(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/

(Kingston, Canada---13 November 2022) Charlie Mortimer (759 U16B), Noah Smith (774 U16B), Barrett Goold (737 U16B), Saul Taler (781 U16B), Matteo Padoin-Castillo (767 U16B), Dean Kontogiannis (745 U16B), Owen Siderius (773 U16B) racing at the 2022 Athletics Ontario Cross Country Championships held on Fort Henry Hill in Kingston, Ontario. Photograph copyright 2022 Miles Ryan Rowat/ Mundo Sport Images.

Lions win two team titles at Ontario Cross Country Championships

by ClubProvincial

The weather was perfect for the Ontario Cross Country Championships yesterday atop Kingston’s Fort Henry hill as the Lions captured two team titles and an impressive seven individual medals – largest medal haul since 1996 when three team titles and six individual medals were won. 

Winning the only gold medal on the day was one of the youngest competitors – Ronan Lebel. Just eight years old, Lebel ran clear of the U10 field by nearly 10 seconds as he finished the one kilometre loop in 3 minutes and 38.9 seconds. Ronan wasn’t the only Lebel to find himself on the podium as his older brother Kai took home the silver in the U12 category.

A pair of OFSAA medalists added provincial medals to their collection as Saul Taler and Owen Siderius finished second and third respectively in the U16 boys event. Taler led a flurried finish for the second through four spots, completing the four kilometre course in 13 minutes and 7.7 seconds. Four tenths of a second back was Siderius, who narrowly edged Quinte Frontenac’s Jack Gregory by a tenth of a second. 

Combined with Charlie Mortimer (13th) and Noah Smith (19th), the U16 boys team managed a seven point victory over the University of Toronto Track Club. 

Led by Quin Coughlin, the U16 girls also took home a team title from Kingston. Coughlin battled with the lead pack throughout Sunday’s race, but was not able to match the late race surge, finishing 15 seconds off the podium in fourth place. However, a top-ten finish from Evelyn Davies along with a top-15 finish from Julia Van Wesenbeeck helped secure a 14 point victory over the Newmarket Huskies. Ciara Villeneuve was the team’s fourth scorer in 28th. 

Even with three racers among the top-15, the U18 girls were unable to defend their title from 2021 as they finished 11 points back of the University of Toronto Track Club to take the silver. Olivia Baggley was the top-finisher for the team, placing eighth overall on the six kilometre course in 22 minutes and 15.4 seconds. Defending champion Amelia Van Brabant did not compete Sunday as she was resting following an injury at last weekend’s OFSAA Championships.

Also making their way on the podium Sunday was Aria MacDonald in the U20 women’s race. The second year Carleton University student completed the 10 kilometre course in 32:10.9 to win bronze. As well, Fritzlor Auguste and Michael Conway each took second place in the masters M30 and M35 races respectively. 

(York, Canada — 2 June 2022) Saul Taler of Glebe - Ottawa competing in the novice boys 1500m heats at the 2022 OFSAA Ontario High School Track and Field Championships held at the Toronto Track and Field Centre at York University. 2022 Copyright Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images.

Lions bring home hardware from OFSAA XC return

by High SchoolProvincial

Saturday marked the return of the OFSAA Cross Country Championships for Ottawa athletes after a two year hiatus and the performances turned out, did not disappoint. Following the event’s cancellation in 2020 and self-imposed travel restrictions for National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association schools in 2021, Lions athletes returned to the provincial high school championships to take home two individual and two team titles.

A combination of a hilly course at the Dagmar Ski Resort in Uxbridge and unseasonably warm temperatures that climbed toward 20 degrees celsius by mid day pushed the field of  runners to their limits Saturday. However, Glebe’s Sauler Taler was able to rise above it all as he claimed gold in the junior boy’s five kilometre race. 

Holding steady in the lead pack of 5-6 runners through the bulk of the course, Taler found himself clear of the field with about 400 metres to go and didn’t look back. “It was exhilarating,” he recalled to Ottawa Sport Page. “I said to myself: ‘Don’t let someone pass you. I really want to win.’ So, I kept pushing. ‘You’re going to win OFSAA, keep pushing, keep pushing,’ I said.” 

With the victory, Taler became just the 14th Lions runner to claim individual OFSAA Cross Country gold. 

For Peak Academy’s Grace Streek, her pathway to Dragmar was a little more involved than her competitors, which made her bronze medal in the junior girls race all the more sweet. Before Streek could even take to the starting line in the NCSSAA East Conference Championship, she had to win an appeal of the OFSAA transfer policy before she was allowed to compete.

In Uxbridge, Grace was the leader for the bulk of the five kilometre race, before suffering from a stitch in the final stages and settling for third.

On the team side, Matteo Padoin-Castillo took home team gold with his Immaculata teammates in the junior boys event. Lauren Alexander led Glebe to a silver medal in the senior girls race with her seventh place finish.

(Ottawa, Canada---02 October 2021) Pippa Norman (Carleton Ravens) competing in the University/Open Women's race at the 2021 Capital Cross Country Challenge held at Mooney’s Bay Park in Ottawa. Photograph 2021 Copyright Miles Ryan Rowat / Mundo Sport Images

Norman and MacDonald lead Ravens at RSEQ XC Championship

by linkinbioProvincialUniversity

It was a challenging setting for Saturday’s Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) Cross Country Championships at the Centre de plein air Kinadapt. Located about 75 minutes north of Montreal in the small town of Rawdon, the course which is more routinely used for dog sledding, brought a unique set of challenges to the Carleton Ravens runners.

Undeterred by the challenging course, veterans Pippa Norman and Aria MacDonald both improved upon their placing from last year’s championship as they crossed the line back-to-back in 43rd and 44th place. Norman completed the eight kilometre course in a time of 33 minutes and 43.7 seconds with MacDonald finishing just 6.8 seconds later. 

Following shortly behind was Saorise Kealy, who finished in 33:57.7 to place 48th overall. Bryn Reynolds rounded out the Ravens quartet in 72nd. 

The Raven men were represented by the duo of David Birinberg and Nic Hawrysh. Finishing in a time of 29:12.4, Birinberg was the top Raven as he placed 88th overall. Hawrysh finished in 130th.
For full results from the RSEQ Championships, please visit our results page.

c735b767-8373-438e-876a-0022769e5929

Gee-Gee Men finish 7th; Women place 8th at OUA XC Championships

by linkinbioProvincialUniversity

For the second year in a row, it was a beautiful day in London for the Ontario University Athletics Cross Country Championship with the sun shining and temperatures reaching 16 degrees. Running on the Thames Valley Golf Course the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees improved their finishing positions for both the men and women from a year ago as they placed seventh and eighth respectively. 

The Gee-Gee women’s finish, their highest since 2015 (7th), was led by rookie Noemie Beauregard. The fourth year Nutrition Sciences student finished the eight kilometre course in 30 minutes and 40 seconds to place 14th overall. Beauregard’s placing earned her Second Team OUA All-Star status – the first by a Gee-Gee since Ruth Burrowes in 2015. 

Nina Gunther was the next Gee-Gee across the finish line as she placed 27th overall in a time of 32:01. The remaining scorers for the Garnet & Grey were Kyler Fowler (60), Elana Tyman (71) and Taylor Brown (72). 

Also on the women’s side, Lions Elizabeth Vroom and Gigi Porter had strong debuts at the OUA Championships for the Queen’s Gaels. The pair of first year students both factored in to the scoring for Queen’s as they placed 25th and 36th respectively as they helped the Gaels to a fourth place finish

On the men’s side, the Gee-Gee’s 183 points put them in seventh place, just one point behind the University of Windsor in sixth. Veteran André Alie-Lamarche was the top finisher, placing 20th overall in a time of 26:01. Crossing the line 32 seconds later was fellow fourth year runner Adrian Fournier as he cracked the top-20 in 28th place. Rounding out the scoring for the Gee-Gees was Nic Roberts (34), Nicolas Abanto Enns (42), and rookie Zach Sikka (59).

For full results for the OUA XC Championships, please visit our results page.

BR20221001OTTL_-XC-274

Pedersen and Beauregard top finishers at Bayfront Open

by linkinbioProvincialUniversity

Friday marked a return to action for the Club’s harriers. Varsity runners from both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University and the Lions took to the starting line of the McMaster Bayfront Open along the shore of Burlington Bay in Hamilton. 

Running as the sole Lion in the Open 8km race, Nico Pedersen posted a top three finish in his final prep race before next month’s Ontario Championship. The 22-year-old averaged 3:17 kilometres as he crossed the line in a time of 26 minutes and 17.7 seconds – 23 seconds behind winner Brent Smalley.

It was as close to a championship field as you could get ahead of the OUA Championships with just the Windsor Lancers missing from the starting line. For the Gee-Gees, first year athlete and fourth year student, Noemie Beauregard continued to lead the team as she placed 12th in 8km race in a time of 29 minutes and 34.8 seconds. 

Teammate Nina Gunther also found a place in the top-30 with her 28th place finish in 31:08.2. The top woman for the Ravens was fourth year journalism student Pippa Norman who crossed the line in 63rd place. 

Elizabeth Vroom and Gillian Porter, both first year students at Queen’s University, placed 21st and 32nd respectively. 

On the men’s side, André Alie-Lamarche was the top Gee-Gee in 28th. Teammate Jackson Roy was 2.4 seconds back in 26:00.6 to place 31st. With three more Gee-Gees placing within the top 50, the team finished 7th with 180 points. 

Ravens rookie David Birinberg was the top finisher for Carleton, crossing the line in 29 minutes and 23.4 seconds for 106th. 

Varsity runners will return to action on the final weekend of the month with the OUA Championships set for the 29th in London and the RSEQ Championships going the day after in Rawdon, Quebec.

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

Lions win 13 medals at Ontario Masters Championship

by linkinbioProvincial

The height of the season for many of our masters athletes took place this past weekend at the Ontario Masters Championships. Competing against the province’s best, Lions athletes managed to bring home an impressive 13 medals including a staggering 10 golds. 

A quartet of athletes managed to win a pair of gold medals on the weekend. 

Completing one of the more rare track doubles, Kimberley Howitt took top spot in both the 200 and 800 metre events. The 38-year old won the W35 800 in a time of 2:27.23 on Sunday before coming back later in the day to win the 200 in 29.96 seconds.

Joining Howitt as a double gold medalist on the track was Jodi Molstad. The 48-year-old Molstad found herself atop the podium in both the 200 and 400 metres events, winning in times of 31.31 and 1:14.12 respectively. Molstad fell just short of the sprinting trifecta as she took the silver over 100 metres in 14.62 seconds – just over a tenth of second back from the winner Mavis Ayippey of Jamcan International. 

In the field, Club founder Bob Stavely returned to his winning ways in both the shot put and javelin. Stavely, who was a pole vaulter in his younger years, has been a strong force in masters throwing over the past 20 plus years – particularly in the javelin, where he won the M85 competition Sunday with a throw of 15.85 metres. 

As a show of strength, the 88-year-old’s mark would have also been good enough to win the M80 category. 

Also picking up the throws double was Sam Walls, who completed the much more conventional shot put/discus double. The 48-year-old Walls heaved the 16 pound shot put out to 11.60 metres, besting the field by four and a half metres. In the discus, Walls nearly doubled the second place finisher with his 37.75 metre throw. 

The other two golds came over 800 metres where Michael Conway and Gilles Frenette took top spot in the M35 and M45 categories respectively. Conway’s time of 2:06.97 was nearly 22 seconds faster than second place, while Frenette’s 2:18.80 was good for a more than four second margin of victory. 

Danette Nearing-Guibord garnered silver medals in both the W60 100 and 200 metre events.

(Ottawa, Canada---22 June 2022) Zach Jeggo competing in Ottawa Summer Twilight Meet 5 or the 2022 track and field season. Copyright 2022 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images

Jeggo and Coughlin bring home hardware from Ontario Summer Games

by linkinbioProvincial

The Ontario Summer Games, an annual multi-sport event for athletes between the ages of 12 and 18, kicked off last Thursday in Mississauga. The Lions were represented in the athletics competition by three athletes – Quinn Coughlin, Zachary Jeggo, and Matteo Padoin-Castillo. Combined the three athletes captured four individual medals including one gold. 

Jeggo had a near perfect meet as he set new lifetime bests in all three of the events he competed in. This included a gold medal performance in the 200 metre hurdles where Jegoo broke Luca Nicolletti’s U16 Club record with his time of 26.34 seconds. The Louis-Riel student picked up a second medal, a bronze, in the U16 300 metres with his time of 37.57 seconds. 

Jeggo’s final best came in the 200 metre heats where he posted a time of 23.74 seconds. He would finish seventh in the final in 23.91.

The other two medals came from Quinn Coughlin who took home a pair of bronze medals. The first came in the 300 metre event for Coughlin where she trimmed nearly half a second off her previous best with a 41.98 second clocking. Another personal best brought home the second medal as the Opeongo High School student dipped under 2:18 for the first time at 800 metres, to finish in two minutes and 17.92 seconds. 

For Matteo, his results found him just off the podium as he took fourth in the U16 1500 metre steeplechase. His time of 4:58.08 was about a second and a half back of bronze. Padoin-Castillo also part in his first racewalk, finishing ninth in the 1500 metre event. 

(Langley, British Columbia ---25 June 2022) Tommy Nedow competing on day four of the Canadian Track and Field Championships at McLeod Athletic Park. Photograph 2022 Copyright Miles Ryan Rowat / Mundo Sport Images

Lions finish Canada Games Trials with strong results

by linkinbioProvincial

Lions athletes wrapped up the two day Canada Games Trials in Toronto on Sunday with strong performances that put them in line for a place on Team Ontario. Leading the way were thrower Tommy Nedow, sprint hurdler David Adeleye, and decathlete Leo Wallner.

Coming off a silver medal at the Canadian Championships, Tommy Nedow was the favourite in the discus and he did not disappoint. The 24-year-old won the competition with his opening round throw of 50.71 metres, outdistancing second place by 77 centimetres. With his victory, Nedow guaranteed himself a spot on the provincial team that will compete this August in St. Catherines. 

Also ensuring his spot in St. Catherines was David Adeleye as the University of Toronto student captured the gold medal in the 110 metre hurdles. Adeleye ran his way to a personal best time of 14.31 seconds in the hurdles final, shaving three hundredths off his previous best set at the recent Canadian Championships.

Leo Wallner will join Adeleye and Nedow at the Canada games by virtue of his victory in the decathlon. The recent high school graduate showed up and showed out during the two day event, amassing a personal best 5689 points with the senior heights and implements. Wallner’s second day got off to a great start as he was the fastest in the 110 metre hurdles, putting down a personal best of 15.54 seconds over the 42” barriers. While he struggled in the throws, Wallner posted a conservative mark in the 1500 metres to secure his nearly 200 point victory. 

Fellow combined event athlete Audrey Goddard finished up the two day heptathlon with solid marks in the long jump, javelin, and 800 metres as she amassed a wind aided total of 4658 points. The 18-year-old’s marks on day two were nearly identical to those reached the week before at the Canadian Championships, as Goddard placed second to Dallyssa Huggins – six years her senior. 

While her second place finish in the heptathlon will leave Goddard off the athletics team at the Canada Summer Games, she still has a chance to make Team Ontario after recently being shortlisted for the volleyball team. She’ll find out if she makes the team later this month. 

For full results from the Canada Games Trials, please visit our results page.

(Langley, British Columbia ---23 June 2022) Doyin Ogunremi competing on day two of the Canadian Track and Field Championships at McLeod Athletic Park. Photograph 2022 Copyright Miles Ryan Rowat / Mundo Sport Images ******* EDITORIAL USE ONLY ******* ******* EDITORIAL USE ONLY ******* ******* EDITORIAL USE ONLY *******

Evans nears record; Lions earn spots for Canada Summer Games

by InternationallinkinbioProvincial

While it may be Canada Day weekend here in Ottawa, middle distance runner Stephen Evans decided to do some celebrating at the Stars and Stripes Classic in Marietta, GA Saturday night. The number two 800 metre runner in Club history inched a little closer to the record book at the American Track League stop as he placed sixth in a time of one minute and 47.30 seconds. 

Evans, who had a disappointing Canadian Championship last weekend where he failed to make the final, has made great strides in his running this season – knocking 98 hundredths of a second off his personal best. His time from Saturday night is six hundredths behind one of the longest standing records in the Club – Richard Brant’s mark of 1:47.24 from 1987. 

Closer to home, the Canada Summer Games Trials are underway at the Toronto Track and Field Centre at York University. Day one of action saw a few Lions book their spot on Team Ontario in addition to another pair of Canadian Records for Bianca Borgella. 

By virtue of victories in their respective events, David Moulongou and Doyin Ogunremi secured their spots on Team Ontario for the Canada Summer Games set for the Niagara Region in August. 

Moulongou had the race of his life in the opening event of the day, as he was first across the line in the 400 metre hurdles to win in 54.78 seconds. The University of Ottawa student trimmed more than a quarter of a second off his previous best set last week at the Canadian U20 Championships as he narrowly edged out teammate Luca Nicoletti who was second in 54.83 seconds. 

You would think that it would be hard to follow up on a Canadian Championship performance that included a personal best and an even speedier lead off leg for the Lions’ Canadian Club Record setting 4×400 metre relay, but Doyin Ogunremi said “Just watch me “ at the Ontario Trials event. The University of Ottawa slashed nearly a second and a half off her week old best as she took home top spot in the 400 metres with a time of 55.18 seconds. 

The 20-year-old Ogunremi has now cut a full two seconds off her 400 metre best this season and moves to eighth on the Club’s all-time U23 list. 

Finally, Bianca Borgella re-wrote a couple of week old Canadian T13 records with new lifetime bests at 100 and 400 metres Saturday. The visually impaired athlete lowered her mark in the 100 metres to 12.37 from the Canadian Championship winning run of 12.43 last week. As well, Borgella put up a 1:00.84 second clocking for 400 metres that cuts 1.35 seconds off her other week old record.

Also wrapping day one, Audrey Goddard is on a personal best pace in her second heptathlon in as many weeks. She sits in second place with 2964 points. As well, Leo Wallner is having the decathlon of his life, finishing first or second in four of the five events on day one and holding the overnight lead at 3275 points. 

For live results, visit: https://athleticsontario.ca/statistics/results/live/2022/0702-team-o-trials/index.htm