers: The best of 2021

by linkinbioStatistics

As we prepare to say goodbye to 2021, we take one final pause to look back at the top performances of the year gone by. While the Canada had next to no indoor season in ’21, the performances outdoor more than made up for it as Lions athletes prepared for the Tokyo Olympics and captured the Ontario U20 team title for the first time since 2014. To identify the best performances of the year, the IAAF Scoring Tables for Athletics were utilized identify the top 20 performances for both men and women.

Making her third Olympic team in 2021, Melissa Bishop-Nriagu once again topped the female charts with her 1 minutes and 58.36 second clocking at a Sunset Tour event in early July. The victory in the California capital was worth an impressive 1192 points, 22 better than the second best performance of the year – also belonging to Bishop-Nriagu in the form of a new Club record at 1500m.

Rounding out the top three performances on the women’s side was fellow Olympian Lauren Gale. The Colorado State University senior’s 51.96 second run at the NCAA West Preliminary helped secure her spot on the Canadian 4×400 metre relay team and was worth 1128 points. Gale also racked up top performances in the 60, 100, and 200 metre events.

The third and final Lions Olympian in 2021 was shot putter Tim Nedow, who topped the men’s side yet again. Nedow’s Olympic qualifying performance of 21.11 metres to win an early season meet in Pennsylvania was worth an impressive 1187 points on the IAAF Tables.

Posting the second best performance was the man who posted the second best time in Club history for 800 metres – Stephen Evans. Running at an American Track League event in Memphis, Evans stopped the clock at 1 minute and 48.28 seconds to amass 1076 points. Evans also topped 1000 points for 1000 metres in his recent season opener at the York Lions open back on December 4.

The complete listing of top performances is included below. As we have done previously, athletes could only score once per event.

Women

1. Melissa Bishop-Nriagu, 800m, 1:58.36 – 1192 points
2. Melissa Bishop-Nriagu, 1500m, 4:04.42 – 1170 points
3. Lauren Gale, 400m, 51.96 – 1128 points
4. Lauren Gale, 200m, 23.15 – 1118 points
5. Farah Jacques, 100m Hurdles, 13.28 – 1111 points
6. Keira Christie-Galloway, 60m Hurdles, 8.31i – 1091 points
7. Keira Christie-Galloway, 100m Hurdles, 13.51 – 1082 points
8. Maeliss Trapeau, 800m, 2:04.72 – 1079 points
9. Lauren Gale, 55m, 6.94i – 1067 points
10. Lauren Gale, 100m, 11.67 – 1058 points
11. Farah Jacques, 200m, 24.26 – 1011 points
12. Alexandra Telford, 400m Hurdles, 1:00.35 – 1011 points
13. Farah Jacques, 100m, 11.95 – 1001 points
14. Alexandra Telford, 400m, 55.79 – 984 points
15. Madison Clarke, 800m, 2:10.94 – 975 points
16. Kathryn Manor, 60m, 7.74i – 975 points
17. Devyani Biswal, 100m Hurdles, 14.39 – 969 points
18. Madison Clarke,Helena Jovic,Alexandra Telford,Doyin Ogunremi, 4x400m, 3:52.44 – 957 points
19. Helena Jovic, 400m Hurdles, 1:02.27 – 956 points
20. Doyin Ogunremi, 300m, 40.15 – 949 points

Men

1. Tim Nedow, Shot Put, 21.11 – 1187 points
2. Stephen Evans, 800m, 1:48.28 – 1076 points
3. Phillip Frank, Heptathlon, 5385i – 1008 points
4. Stephen Evans, 1000m, 2:26.09i – 1004 points
5. Leewinchell Jean, 400m Hurdles, 52.86 – 992 points
6. Bertwin Ben-Smith, 100m, 10.73 – 967 points
7. Bertwin Ben-Smith, 200m, 21.80 – 952 points
8. Thomas Nedow, Discus, 53.74 – 945 points
9. Thomas Nedow, Shot Put, 16.93 – 938 points
10. Kevin Robertson, Mile, 4:15.90i – 934 points
11. Phillip Frank, Long Jump, 7.04i – 931 points
12. Luca Nicoletti, 200m, 21.97 – 929 points
12. Owen Day, 800m, 1:55.65i – 922 points
13. David Adeleye, 110m Hurdles, 14.84 – 920 points
14. Saj Al-Haddad, 400m Hurdles, 54.53 – 916 points
15. Bertwin Ben-Smith, 300m, 35.49i – 913 points
16. Stephen Evans, 400m, 49.18 – 907 points
17. Luca Nicoletti,Leewinchell Jean,Fabrice Nonez,David Moulongou, 4x100m, 42.40 – 907 points
18. Owen Day, Mile, 4:18.57i – 902 points
19. Yasser Riad, 1000m, 2:31.26i – 896 points
20. Ryan Thomsen, Decathlon, 6486 – 894 points

Brampton, Ontario ---2017-07-30--- Katie Newlove of Ottawa Lions T.F.C. and Jordyn Bartolomucci of Timmins Porcupine Track & Field compete at the AO BMY Championships in Brampton, Ontario, July 30, 2017. GEOFF ROBINS/ Mundo Sport Images

Cox and Newlove produce top finishes at USports XC Championship

by linkinbioNationalUniversity

The university cross country season concluded Saturday at the 2021 USports Championships hosted by the Laval Rouge et Or in Quebec City. Running on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. The field of nearly 260 athletes included six Lions’ runners.

Will Cox was the top placing Lion, finishing 30th in the men’s race. The Atlantic University Sport bronze medalist completed the eight kilometre course in 25 minutes and 43.7 seconds. His performance helped his Dalhousie Tigers to a seventh place finish and he was named Dalhousie Male Athlete of the Week for his efforts.

Finishing five seconds back of Cox was Robbie Mitchell in 37th. The University of Calgary graduate student helped the Dinos to a ninth place finish.

Adrian Fournier of the University of Ottawa placed 61st overall in a time of 26 minutes and 27.1 seconds. His performance was the highest finish by Gee-Gee male since Alex Berhe’s 58th place finish at the 2016 championships on the same course. Cameron Bruce of Carleton placed 126th.

Second year University of British Columbia student, Katie Newlove produced the top finish on the women’s side, placing 43rd in a time 30 minutes and 49.2 seconds. Newlove and her Thunderbird teammates just missed the podium, finishing five points behind Guelph’s 119 points to place fourth.

Fellow second year runner, Skye Pellerin finished 110th in her first USports Championship. The University of Ottawa Gee-Gee runner crossed the line in 33 minutes and 13.0 seconds.