Posts in category: National

The Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club saved their best for last.

On the final day of the Canadian Track and Field Championships Presented by Bell at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility, the Lions swept the 4×400 metre relays — claiming gold in the U20 men’s, open men’s, and open women’s races. A fourth gold in the open women’s 4×100 metres completed a remarkable Sunday haul of eight relay medals in all.

Leading the charge was the senior women’s relay, which added another chapter to a dynasty now eight Championships strong. Alexandra Telford, Amy Stieh, Sharelle Samuel, and Lauren Gale crossed the line in a scintillating 3:36.39, winning by more than 13 seconds over the entry from Calgary International. Gale, who had already claimed the individual open women’s 400 metres title earlier in the week, anchored in 51.29 seconds — more than two seconds faster than any other single leg in the entire race. The time came within a second of the Club and Canadian Club record of 3:35.46, set at the 2022 Championship in Langley. A second Lions squad of Emily Brennan, Cora McQuinn, Tatiana Pender, and Kathryn Moreland missed silver by just 19 hundredths of a second, taking bronze in 3:50.19.

Next up were the U20 men, who repeated as national champions with the second-fastest performance in Championship history. Ayoub Shangai, Ethan Hood, Ange-Mathis Kramo, and Zachary Jeggo combined for a time of 3:11.78, winning by nearly nine seconds over the University of Toronto Track Club. Kramo posted the fastest split of the group at 46.78 seconds — a remarkable effort given he had already raced the U20 men’s 200 metres final earlier in the day, placing fifth in a career-best 21.08 seconds in slightly windy conditions. A second Lions entry of Taisei Tan, Declan McGinnity, Max Gerundin, and Nathan Cox also made the podium, taking bronze in 3:21.26.

The senior men then completed the 4×400 sweep. Luca Nicoletti, Safwan El Mansari, James Compeau, and David Moulongou crossed in 3:11.38 — the third-fastest time in Club history — to claim the Lions’ first national senior men’s 4×400 title since 2019. Moulongou, fresh off his 400 metres hurdles gold the day prior, sealed the victory with a stunning anchor split of 45.63 seconds.

In the U20 women’s 4×400, the Lions came close but were edged at the line by Laurel Creek, 3:53.11 to 3:54.10, to claim silver. Norah Nitta Mackay delivered the fastest leg of the race at 55.44 seconds for the quartet of Autumn Sakiyama, Shannor Dewar, Nitta Mackay, and Sophia McIntyre. Meanwhile, a second Lions entry of Anabelle Muir, Waverley Lyons, Atalia Williams, and Olivia Daigle-Dasah took bronze in 4:13.85.

To close out the relay programme, the open women’s 4×100 squad of Rose Basu, Danica Mulvihill, Kierra McGillivray, and Amy Zhang rounded out the golden afternoon with a winning time of 49.41 seconds.

Away from the relays, Tatum Olesen competed in her first Canadian championship, placing 10th in the open women’s 1500 metres final in 4:27.91. Grade 10 student Oscar Lorrain also had a day to remember, setting a personal best of 8:54.22 over 3000 metres to finish 23rd in the U20 event.

In the field, Elizabeth Moreland posted a seasonal best of 11.41 metres to place seventh in the open women’s triple jump, while Liam Davis was eighth in the open men’s shot put with a best throw of 14.68 metres.

The Lions will look to build on a landmark week when the Canadian Track and Field Championships return in 2027, with Western University in London, Ontario playing host for a two-year stint.

After two days of rain-soaked competition, sunshine finally found the Terry Fox Athletic Facility on Saturday as Ottawa Lions athletes delivered some of the meet’s most memorable moments on Day 4 of the Canadian Track and Field Championships Presented by Bell.

The afternoon’s defining moment came in the men’s 400 metres hurdles final, where University of Ottawa student David Moulongou edged Vancouver Thunderbirds’ James Kerr at the line to claim his first national title. Moulongou leaned at the tape to win 50.09 to 50.16 in a race that had the crowd on its feet — his roaring contingent of Lions teammates among the loudest voices in the stands.

The result was a revelation for the 23-year-old, who finished fifth in the same event a year ago in a time nearly two and a half seconds slower. It was the second-fastest performance of his career, behind only his club record of 49.92 set just two and a half weeks prior in Guelph. 

After crossing the line, Moulongou was swarmed by teammates before finding his mother along the fence line. The two embraced, and he leaned in close.

“On le fait,” he told her — we did it.

It was enough to draw tears from his mother and those gathered nearby.

In the women’s 800 metres, Maëliss Trapeau came agonisingly close to defending her Canadian title, finishing second to Nicole McKenzie of the Royal City Athletics Club in a race decided by three hundredths of a second. McKenzie crossed in 2:01.92 with Trapeau right behind at 2:01.95.

Trapeau sat just off the lead through a first lap of approximately 59 seconds before finding herself boxed in around the 500-metre mark. As she worked to get free, she made contact with McKenzie and nearly went down. She gathered herself and closed a three-metre gap over the final straight, but ran out of room to reel in a second consecutive national championship.

In the throwing circle, Jessica Gyamfi produced a breakthrough performance to claim bronze in the women’s discus. The recent University of Ottawa nursing graduate improved her personal best by more than two metres with a throw of 46.74 metres — bettering her previous mark of 44.48 on each of her first four attempts before landing the medal-winning effort. It was her first Canadian senior championship medal.

The day’s final podium moment came from Garneau Secondary School Grade 10 student Maxime Cazabon, who earned his fifth national medal and first at the U20 level with a third-place finish in the high jump, clearing 1.96 metres. Cazabon would then go on to produce the second-best triple jump of his career, bounding out to 13.92 metres for place fifth.

On the track, David Adeleye and Taisei Tan both advanced to their respective 110 metres hurdles finals. Tan, competing over the 39-inch barriers in the U20 event, lowered his lifetime best to 14.39 in the semifinal to move to sixth on the Lions’ all-time U20 list, before placing seventh in the final in 14.47. Adeleye reached the open final and finished seventh in 14.49 in a turbulent race — the Western University graduate student clipped nine of ten barriers and barely stayed upright over the penultimate hurdle before easing across the line.

Tatum Olesen advanced to Sunday’s open women’s 1500 metres final by taking the 11th of 12 qualifying spots in 4:22.10. The University of Virginia student, who is the daughter of former Lions distance standout Marc Olesen, will return to the track Sunday for the final.

Three Lions also advanced in the 200 metres with their sights set on Sunday. Rose Basu posted a personal best of 24.91 to earn a spot in the women’s semifinal. Luca Nicoletti qualified for the open men’s semis with a 21.53 effort, while Ayoub Shangai moved through in the U20 men’s section with a time of 21.80.

OTTAWA, Ont. — Rain and wind swept through Terry Fox Athletic Facility again on day three of the Canadian Track and Field Championships Presented by Bell, but the conditions did little to slow the Ottawa Lions, who came away with four medals on the strength of a podium-heavy night in the 400m finals.

Zachary Jeggo set the tone on Friday’s evening session as he upgraded his bronze from a year ago to gold in a time of 47.56 seconds. The Simon Fraser University student has had a year to write home about, setting a Canadian U20 record indoors at 400m, being named to the World Relay Championships team and now national champion. With his win Friday night, Jeggo will now represent Canada at the upcoming World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, later this summer.

Joining Jeggo on the podium was teammate Ange-Mathis Kramo who claimed bronze in 47.80 seconds. Ayoub Shangai placed fourth in 48.68 seconds to produce one of the strongest finishes by any Club at the Championship.

Less than 10 minutes later it was Lauren Gale’s turn to take her spot on top of the podium. The 26-year-old has twice been a runner up at the Canadian Championships, but in front of a very partisan home crowd, the two-time Olympian claimed victory over Edmonton’s Diana Proctor with a time of 51.94 seconds. Similar to Jeggo, Gale’s victory assures her ticket to Glasgow later this summer for the Commonwealth Games. 

Rounding out the evening was Mallea McMullin, who added a bronze medal in the U20 women’s javelin with a best throw of 38.51m. For the 16-year-old, a former Canadian U16 champion, this is her first U20 medal.

In semi-final action on the track, Maëliss Trapeau (800m) and David Moulongou (400m Hurdles) both advanced to their respective finals on Saturday, while Augustine Uche qualified for the U20 men’s 110m hurdle semifinal. In the field, a trio of triple jumpers moved on to Saturday’s final with Elizabeth Moreland, Sarah Ouangre, and Ella-Grace Gilbert all advancing. 

OTTAWA, Ont. — Day two of the Canadian Track and Field Championships presented by Bell may go down in the records books as one of the rainiest on record as more than an inch of rain fell over the Terry Fox Athletic Facility, but it was not enough to dampen the results of Lions athletes as they picked up three medals – their first of the week.

Daniel Cova got the Lions on the board – taking home the silver medal in the U20 Men’s 5000m for the second straight year. The Iona University athlete and eventual winner Brendan Currie of the WinCity Endurance Project broke free of the field by the first kilometre and just kept going. Cova would lose contact with Currie after 2200m, running the remainder of the race largely on his own – finishing in 14:54.38 as strong winds tested the athletes in more ways than one.

Cova wasn’t the only Lion in the field as teammate Charlie Mortimer set a personal best of 15:18.04 for eighth. Saul Taler was 12th and Owen Recoskie 13th.

For the third straight year, Connor Fraser is the second best discus thrower in Canada as he captured a silver medal Thursday night with a throw of 49.73m. Fraser, a Carleton University student, missed the entire collegiate competition season and Thursday’s competition was his first and only competition of the year.  

After a gruelling two days of competition in the decathlon, Kyle London stepped off the track Thursday evening with a bronze medal around his neck. The 18-year-old University of Ottawa student won both the discus and 1500m events on the second day as he racked up a personal best score of 6382 points – less than 50 points shy of Taylor Corney’s U20 Club record set in 2009.

The 400m was the star of the morning session as no fewer than four Lions athletes advanced to Friday night’s 400m finals. Lauren Gale was the top qualifier in the senior women’s 400m, while Zachary Jeggo, Ange-Mathis Kramo and Ayoub Shangai all advanced to the U20 men’s 400m final — the same trio that anchored the Lions’ Canadian club-record 4x400m relay last year.

Maria Okwechime, the 2023 Canadian champion, advanced to the senior women’s long jump final with a leap of 5.89m in qualifying. 

In the middle distance qualifying, Timothy Kelly-MacLean advanced to the U20 men’s 800m semifinals, while Shannon Dewar, Autumn Sakiyama and Ciara Villeneuve all moved through to the women’s 800m semifinals. André Alie-Lamarche and Nico Belan both advanced out of the qualifying rounds in the senior men’s 1500m.

Rounding out the day, Tessa Knight (11:23.79) and Kyra Lauter (11:32.64) each set personal bests in the U20 3000m steeplechase. The pair now rank fifth and sixth, respectively, among Lions U20s in club history.

Results are available at live.athletics.ca