Posts in category: Uncategorized

With just one day left in 2017, we thought it best to take one last look back at the year that was for the Ottawa Lions before switching our attention to the 2018.
Here are some of our top highlights from the past 12 months.
Ottawa hosts the nation
It was arguably the biggest highlight for many in the Ottawa track community in 2017 – the Canadian Championships returned to the nation’s capital for the first time since 2006. Boy, were they ever treated to a show. Over 1400 athletes ran, jumped, threw and wheeled their way around the Terry Fox Athletic Facility over the course of seven days in July with approximately 18,500 people on hand to watch them compete.
The home town crowd seemed to help as Lion athletes captured a remarkable 25 medals, including 7 gold, in the junior, senior and para categories. Included among those was Melissa Bishop’s wire to wire win in the 800m and Tim Nedow’s shot put victory – both of which set new stadium records.
Bishop and Nedow’s performances were just two of the ten new Terry Fox Athletic Facility Records to fall during the Canadian Championships.
Sultana Frizell begins assault on Canadian weight throw record
After breaking her own club record in the final meet of 2016, Frizell would go on to smash the Canadian record three times in 2017 beginning with her 22.00m heave at the St. Lawrence University Invite. She would improve the mark to 23.32m a month later in Toronto and out further to 23.61m a week after that in Indiana.

 
Adam Palamar runs fastest mile in NCAA
It may still have been early in the indoor season, but on January 27th at the Boston University Track and Field Centre posted an NCAA leading time in the mile with a spectacular 3:57.39 second clocking. Palamar, based on his 5th place finish, would receive All-American honours at the NCAA Championships in March. His early season clocking also was the second fastest in club history, just two one hundredths off the record.
Glenroy Gilbert named top coach in Ottawa
Gilbert was recognized for the third time in four years as the Male Coach of the Year at the Ottawa Sport Awards in February. The award highlights his excellent work with local athletes Oluwasegun Makinde and Farah Jacques as well as the Canadian Relay Program.
In May, Gilbert was tapped as the Head Coach for Canada’s entry at the World Championships in London. The role was made permanent in July following the Canadian Championships.
Lions athletes win five medals at USport Championships
It was the largest medal haul since 2013 with three athletes bringing home two gold, a silver and two bronze. Leading the contingent was Ashley Connell as she swept the shot put and weight throw with lifetime best performances. Her weight throw mark puts her second in club history while her shot put mark leaves her fourth all-time.
In the men’s heptathlon, Telvin Tavernier had the competition of his lifetime as he improved his personal best by nearly 200 points to claim silver. He would follow up the performance with another extraordinary effort in the pole vault where he raised his day old personal best from the heptathlon another 12 cm to claim bronze.
Tania Bambi rounded out the medal collection with a bronze in the 60m hurdles, narrowly edging out teammate Devyani Biswal.
Wendy Alexis wins two silvers at World Indoor Masters
It’s not often you travel around the world to do battle with your rival from a few hours away. However, when you’re Wendy Alexis it seems to always be the case. The 61 year old sprinter battled it out with Karla Del Grande of Toronto for global sprint supremacy at the World Masters Championships in Daegu, South Korea this past March. Alas Alexis would have to settle for silver in both of the women’s over 60 60m and 200m events despite seasonal bests in both events.
Divya Biswal jumps into record book
Some might think that working for a hedge fund on Wall Street and being a top level triple jumper don’t quite go hand in hand. But then again, they likely don’t know Divya Biswal. The bouncy Biswal was on a tear in 2017 beginning with one weekend in April where she would surpass the club’s 15 year old standard of 12.74m on back to back days. Divya would surpass the previous record a total of five times in 2017, highlighted by her club record of 13.27m set at the Ontario Championships.
Lions regain Ontario Senior Championship
For the first time since 2013, the Ottawa Lions were crowned Ontario Senior Champions at the provincial event in June. On the strength of seven gold including winning three of the four relays, the Lions beat the University of Toronto Track Club by a score of 184 points to 169. One of the golds came from the 4x400m relay team of Lauren Gale, Erinn Stenman-Fahey, Madison Clarke and Sharelle Samuel who lowered the club record by nearly two seconds to 3:44.58. In addition to the gold medal haul, Lions athletes also took home six silver and three bronze.
 
Bishop breaks Canadian record… again
For the third straight season Melissa Bishop re-wrote the Canadian record book with an electrifying 1:57.01 performance over 800m at the Monaco Diamond League event in late July. The time was a hair ahead of her 4th place finish at the Rio Olympics when she set the previous standard of 1:57.02. Bishop would follow up her record performance with a fifth place finish at the World Championships in London.
Dunkerley and Venne medal at Worlds
When Jason Dunkerley spoke to the crowd at the club’s 2016 award banquet, he announced his retirement from competitive racing after five Paralympic Games appearances and five medals. All of that suddenly changed in early 2017 when Athletics Canada told him he could qualify for July’s World Championships in London.
Dunkerely, who had been guided by Joshua Karanja for more than 5 years, would rely on new guide Jeremie Venne for London though as Karanja was injured. The pair appeared to mesh from the start, culminating in their run to silver at Worlds. As for whether he’ll compete again, Dunkerley said he’s not quite sure. He plans to “let the dust settle” from the championship before making a decision.
Sekou Kaba named flag bearer at Jeux de la Francophonie
Hurdler Sekou Kaba was named Canada’s flag bearer for the opening ceremonies at July’s Jeux de la Francophonie in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It was the second time a Lion has led Team Canada into the stadium of a major games after Sultana Frizell carried the flag into the closing ceremonies at the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
Kaba, the defending champion in the 110m hurdles, again found himself on the podium after a silver medal run in the Ivory Coast. He was one of three Lions to medal at the Games with Charifa Labarang picking up silver in the 4x100m relay for her native Cameroon and Ashlea Maddex grabbing a bronze in the women’s 100m hurdle event.
Sharelle Samuel runs to bronze at Commonwealth Youth Games
For many, their first taste of international competition is an opportunity to get their feet wet – not for Sharelle Samuel. The Ashbury College student appeared primed and ready to go at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas this July. After a fourth place finish in the flat 400m, Samuel would return to pick up bronze in the 400m hurdles in a time of 59.59 seconds – just two tenths of a second out of top spot. The time was also personal best of nearly 1.5 seconds for Samuel and moved her to fourth overall in club history.
Emergence of OneTrackMind vlog
For years, OneTrackMind was simply known as the guy to buy spikes from, but in late 2016 the man behind the brand, decathlete Kevin Nault, decided to get both in front and behind the camera. The vlog, depicting the day in and day out struggles and victories of life as decathlete, emerged as Canada’s preeminent track and field vlog in 2017.
Nault, along with training partners Matthew Johnson, Telvin Tavernier and Toluwalope Makinde make for an entertaining, if not hard working, quartet exemplified by the growth in viewership. If you’re not already a subscriber, check out Kevin’s YouTube Channel to sample some videos.

Lions, Gee Gees and Ravens combined to win 19 medals at last weekend’s Martlet Open in Montreal to round out the 2017 calendar year. The haul included seven gold, including Alex Maxwell’s double victory in the 1500m and 3000m races.
For Maxwell, both winning performances also came with new Carleton University records. The fourth year computer science major led a complete domination of the men’s 3000m for the club as his 8:52.91 clocking led a complete sweep of the top five positions.
Also picking up multiple medals on the day was Madison Clarke who was victorious over 600m and also grabbed a bronze in the 300m. Clarke, a USports qualifier last indoor season, won the 600m in a very controlled 1:37.07.
Another notable winner on the day was University of Ottawa Gee Gee Christina Hertner. The sophmore won the shot put with a best of 12.57m. The throw exceeded her on school record of 12.10m set last season at the OUA Championships.
Also picking up a new Gee Gee record was Ty Coulter in the weight throw. Coulter’s best of 15.55m, bested her one week old record set in Ottawa. The second year student finished just outside the medals in fourth.
Other winners on the day included Samantha Klus (1000m), Keira Christie-Galloway (60m Hurdles), and Bertwin Ben-Smith (300m).
For complete results, click here.

It was classic cross country weather Saturday as 35 Lions went to battle atop the hills of Kingston’s historic Fort Henry at the Canadian Cross Country Championships.
Leading the contingent was the youth boys team of Jonathan Rioux, Adrian Fournier, Nico Pedersen, Wiliam Cox, Adam Sanger and Lucas Zanetti which finished an impressive third in the team standings with 110 points, 39 behind second place Windsor Legion.
The medal for the boys was the best team finish for the club at nationals since 2011 when the junior men’s team led by Yves Sikubwabo also captured bronze. The top finisher for the boys was Rioux, who completed the 6km course in 19 minutes 56.5 seconds.
Finishing a step behind the boys was the youth girls team of Skye Pellerin, Katie Newlove, Teagan Shapansky, Nina Whitford, Keegan Gaunt and Olivia MacAskill which finished just six points off the podium in 4th. Pellerin was the top Lion, finishing the 4km course in 15 minutes 9.1 seconds to finish 18th. Newlove also cracked the top 30, finishing 29th, 8 seconds behind her teammate.
Shona McCulloch was the top individual finisher for the Lions, capturing 10th the junior women’s 6km race. With her 10th place finish, McCulloch has made herself eligible to be selected to compete at the Pan American XC Championships next spring in El Salvador. The University of Washington freshman helped lead the Canadian team to gold two years ago.
 
 
 
 

Since the early years of the Ottawa Lions, there isn’t much Joe Burke has not undertaken. He’s been the throws coach, the head coach and until his recent retirement Burke served as the manager of our very successful youth program for nearly a decade.
Burke’s youth program could be the envy of all other clubs across Canada where he employed the principles of the Run, Jump, Throw program to teach a new generation all the great things about our sport. The program became so popular among 6 to 12 year olds in Ottawa that it saw an incredible 1000 plus participants in Joe’s final year of service.
In recognition of this exemplary dedication to the growth and development of the club, Burke was inducted into the Hall of Fame under the builder’s category. In addition as a builder, Burke was the initial Hall of Fame inductee back in 2001 when he was recognized for his coaching excellence and service.
For Burke, the satisfaction always came from the joy he saw and the excitement he received from seeing kids improve. “If I’ve lots to the Ottawa Lions kids, they’ve given so much more to me,” said Burke during his acceptance speech.
In addition to the Hall of Fame induction, awards were presented to outstanding athletes across all age categories as well as for athletes with a disability, road and cross country running.
The Gilbert Awards, which honour our most outstanding male and female athletes on the track and in the field, were presented to a number of familiar faces and one new one.
Among the men, it was a repeat of 2015 where Sekou Kaba took home top track honours following a silver medal in the 110m hurdles at the Francophone Games and top 8 placing at the World University Games. Nedow won his fifth straight Canadian shot put title en route to a 16th place finish at the World Championships.
On the women’s side, the recently wed Melissa Bishop-Nriagu took home top billing on the track. Bishop-Nriagu bettered her own Canadian 800m record with a 1:57.01 clocking in Monaco this year before finishing 5th at the World Championships. This was her sixth straight award.
Divya Biswal captured her first every Lions award, as she was named most outstanding female field athlete after breaking a 15 year old record in the triple jump and moving to number three on the long jump list. Biswal victory also ended Sultana Frizell’s 12 year reign, the longest in club history.
World Paralympic silver medalist Jason Dunkerley was recognized with the Sam Estwick award as the most outstanding athlete with a disability. Dunkerley, who announced his retirement from competitive running at last year’s awards banquet returned to the track in June to make another run at worlds. With new guide Jeremie Venne, the pair captured a silver medal in London. This was Dunkerley’s 11th victory.
As well, Melinda Tebrake was awarded the Sean Cole Memorial award which recognizes a volunteer whose efforts go far beyond the boundaries of expectation and service. Tebrake is an invaluable coach in the youth program who is always willing to go the extra mile and pitch in when needed. As well, she was a valuable volunteer at this past summer’s Canadian Track and Field Championship.

It was a big weekend for cross country running in Canada with both the Athletics Ontario and USports Championships going off Sunday. The Lions were represented by small contingents at both events.
In Bracebridge, only two Lions took part in the provincial championships with 15 year old Katie Newlove leading the way with a fourth place finish in the midget girls race. Newlove completed the 4 kilometre course in a time of 16 minutes 12 seconds, equal to that of bronze medalist Sophie Coutts of the Central Toronto Athletic Club. In fact the top five placings were only separated by three seconds. Newlove’s teammate, Elana Tyman was 55th in the field of 119 girls.
At the USports Championships in Victoria, the top finisher was Carleton University’s Jenna Van Vliet. A graduate student in engineering, Van Vliet, placed 30th in the field of 150 in a time of 30 minutes 17 seconds. It was a familiar course for the Raven who was a member of the University of Victoria’s cross country team while completing her undergraduate degree.
Also in the women’s race, University of Ottawa freshman Keili Shepherd was 62nd overall in a time of 30 minutes 59 seconds.
The Gee Gee men were represented by Alex Berhe and Ziyad El-Hankouri who were tightly bunched, finishing 79th and 82nd respectively. Berhe completed the 10 kilometre course in a time of 33:34, 9 seconds ahead of El-Hankouri.
The cross country season will culminate in two weeks time at the Canadian Championships to be held at the historic Fort Henry in Kingston.

Joe Fast is starting to develop a very good habit. The grade 10 student at Ridgemont High School was victorious Saturday in the junior boy’s race at the OFSAA Cross Country Championships.
It was the third successive gold at a provincial high school championship for the 15 year old after claiming midget boys cross country and 1500m gold as a grade 9 student.
Fast was able to complete the 5km course in a time of 18 minutes 22.9 seconds, more than 12 seconds ahead of second place finisher Matthew Lampard. Fast’s club teammates Adam Sanger (8th) and Zachary Meredith (14th) were also able to crack the top 15.
Also notable performances came from the duo of Katie Newlove (St. Peter’s) and Skye Pellerin (St. Francis Xavier) who finished 5th and 6th respectively. Newlove finished the 5km course in a time of 21 minutes 38.1 seconds, less than five seconds off the podium. Pellerin was a mere 1.4 seconds behind Newlove.
Next up on the cross country schedule for club athletes will be the Canadian Championships at the historic Fort Henry in Kingston on November 25.
 
 

Ottawa Lions athletes have once again put on an excellent display of athletic prowess over the past year, while coaches and volunteers continue to show the tremendous dedication that has made our club Canada’s best. On November 18 we will gather at the RA Centre to celebrate these many excellent achievements.
Athletic awards will be presented for top athletes in the various age categories as well as acknowledging top performers in paralympic events, cross country, road running and the combined events. As well, the Sean Cole Memorial Award will be handed out for dedication to club service.
Tickets are $35 each and include dinner, dessert and great company. There are a limited amount of tickets and they will be available on a first come first serve basis.
Please RSVP to kthomas@ottawalions.com with the amount of tickets you would like to reserve.
Details:
2017 Ottawa Lions Awards Banquet
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Reception: Doors open at 5pm with dinner and awards to follow at 6pm
RA Centre
2451 Riverside Dr, Ottawa, ON
Tickets: $35 (Cash, Cheque, E-Transfer)
 
 

If you happened to wonder what some of the loud clapping and cheering from the infield at Terry Fox was all about Tuesday night, wonder no longer. Olympian Sekou Kaba got down on one knee and proposed to long term girlfriend and Lions coach Kashani Thomas. She said “Yes! Of course! Of course! Of course!” by the way.
It wasn’t quite what Thomas was expecting when she showed up early to practice for what she thought was a mini documentary about her coaching experience with friend and videographer Andrew Szeto.
Kaba had different plans, telling the camera, “Today we are proposing to Kashani Thomas,” Sekou continues, “It’s going to be amazing. Hopefully she says yes,” before breaking into laughter.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itJfgl27iGQ&w=560&h=315] The pair met as teenagers during practice 10 years ago at the Dome @ Louis Riel. As Thomas describes it, she spotted him in the weight room, proceeded to walk up to him and ask, “Do you need a ride home? I know I don’t like know you or anything, but my mom can give you a drive home if you need a ride home.” The pair have been together ever since.
After she said yes, and hugs and kisses were shared, Thomas came to a realization. “What the heck Sekou? How am I supposed to coach now? I can’t coach them now,” as she wiped the tears of excitement from her eyes. Ever the supportive fiancé, Kaba simply retorted, “You have to.”
Congratulations to the happy couple from the entire Lions pride.
 
 
 
 

When Athletics Ontario convened last week to honour the province’s best athletes, four Lions athletes were recognized for their outstanding performances on the track and in the field in 2017.
Canada’s best 800m runner ever, Melissa Bishop, was again recognized as Ontario’s best senior female distance runner. For the third year in a row, Bishop lowered the Canadian record for 800m, running 1:57.01 at the Monaco Diamond League Meeting in July. In addition to her new national record, the Eganville native captured her fourth Canadian 800m title in Ottawa along with a 5th place finish at the IAAF World Championships in London.
Tim Nedow was also a repeat winner at the awards ceremony, taking home the award senior men’s throws category for the sixth straight year. Nedow was a double medalist at the Canadian Championships, picking up a silver in the discus and capturing his 5th straight shot put gold. The Brockville native also placed 16th in the shot put at the World Championship.
It was a triumphant return from retirement for Jason Dunkerley in 2017 as he was named the top male para track athlete. Just nine months after retiring from international competition, Dunkerley teamed up with guide Jeremie Venne to finish second in the T11 1500m at the IPC World Championships . It was Dunkerley’s sixth career world championship medal.
The final award was bestowed upon Sharelle Samuel who was named the province’s top youth girl sprinter. Samuel had a breakout season in 2017, highlighted by a silver medal in the 400m hurdles at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Nassau, Bahamas. It took a lifetime best performance of 59.59 seconds to find her way on to the podium, which was also the fourth best performance in club history. In addition, Samuel was also a double bronze medalist (400m/400mH) at the Canadian Junior Championships.

Things appeared to get off to a great start for Joe Fast on Friday at the National Legion Championships in Brandon, Manitoba on Friday. The provincial silver medalist in the Under 16 1200m had appeared to have taken gold, but upon further review, Fast would be disqualified under IAAF rule 163.2b – jostling.
However, Fast was quick to rebound Saturday in the 2000m event, running to a silver medal in a personal best time of 5 minutes 47.64 seconds. Fast’s performance was nearly three seconds ahead of his previous best, set at the Ontario Legion Championships in July.
Fast came up just short in a bid to add to the medal collection on Sunday when he finished fourth in the 800m in a time of 2:01.11.
Also competing in Brandon was Aidan McMann. The thrower from Immaculata High School finished ninth in both under 18 boys discus and shot put, missing out on the final in the latter event by a mere five centimetres.
Sprinter Noah Regnier had a top finish of 15th in the under 18 boys 400m with a time of 51.70 seconds.