By Dan Plouffe of Ottawa Sportpage
Seeded fourth in the women’s 800 metres, Melissa Bishop of the Ottawa Lions Track-and-Field Club bolted down the home stretch to gold on Wednesday night at York University as the Ottawa medal haul hit a remarkable total of 20 with four days left in the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games.
“There are so many fans here and I have a lot of people from home and friends and family all around (the stadium),” noted Bishop, who ran a blazing 1 minute, 59.52-second time for her two-lap race and then a snail-pace victory lap as she stopped for hugs in the audience almost every step of the way. “It was so great to have that connection with everybody, and I’m really grateful for it.”
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Lions pair bag pair of medals to kick off TO2015 track-and-field
By Dan Plouffe of Ottawa Sportspage
It wasn’t the best performances of their careers, but the Ottawa Lions throws tandem of Tim Nedow and Sultana Frizell both experienced career highlights nonetheless on Tuesday evening at York University as they won silver and bronze medals respectively at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games.
Nedow’s medal came in his first of two events during the five-day Pan Am track-and-field programme, placing 2nd in the men’s shotput with a toss of 20.53 metres.
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Lions win 17 medals at Canadian Masters
Ottawa Lions athletes picked up 17 medals at this weekend’s Canadian Masters Track and Field Championships in St. Catherine’s, just one behind last year’s haul. Among the haul was nine gold, five silver and three bronze, with jumper Stan Seitz picking up two gold and a silver himself.
For athletes Wendy Alexis, Dave Kary and Robert Muir, the championship was a final prep for the upcoming World Masters Championships taking place in Lyon, France, August 4-16. All three picked up championship medals on the weekend, with Alexis picking up gold in the W60 100m and a silver in the 200m, while Muir (M45) and Kary (M55) each picked up medals in the 1500m.
The complete list of medal winners was as follows:
Linda Tauvette, W55, 100m – Gold
Linda Tauvette, W55, 200m – Gold
Wendy Alexis, W60, 100m – Gold
Wendy Alexis, W60, 200m – Silver
Joe Paialunga, M55, 100m – Silver
Joe Paialunga, M55, 200m – Gold
Marino Sani, M55, 100m – Bronze
Marino Sani, M55, 200m – Bronze
Robert Muir, M45, 1500m – Silver
Dave Kary, M55, 1500m – Bronze
Jean Ferguson, W55, 5000m – Silver
Stan Seitz, M65, High Jump – Silver
Stan Seitz, M65, Pole Vault – Gold
Stan Seitz, M65, Long Jump – Gold
Laura Baker, W30, Long Jump – Gold
Laura Baker, W30, Triple Jump – Gold
Bob Stavely, M80, Javelin – Gold
McCulloch and Christie-Galloway shine in Colombia
Running in Thursday’s semi-finals, Christie-Galloway was unable to replicate her performance of the day before, posting a time of 13.71 seconds and finishing sixth in her heat. She would not advance, finishing 19th overall. “I didn’t get a great start, but it was a great learning experience that makes me want to get faster,” said Keira. “Overall this has been a wonderful experience.”
For Shona McCulloch, some issues with over hydration impacted her performance as she crossed the line of the 3000m in 11th place. McCulloch’s time of 9 minutes 44.74 seconds was well off her personal best of 9:26.50 set just one month ago in Ottawa, and her comments on Twitter following the race reflected that reality. “It wasn’t my best race but I’m thankful for the opportunity to compete in a world class event!”
The two women were joined in Cali by jumps coach Leslie Estwick, making them the largest Lions contingent at the World Youth Championships since the 2007 championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic when the club was represented by Karelle Edwards, Oluwasegun Makinde, Kyle Milks and coach Darcy Cumming.
Bishop Breaks Record in Luzern
“More races. Get sharp.” That’s what 800m runner Melissa Bishop had to say when Flotrack asked her what she needed to get in the 1:59’s after winning in Madrid on Sunday in 2:00.13. What Bishop didn’t realize is it would only take one race, breaking her own club and provincial record Tuesday night in Luzern. The Eganville native crossed the line in 1 minute 59.52 seconds to finish third at the Spitzen Leichtathletik Meeting. The previous record of 1:59.70 was set at the NTL Victoria last season.
At the 400m mark, Bishop sat in fifth, but was already making her move to catch up to the lead pack, which hit the bell at 56.5 seconds. “It got out hard. I kept moving with the pack”, said the 2012 Olympian. “Felt like I got a little boxed in off the corner with 100m to go, but I’ve just got to respond to that.” Respond she did, as lane one opened up, Melissa sprinted home for third.
Looking forward, Bishop will race next week at the Pan Am Games in Toronto with the semi-finals taking place Tuesday at York University, with the goal of making a run for gold in the final on Wednesday night. “It’s going to be great. I mean home town crowd, home field advantage. It works to my advantage.”
Seven Lions Confirm Spots on Team Canada
The final two days of the 2015 Canadian Track and Field Championships brought about 14 Championship medals for the Ottawa Lions and included seven Lions securing spots on Team Canada for the upcoming Pan American Junior Championships and IAAF World Championships in China this August.
Among the senior ranks, a club record four athletes secured their ticket to the Bird’s Nest in Beijing – highlighted by gold medal victories from throwers Sultana Frizell and Tim Nedow. Frizell secured her sixth Canadian title on her first throw Saturday night – 70.59m. The Perth native would extend her lead to 70.97m in the second round to win by more than four metres.
Like Frizell, Nedow was the class of the shot put competition, winning the competition on his first throw – 19.38m. However, in the fifth round, the Commonwealth bronze medalist would put the shot out to a club record 20.53m to confirm his third straight national title. Tim had previously set the club record earlier this season at the Kansas Relays with a throw of 20.51m.
Also securing her berth was Melissa Bishop by virtue of a silver medal in the 800m. Bishop, was looking for a three peat in the 800m, but was narrowly out kicked at the line by Fiona Benson of B.C. – 2:08.52 to 2:08.60. In the men’s 110m hurdle final, Sekou Kaba ran the race of his life, setting a new club record of 13.43 seconds to capture bronze in one of the strongest national finals in history. Kaba was ecstatic about the performance, taking to Twitter afterwards, saying, “As much as I hate to lose, I accept tonight’s L with great pride. PB, club record, World Champs standard and Olympic standard…..just wow!”
In the Junior Championships, both Matt Bedard and Claire Smith ran to victory on Sunday afternoon to secure their spots on Team Canada for the Pan Am Junior Championships. Bedard, who just finished his freshman year at North Dakota State University, stumbled over hurdle nine before regaining his stride and sprinting across the line in 52.74 seconds. Smith was a little more decisive in her victory, as she broke from the pack with less than three laps to go and ran to a comfortable victory in 9:49.87.
Rounding out the list of athletes to earn their spot on Team Canada was Erinn Stenman-Fahey, who qualified for the national junior team for the second year in a row after finishing second in the 800m. The future Iowa State Cyclone found herself in a one on one battle down the home stretch with future teammate Evelyne Guay, but Guay was able to sneak out the victory – 2:10.15 to 2:10.46.
Other medal winners from the Saturday and Sunday’s competition include:
Shanna Boutilier Para Ambulatory 200m – Gold
Josh Cassidy T54 5000m – Gold
Stuart McGregor Para Ambulatory 400m – Gold
Josh Cassidy T54 1500m – Silver
Larissa Brown Para Ambulatory 200m – Silver
Jon Dunkerley Para Ambulatory 200m – Bronze
Lions Grab 11 medals on first two days of Canadian championships
The second day of the Canadian Track and Field Championships ended with a bang, even after the lightning storm, as high jumper Steve Nkusi and discus thrower Tim Nedow were each crowned Canadian Champion.
It was a virtually clean sheet which led to Nkusi’s victory in the junior high jump, missing only his first attempt at 1.95m, before clearing each of his remaining heights on the first attempt – putting the pressure on his competitors. After securing the win with his 2.06m clearance, the University of Ottawa student pushed the bar up to a new personal best height of 2.12m – narrowly missing on his final attempt. With the win, Nkusi has now qualified to represent Canada at the Pan American Junior Championships at the end of July.
For Tim Nedow, his victory in Friday night’s senior men’s discus competition marked his third straight national championship in the event and his first since returning to compete with the Ottawa Lions. Nedow’s winning throw of 60.09m came in the fifth round after sitting in second behind Jordan Young of York University until that point. Nedow will compete in his speciality, the shot put Sunday, where he will be going for his third straight national championship as well.
In para events, Lions athletes grabbed a total of nine medals over the first two days, including five gold medals. Grabbing multiple golds was Shanna Boutilier who picked up titles in the para ambulatory 400m and 800m. Boutilier was joined on the 400m podium by teammate Larissa Brown (silver) after Larissa had captured gold in her speciality – the 100m.
The men’s para ambulatory 1500m also brought multiple medals back to Ottawa, led by Paralympic medalist Stuart McGregor who waited until the bell lap before kicking away from teammate Tommy Des Brisay to win in 4:20.30. Des Brisay picked up the silver in 4:29.48. In the 5000m, Jason Dunkerley and guide Joshua Karanja easily captured gold in 16 minutes 20.85 seconds.
The final medal came from wheelchair racer, Joshua Cassidy, who battled tooth and nail to the finish with Alexandre Dupont of Quebec before narrowly edged out of gold – 1:40.91 to 1:41.10.
Nkusi, Bedard and Gardner Crack Top 10 at Twilight #3
Seven Lions named to Pan Am Games Team
On Sunday a record six Lion athletes were named to represent Canada at the upcoming Pan American Games in Toronto. The Lions contingent is lead by defending hammer throw silver medalist, Sultana Frizell. This will be the third Pan Am Games for the Perth native, who was also a seventh place finisher eight years ago in Rio de Janerio. Frizell will be joined by Commonwealth Games medalist Tim Nedow, who will compete in both the shot put and discus and 2012 Olympian Melissa Bishop in the 800m.
Making their Pan Am Games debut will be sprint hurdler Sekou Kaba and decathlete Patrick Arbour. Both men have experience in a multi sport games environment as Kaba was Francophone Games champion in 2013, while Arbour was an eighth place finisher at the World University Games in 2013.
The athlete contingent is completed with the addition of Michael Robertson who will once again represent Canada on the 4x400m relay team. It was four years ago when Mike received his first major senior appointment to the Pan Am team in Mexico where he helped the Canadian team to a seventh place finish.
Also named to the team is relay coach Glenroy Gilbert who has recently retaken the lead of the Canadian men’s 4x100m relay program. Gilbert is also the only Lion to ever win Pan Am gold, taking the 100m title at the 1995 Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina.
For the full Athletics Canada press release, please click here.
GARCIA SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS AND RODRIGUEZ REGAINS TITLE AT NACAC CAPITAL CUP
Cuba’s Yordanis Garcia claimed his third consecutive title and Yorgelis Rodriguez regained hers at the NACAC Capital Cup Combined Events Invitational, an IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting, held in Ottawa on June 19-20.
Garcia achieved his most comfortable victory in Ottawa, due in part to Grenada’s day-one leader Kurt Felix failing to achieve a valid clearance in the pole vault.
After trailing Commonwealth bronze medallist Felix by almost 200 points on day one, Garcia made up substantial ground in the 110m hurdles with the fastest time among all athletes with a season’s best of 14.00.
But Felix, who clocked 15.15 in the sprint hurdles, extended his lead once more in the discus, throwing a lifetime best of 45.76m, almost six metres farther than Garcia’s best, 40.09m.
Felix’s failed attempts over 4.10m in the pole vault led the way for Garcia to move to the lead for the first time. He equalled his personal best of 4.90m, a height he had not cleared since 2011.
He went on to win comfortably with 7977, his lowest winning score in Ottawa but enough to win by more than 400 points. Dominican Republic’s Juan Carlos de la Cruz improved his pole vault and 1500m bests en route to a national record of 7504 for silver, 21 points ahead of USA’s Kevin Lazas.
“I am happy with the win,” said two-time Olympian Garcia. “Things did not work out as anticipated, but this is preparation for the Pan American Games. It was nice to clear 4.90m in the pole vault. If Felix had a valid clearance, things would have been much closer.”
Second in Rio de Janeiro 2007 and third in Guadalajara 2011, he is eying the pan-American gold in Toronto. “The gold is my goal. I will focus on those events where I can score higher: 100m, 400m and hurdles,” he said. “But I am also concerned about a shoulder pain today that affected my performance in the javelin.”
Rodriguez pulls away from Osazuwa
In the heptathlon, Uhunoma Osazuwa – who shared the lead with Rodriguez after day one – left the Cuban in second place after dominating the long jump with 6.09m, the only woman to jump beyond six metres.
But 2012 world junior champion Rodriguez responded by throwing the javelin to 42.82m, four more meters than Osazuwa, and then running the 800m three seconds faster than the Nigerian to secure her second win in four years.
The 2014 world junior silver medallist totalled 6068 and broke the competition record of 6063, set by Sharon Day in 2009. The Nigerian was rewarded with the second 6000-point heptathlon of her career, 6008, just 41 points shy of her own national record.
“It is important to win again here after missing last year’s edition,” said Rodriguez, who was just short of the 6096 season’s best she score in Gotzis last month. “I am satisfied overall. My goal was to score higher than Gotzis. I guess I was a bit anxious today after a good first day.
“It builds my confidence in preparation for my first Pan American Games,” she added. “I am looking forward to Toronto and reaching the Olympic standard there. Between now and the Games, I will focus on the long jump and the hurdles.”
The event also served as the Canadian Combined Events Championships. Third overall, Maddie Buttinger improved her heptathlon personal best to 5643 to dethrone last year’s winner Jillian Drouin. Patrick Arbour was the country’s top decathlon scorer with 7147.
Third overall after the first day, 2012 Olympic finalist Jessica Zelinka did not start on Saturday as she continues to recover from ankle and achilles problems in preparation for the Pan American Games in Toronto.
The NACAC Capital Cup Combined Events Invitational has attracted more than 40 athletes from nine countries in the youth, junior and open categories. The competition ends on Sunday with the youth and junior categories.