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Twenty five years ago “The Sign” by Ace of Base topped the music charts, “Forest Gump” made it’s debut in theatres and the world was enamored with Netscape Navigator as a way to get around the early days of the internet. It was also when Leslie Estwick set a club record in the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.27 metres at a competition in Prince George, BC.
Flash forward to 2019 and Divya Biswal, who was barely 18 months old when Estwick set the standard, added 3 centimetres to the mark with her 6.30 metre leap to finish second at the Bryan Clay Invite in Azusa, California. It was a breakthrough performance for the 26 year old Biswal as all four of her measured jumps were in excess of her previous best of 6.01 metres.
“Records are made to be broken,” said Estwick when asked about Biswal’s performance. With a smile on her face, she also quipped, “Just give me credit for having held [the record] for 25 years.”
Not finished with her record breaking ways, Biswal returned to the runway an hour later to contest her specialty – the triple jump. Despite feeling the affects of competing for nearly four hours in the California sun, the St. Lawrence University grad bounded her way out to a new lifetime best and club record of 13.31 metres on her third attempt. Unfortunately, she would pass her final three attempts due to cramping.
Despite the long record setting day, Biswal came right back the next day the Beach Invite in Long Beach to set yet another record, again in the triple. She wasted no time, adding a further seven centimetres to her record as she broke the sand at 13.38 metres on her first attempt. Just like that, victory belonged to Biswal as she won by more than a foot over Ja’la Henderson of the University of Wyoming.
Also in Long Beach, shotputter Tim Nedow set a new outdoor lifetime best en route to finishing third. The two-time Commonwealth Games medalist heaved the 16 pound ball out to 21.18 metres to add 16 centimetres to his previous outdoor best set last summer. While an outdoor best, Nedow’s mark was still short of his club record 21.33 metres set in 2016 at an indoor competition in Stockholm.
In his debut performance at 10,000 metres, Farah Abdulkarim set the track on fire with a scorching performance of 28 minutes 39.66 seconds to finish fifth at the Mt. Sac Relays and move to the top of the Canadian rankings. The performance puts third on the club’s all-time rankings and also surpasses the standards for this summer’s World University and Pan American Games.
Also occupying a spot atop the Canadian rankings is Stephen Evans. The USports champion over 600m carried his speed outdoors as he posted a new lifetime best of 1:48.90 at the Bryan Clay Invite to move to eighth in Club history. Evans promptly followed it up the next day in Long Beach with a time of 1:49.58.
Also posting all-time ten performances this past weekend were Colorado State freshman Lauren Gale and Washington sophomore Shona McCulloch. Also running in Long Beach, Gale placed second over 400m with a time of 53.60 seconds to move to number four all-time. Up the coast in Palo Alto, McCulloch dropped 18 seconds from her previous best in the 3000 metre steeplechase as she shot up to third on the club rankings.
 
 

The rain was back in style for the start of the 2019 Boston Marathon, but thankfully for the athletes participating, the single digit temperatures of a year ago were not on the forecast. Battling the wet and windy conditions through the streets of Boston, Josh Cassidy was able to push himself to a top ten finish over the 42.2 kilometre course.
The Oakville resident, who set a course record of 1:18.25 in winning the 2012 edition, came down the famous stretch of Boylston Street to cross the line in a time of 1 hour 29 minutes 59 seconds. Cassidy finished ninth overall and was the top Canadian in the pushrim wheelchair field.
This was Cassidy’s third marathon of 2019 after a fifth place finish in Tokyo and a win just three weeks on the streets of Los Angeles. Next up on the schedule for the three time Paralympian is the London Marathon April 28th in the British capital. A winner at the 2010 event, Cassidy will certainly be looking to improve on his ninth place finish of a year ago.
Also running in Boston today was three-time Paralympic medalist Stuart McGregor who won the visually impaired division while competing in just his second marathon. The 40-year old McGregor crossed the line in 3 hours 12 minutes 2 seconds, nearly 20 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor. The victory gives McGregor a leg up on former training partner Jason Dunkerley who finished third in the same category a year ago.

The Ottawa Lions will host their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the evening of Monday, April 29, 2019 at 7:30pm. The meeting will take place at Terry Fox Athletic Facility in the blue trailer. All members are invited to attend.
A short meeting of the new Board of Directors will follow the AGM.
Details
Annual General Meeting
Terry Fox Athletic Facility – Blue Trailer
2960 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON
7:30pm
April 29, 2019
2018 AGM Minutes
2019 AGM Agenda
2017-18 DRAFT Financial Statements

It was a quieter weekend on the competition home front for the Lions with only a handful of athletes competing, but there were a few noteworthy performances.
For the second weekend in a row Jeremie Venne set a lifetime best, running 3 minutes 48.66 seconds for 1500m to finish fourth at the George Mason Invite in Virginia. Venne is in his senior year at St. Francis University in Pennsylvania. Maybe best recognized for helping guide Jason Dunkerley to IPC World Silver in 2017, Venne had also set a lifetime best in the 800m last weekend.
Up the coast in Connecticut, Sharelle Samuel set a seasonal best over 400 metres to win at the historic Harvard-Yale duel meet. The freshman’s time of 55.43 seconds was a step quicker than Yale’s Lillian Enes who was second. Samuel also turned in a seasonal best 25.31 second clocking over 200m.
On the other side of the continent, Divya Biswal claimed her third straight victory in the triple jump at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla, California. Undefeated in the event this year, Biswal bounded out to a best of 12.63 metres on her final attempt to secure the victory. Also in La Jolla, Tim Nedow pushed a16 pound steel ball out to a distance of 20.28 metres to finish second to the University of Arizona’s Jordan Geist.
Nedow’s younger brother Tommy was victorious in the discus at the Cole Lancon Conference Challenge at the University of Louisiana-Lafeyette. The sophomore transfer hurled the 2 kilogram platter out to a distance of 51.82 metres, just three centimetres off  his lifetime best. Nedow dominated the field winning by more than five metres. The Brockville native also finished fourth in the shot put with a best throw of 15.09 metres.
 

It’s a story line a lot of us could get used to. For the second weekend in a row the Lions duo of Keira Christie-Galloway and Erinn Stenman-Fahey shone in the cardinal and gold of their Iowa State Cyclones. Both ladies set new lifetime bests under the Arizona sun at the Sun Angel Track Classic in Tempe.
After being entered into the competition at Arizona State University, Christie-Galloway showed no signs of being fazed by being included in the slow section and running out of lane one. The sophomore transfer blazed to a new lifetime best of 13.25 seconds to win the competition outright and bested her heat by more than a second and a half. The 19 year old is quickly inching closer to Ashley Maddex’s number two all-time mark of 13.16 seconds. Christie-Galloway now sits in a tie for 21st overall in the NCAA.
After a personal best over 1500m a week ago, Stenman-Fahey dropped back down to 800m and picked up another personal Saturday night. The fourth year senior finished seventh overall in the premier section with a time of 2 minutes 5.42 seconds. The time is a nearly four tenths of a second improvement of her personal best set last spring at the Big 12 Conference Championship and puts her in a three tie for sixth on the club’s all-time list with current Lion Charlotte Gardner and alum Rachel Aubry.
The success in the sun was not just on the track as Divya Biswal captured gold in the women’s triple jump. The 26 year old Biswal leapt to a seasonal best 13.02m on her sixth and final attempt to secure the victory. With the mark, Biswal currently occupies the top stop in the early season Canadian rankings.
Two hours south in Tucson, Arizona, Telvin Tavernier finished seventh in the decathlon at the Jim Click Multis. His score of 6679 was just 40 points short of his personal best score set last year at the Canadian Championships, but did include a personal best of 6.97m in the long jump. Kevin Nault did manage to get on the PB train, adding nearly 50 points to his previous best, with a score of 6172 points.
Elsewhere on the west coast, Shona McCulloch made her debut in the 3000m steeplechase at the Washington-Washington State Duel meet in Seattle. The sophomore finished third overall in a time of 10 minutes 59.48 seconds and moves to fifth in club history with the performance.
Down in Colorado, Lauren Gale opened up her outdoor season for the Colorado State Rams with a second place finish over 200m in a time of 24.48 seconds at the Colordao Invitational in Boulder. She then ran the second leg for the Rams 4x100m relay team which set a school record of 44.66 seconds.
On the east coast, it was a trio of victories over 800m for the Lions. At the Saints Ice Breaker in Canton, New York Svetlana Martynova and Sebastian Saville swept the two lap races, each winning comfortably in 2:13.58 and 1:52.22 respectively. Further south in Virginia, Jeremie Venne set a new lifetime best to win the Colonial Relays in a time of 1:51.56.
 

Under the sunny skies of Tucson a trio of Lion decathletes went to battle yesterday at the annual Jim Click Multis on the campus of the University of Arizona. For both Telvin Tavernier and Kevin Nault, it was their second competitive outing of the season, while Mark Emode was making his season debut. All got off to a strong start with solid performances over 100m.
Telvin Tavernier amped up the dial in the long jump as he leapt to a new personal best of 6.97 metres, 5 centimetres beyond his previous best in the event. We had believed Kevin Nault had also set a monstrous best in the long jump when the original results posted showed a mark of 6.81 metres. Unfortunately, the jump was corrected to 6.18m, but Nault still managed a best of 6.34 metres on the day.
As the trio moved through the shotput, high jump and 400 metres to round out the day, all had consistent performances, setting themselves up for a good score at the culmination of day two.
Following the first five events, Tavernier currently sits in eighth with a score of 3470 points. The mark is just 12 points behind pace of his personal best set at last year’s Pan Am Cup. Emode is 33 points behind in ninth and on pace for a personal best. Nault concluded day one with 3313 points, a new high for the former Univesity of Ottawa Gee Gee. He is currently 78 points ahead of his personal best pace and sits 13th.
Competition resumes today at the Roy P. Drachman track with the 110m hurdles at 1:30pm local time or 3:30pm eastern.
Follow along with live results. The Lions athletes are all competing in Decathlon Group A.

It was like Oprah was sitting beside the track on Friday screaming “You get a PB! You get a PB! Everyone gets a PB!” Well it wasn’t quite everyone but it was an incredible couple hours as Lions athletes faced off against some of the best NCAA competition at the Florida Relays and Stanford Invite.
The leading performance was undoubtedly Keira Christie-Galloway’s win in the 100m hurdles. The Big 12 Conference Indoor Champion picked up right where she left off with a new personal best of 13.28 seconds to win at Stanford. Christie-Galloway had intended to open her season last weekend in Fayetville, Arkansas but strong winds and a down pour cancelled her heat. While very early in the NCAA season, the time does rank among the top 10 in the country.
Also in Palo Alto, Iowa State teammate Erinn Stenman-Fahey opened her outdoor campaign with a second place finish in her section and a shiny new personal best of 4:24.98 for 1500m.
Down in Gainesville, Florida Farah Jacques continued her strong start to the season posting the third best time ever in the 100m hurdles. The 2016 Olympian was fifth overall in a time of 13.35 seconds. Jacques, who set best of 13.31 seconds last August in France, had run 13.34 seconds just six days prior to win the University of South Florida Invite. Teammate Devyani Biswal finished 26th overall in a career best season opening performance of 13.98 seconds.
Not to be outdone by the women, Stephen Evans found himself another spot in the Club’s All-Time Top 10 list with his performance in the 800m. The recently crowned USports champion over 600m won his section in a career best 1:49.50 to move to eighth on the Club rankings. Evans currently occupies sports in the Top 10 now in four events.
Tommy Nedow also had a top ten performance in the discus. The Southeastern Louisiana transfer student hurled the platter out to 51.85 metres to finish seventh overall. The performance moves Nedow in to second place on the all-time list behind his older brother Tim. This was the second time this season Tommy has moved up the club rankings after posting the third best hammer throw ever last weekend with the throw of 49.46 metres.
Rounding out the Lions crew in Florida was Saj Alhaddad. The defending Canadian silver medalist in the 400m hurdles was sixth in a time of 52.67 seconds.

In light of the recent allegations made against Ken Porter on Athletics Canada’s social media feed, the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club is, effective immediately, suspending Ken Porter’s affiliation with the Club pending the outcome of the independent investigation being conducted by the Athletics Canada Commissioner’s Office.
The Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club recognizes and acknowledges the interim suspension that Athletics Canada Commissioner Fowlie imposed upon Ken Porter on March 25, 2019. The Club is taking the additional step of implementing its own suspension in addition to that brought by Athletics Canada to make clear our procedures when allegations of harassment are brought forward to the Club.
We want to assure all members that creating and maintaining a healthy, safe and secure sporting environment for all our athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers and employees is a top priority for our organization. Any actions that contravene our Statement of Expectations or Harassment Policy are incompatible with that environment and strictly prohibited.
As such, members are encouraged to contact the Club’s Ombudsperson if they are aware of any such actions. The Ombudsperson has been given the authority by the Board of Directors to investigate all complaints of violations of the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club’s Statement of Expectations or Harassment Policy.
 

If you saw the results of Sunday’s 34th Los Angeles Marathon, you would have seen that Josh Cassidy won the wheelchair division by an impressive seven minutes. However, if you had seen the three time Paralympian’s Instagram stories from the day before you’d be even more impressed by the performance.
During a training session Saturday morning, Cassidy’s custom racing chair snapped clean in half at the front causing a nose dive into the pavement. In a video posted to Instagram, the former World Record holder explained how he figured he was going about 25 km/h before the break happened. He thankfully only suffered some minor scrapes to his elbow.
However, with less than 24 hours to race time, Cassidy was without a chair to race in. Thankfully his coach at home was able to retrieve a spare, which is sister picked up and delivered to the Toronto airport. His former college roommate Nick Bester took it the rest of the way, flying with the chair to Los Angeles. By the time Bester arrived and the chair was assembled it was midnight, not leaving much time before the 3:30 am departure to the starting line.
“Got an hour a sleep, so I’m proud of this” Cassidy told the Orange County Register of his 1:31:47 victory.
 

Dear Members,
As some of you have been made aware, the Athletics Canada Commissioner’s Office announced today that they have temporarily suspended Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club Executive Director Andy McInnis and Club President Ken Porter from all activities effective immediately. Both individuals will be under suspension until the Commissioner’s Office has concluded a complaint procedure against them.
The Board of Directors placed Mr. McInnis on administrative leave on September 11, 2018, immediately following an initial review of allegations made by the Club Ombudsperson. At that time the Board took the decision to contract an independent external investigator and is awaiting the investigator’s final report. Upon receipt of a final report from the investigation and in consultation with the decision of the Athletics Canada Commissioner’s Office, the Board will take swift and appropriate measures in the best interest of the club.
We want to assure all members that creating and maintaining a healthy, safe and secure sporting environment for all of our athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers and employees is a top priority for our organization. Any actions that contravene our Statement of Expectations or Harassment Policy are incompatible with that environment and strictly prohibited.
As such, members are encouraged to contact the Club’s Ombudsperson if they are aware of any such actions. The Ombudsperson has been given the authority by the Board of Directors to investigate all complaints of violations of the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club’s Statement of Expectations or Harassment Policy.
During Ken Porter’s absence, I will be assuming the role of Club President on an acting basis.
Lastly, given the ongoing nature of the investigation, the Board has no further comment at this time.
Sincerely,

Ryan Rowat
Interim President
Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club