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The Ottawa Lions Board of Directors would like to inform members they have instituted a new “Policy on Harassment, Abuse and Sexual Misconduct.” The new policy can be found on the Lions website at the following link.

The new policy replaces the previous Ottawa Lions “Policy on Harassment Prevention and Resolution” and is in effect immediately.

Members are also reminded they are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the Athletics Ontario and Athletics Canada Codes of Conduct.

Should you have any questions about the new policy, please feel free to reach out to Club President, Nathalie Côté.

To honour International Women’s Week, we want to say thank you to our many women coaches who promote our sport in such a positive manner and model strength, dedication and leadership for tomorrow’s leaders. We appreciate everything you do! We know how hard it is to balance work and family life! The fact that you still find the time to come out and volunteer with our athletes is proof of your superhero powers! Thank you!

One of the newest additions to the Ottawa Lions, Natalie brings a wealth of experience to our clubs young and developing athletes.

Coaching with the Aspire sprinters Natalie has been welcomed immediately and been able to merge into the team easily.

A multiple National Champion in the 400m, World Junior National Team member who has competed in both NCAA and USports makes her position working with our high school aged athletes ideal. Her experience in knowing the demands and commitment required to reach the highest level of our sport as a junior provides some practicality for our younger athletes who will be looking to make decision in the future. Natalie’s excellence in academics (completing her undergrad at Notre Dame, her masters and PhD with the University of Toronto) only adds to her image as a role model on and off the track. As Natalie completes her PhD in the Department of Higher Education of Leadership she continues to seek avenues to share her knowledge and learn from those around her. Her kind and thoughtful personality makes it easy for athletes to connect with her and fellow coaches to interact. It has been a pleasure to have Natalie join our team and look forward to seeing what she brings in the future.

To honour International Women’s Week, we want to say thank you to our many women coaches who promote our sport in such a positive manner and model strength, dedication and leadership for tomorrow’s leaders. We appreciate everything you do! We know how hard it is to balance work and family life! The fact that you still find the time to come out and volunteer with our athletes is proof of your superhero powers! Thank you!

Working with the Aspire distance athletes, Sarya brings some demanding leadership and commitment to the program that has groomed countless athletes to success in high school and prepared them for post-secondary demands.

Moving from British Columbia to attend the University of Ottawa for an undergrad in Conflict Studies Human Rights, Sarya competed for the Gee Gees during an exciting period that saw the women’s cross-country team challenge the best in the country at the National Championships in 2014. Now enrolled in Dual JD/MA International Affairs she continues to be involved with the Gee Gees as an academic mentor which exemplifies the commitments required to excel in school and commitment to the club as an entirety.

Sarya’s ability to manage her academics, mentorship with the Gee Gee’s, coaching and initiative to find other ways to help make her an invaluable leader among our coaches.

To honour International Women’s Week, we want to say thank you to our many women coaches who promote our sport in such a positive manner and model strength, dedication and leadership for tomorrow’s leaders. We appreciate everything you do! We know how hard it is to balance work and family life! The fact that you still find the time to come out and volunteer with our athletes is proof of your superhero powers! Thank you!

One of our youngest coaches has been involved in nearly every aspect of the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club.

While Rugby was her main focus in High School her close-knit friends managed to draw her into the club where Rebecca has steadily improved each year as an athlete and leader amongst the Gee Gee varsity team. Recently completing her undergrad at the University of Ottawa and looks to take the next step in her academics. Wrapping up her final year of eligibility with the Gee Gees Rebecca had appearances on the national stage and huge jumps in performance in cross country and the track. While Rebecca is always striving for more in the competitive side of the sport she has been a crucial leader among the Ottawa Lions for a number of years. From camp counselor to manager of the youth programs this past year, Rebecca has been a pleasure for coaches, children and parents to interact with. Her leadership brings her peers together and provides the youth with an energetic positive a role model for the youth of our club to look up to.

As a late starter to our sport Rebecca has been able to bring a positive influence to the grass roots program of the club which continues to lead the next generations love for the sport and continued interest in our programs.

To honour International Women’s Week, we want to say thank you to our many women coaches who promote our sport in such a positive manner and model strength, dedication and leadership for tomorrow’s leaders. We appreciate everything you do! We know how hard it is to balance work and family life! The fact that you still find the time to come out and volunteer with our athletes is proof of your superhero powers! Thank you!

Helen has been with Ottawa Lions for a number of years, first as an athlete, then assisting with the Raven Varsity program and a number of Masters Athletes. Now, working with nearly every program in the in the competitive age groups we are thrilled to celebrate such a devoted Ottawa Lion.

Helen continues to support the club’s athlete’s year in and out with unwavering care and dedication to the athletes. As a successful mid-distance runner (coached by long time Ottawa Lion Ray Elrick) Helen also stands 3rd on the Lions all-time list for the Marathon with a time of 2:49.59. The fierce competitive drive she can bring out at the track or on the cross-country course is also complimented by a very compassionate personality that has been expressed both in coaching and a successful professional career off the track in leadership development.

We thank Helen for being able to translate clear, sound advice to the athletes, providing consistent support for her fellow coaches all year around. Your coaching expertise and compassion that has led to countless memorable performances on and off the track is well known, Thank you.

When the USports Championship came to a close Saturday night, the half dozen women representing the Gee Gees had put on quite a show over the three day event, amassing 23 points and a top 10 finish. The highlight of the Championships was undoubtedly the strong performance of of Madison Clarke, who was responsible for 17 of those points, including a silver in the 600 metres.

The 600 metres was the premier event for the small Gee Gees team as half the team with half the team qualifying for the three lap race. After Sydney Smith’s eighth place finish in qualifying, Clarke and Maeliss Trapeau toed the line in the Butterdome Saturday afternoon in what would turn out to be an near replica of the OUA final from two weeks prior. For the second time in two weeks, Clarke placed second to Guelph’s Jenna Smith and by the exact same 0.04 second differential, as Clarke finished in 1:30.94.

For Trapeau, the results didn’t quite follow the OUA formchart as her finishing position flipped with Guelph’s Sadie Jane-Hickson as the biotechnology student placed fourth in 1:31.19, 11 hundredths behind Jane-Hickson.

Before her success at 600 metres, Clarke ran her way to a new lifetime best of two minutes and 47.05 seconds in Friday night’s 1000 metre final. The performance was good enough for fourth place and trimmed nearly two seconds off previous best set at the OUA Championships.

Clarke put together another top five finish Friday night as part of the 4×800 metre relay. Teamming up with Trapeau, Smith and Marie-Eve Dahms, Clarke and company ran their way to a seasonal best time of nine minutes and 5.46 seconds.

The only other Lion to post a top eight finish was hurdler Leewinchell Jean. The University of Windsor rookie was seventh across the line in the 60 metre hurdle final, stopping the clock at 8.27 seconds.

Other results:

Gee Gees 4x400m relay 9th 3:50.31 (Madison Clarke, Rebecca Brennan, Sydney Smith, Marie-Eve Dahms)

Caroline Poirier Pole Vault 11th 3.50m

Claudine Nafaa Pole Vault 12th 3.50m

Today, we are saying thank you to coach Estwick. Leslie has been a member of the Ottawa Lions for many years and has represented the club in many capacities. From the World Championships to the Commonwealth Games, Leslie has always used her vast experience of athletics to help other athletes and to further the sport. She has served on the Board of Directors of Athletics Ontario, Athletics Canada and the Canadian Olympic Association. She has coached a wide range of events (jumps, hurdles, sprints) and with a wide range of age groups and abilities, never hesitating to lend a hand when one is needed. She always brings reason, insight and knowledge to a conversation. Her love of the sport, her technical knowledge, her ability to lead and her sense of humour have touched many of our young Lions’ lives over the years and we hope will continue for many more to come.

To honor International Women’s Week, we want to say thank you to our many women coaches who promote our sport in such a positive manner and model strength, dedication and leadership for tomorrow’s leaders. We appreciate everything you do! We know how hard it is to balance work and family life! The fact that you still find the time to come out and volunteer with our athletes is proof of your superhero powers! Thank you!

The 40th edition of the Canadian University Track and Field Championships got underway this evening at the University of Alberta’s Butterdome and it most certainly got off on the right foot for the small contingent of Gee Gees competing in Edmonton.

The trio of Madison Clarke, Maeliss Trapeau, and Sydney Smith all walked away with a spot in the 600 metres’ top eight with Clarke and Trapeau both earning an opportunity to race for medals in Saturday’s final. Clarke earned her spot with a victory in the second of two heats, winning in one minute and 30.72 seconds. Clarke executed her race plan to perfection, bidding her time in fourth and then third for most of the race before sling shooting around the final corner past Guelph’s Jenna Smith, who beat Clarke two weeks ago at the OUA Championships.

Trapeau and Smith lined up together in the first heat with Trapeau advancing based on time as she crossed the line in 1:31.98. The third year biotechnology student worked her way from the back of the field into third as the runners hit the bell and held strong in her position through the final lap. For Smith, tonight’s performance of 1:33.98 was the third fastest of her career and represents the Gee Gee’s first point of the Championship with her eighth place overall finish.

In the men’s 600 metres, Sebastian Saville placed 13th overall in 1:22.30 for the Laval Rouge et Or.

Action resumes Friday with Leewinchell Jean first on the track in the men’s 60 metre hurdle heats at 6:45 pm eastern. Also on deck for day two are Madison Clarke (1000m), Caroline Poirier (pole vault) and Clarke, Smith, Trapeau and Marie-Eve Dahms in the 4×800 metres.

Live results can be found at http://www.ellistiming.ca/USports/LiveResults/ 

Everywhere you looked this weekend was another Lion breaking a personal best or picking up medals at NCAA conference championships from Ithaca to Seattle. In total Lions athletes captured seven medals, including four golds at their respective championships.

The biggest haul came from Owen Day as he swept the 800 metre and mile titles at the Mid America Conference Championships in Akron, Ohio. The Eastern Michigan junior started by defending his conference title in the mile, winning in a time 4:06.86 before crossing the line first in the 800 metre with a time of 1:51.38. For his efforts, Day was awarded First-Team All-MAC honours and was named Eastern Michigan’s Male Athlete of the Week.

At the Mountain West Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico Colorado State sophomore Lauren Gale improved her record to an impressive 3-0 in conference 400 metre races. Gale, who until a couple of weeks ago was toying with the idea of red-shirting this indoor season, showed what game she can be in a championship setting as she not only took gold, but also set a new indoor best of 53.48 seconds.

Gale also set a new indoor best of 24.16 seconds for 200 metres in the heats before coming back with 24.17 to finish 7th in the final. The Health and Exercise Science student closed out the meet on the 4×400 metre relay where she helped her Rams to a bronze in 3:40.77.

Closer to home at the Ivy League Championships in Ithaca, New York, Harvard sophomore Sharelle Samuel picked up two medals for the Crimson. After a personal best in the heats of the 500m, Samuel laid down another lifetime best to win silver, crossing the line in 1:14.61. The time moves her to fourth all-time for the Club. Samuel was also a member of Harvard’s silver medal 4x400m relay team, which finished in 3:45.10.

At the Great Midwest Athletics Conference Championship in Tiffin, Ohio, Hillsdale College senior Ryan Thomsen had the competition of his life to take heptathlon gold in a personal best score of 5157 points. Thomsen placed first or second in six of the seven events, with big performances coming from the jumps where he leaped 6.86 metres in the long jump and cleared heights of 1.93 and 4.55 metres in the high jump and pole vault respectively. Thomsen’s performance moves him to third all-time for the Club and also qualified him for the NCAA Division II in Alabama next weekend.

Thomsen wasn’t the only heptathlete putting up big numbers as University of Texas sophomore Phillip Frank also outstanding performance at the Big 12 Conference Championships in Ames, Iowa where he amassed 5259 points to finish sixth. The point total was just eight short of Club record holder Telvin Tavernier’s best. Frank was in a special kind of groove as he record personal bests in the long jump (6.76m), shot put (10.85m), and 60 metre hurdles (8.34), while nearly equaling his bests in the remaining four events.

Away from the collegiate ranks, Melissa Bishop-Nriagu closed out her indoor season on a high note as she placed second over 800 metres at the Boston University Last Chance Meet. Bishop-Nriagu’s time of 2:00.98 was five hundredths behind the winner and the third fast indoor time of her career.

Next up for the Lions pride is this week’s USports Championships at the University of Alberta. Follow along on our social media channels for all the results.