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Championship weekend has come to a close and Lions athletes walked away with two silver medals from the Canadian Interuniversity (CIS) and NCAA Championships. Divya Biswal leapt to a silver at the NCAA Division III Championships while Ashley Connell grabbed her silver in the CIS women’s shot put.
Competing in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Saturday, Divya Biswal bounded out to a distance of 12.17m in the fourth round to secure her fourth national medal for St. Lawrence University. The distance also extended her own school record. The previous day, the fourth year student put forth a seasonal best effort of 5.46m in the long jump to finish seventh overall. For efforts at the championship, Biswal was awarded two All-American distinctions, pushing her career total to seven.
In Windsor, at the CIS Championships, thrower Ashley Connell rebounded from a disappointing seventh place finish in the weight throw to win her first CIS medal with a new lifetime best of 14.62m. The distance moved Connell, a second year student at the University of Guelph, into sixth on the Lions all-time list and also moved her into eighth in CIS Championship history.
In the women’s 60 meter hurdles, Devyani Biswal narrowly wedged her way into the final, grabbing the seventh and final spot. However, she proved she belonged, speeding to a new lifetime best of 8.53 seconds to finish fifth overall. The fourth year Gee-Gee must really enjoy the Windsor track as her previous best was set two years prior on the same track when she won OUA bronze. Alexia Lamothe, a freshman at the University of Windsor, finished 13th overall.
After meddling at the OUA championships two weeks prior, the University of Ottawa women’s 4x800m relay team was looking to get back on the podium. Despite the second best performance in school history, the quartet of Charlotte Gardner, Chelsea Gillies, Clare McGrath, and Lina Sadqi would settle for fifth overall with a time of 9:02.16. With at least three of the four expected to return next year, the future looks bright for another medal opportunity.
As the lone male representative, pole vaulter Nelson Cecereu did not disappoint as he leapt to a new lifetime best of 4.72m. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the fourth year Gee Gee as it took him three attempts to clear his opening height of 4.42m. The clearance put Cecereu in seventh overall on the count back and reaffirmed his third place position on the Lions all-time list.
Other results from the weekend included:
7th place – Women’s 4x400m relay – University of Ottawa 3:53.40 (Gift Okankwu, Charlotte Gardner, Chelsea Gillies, Charifa Labarang
8th place – Women’s 600m – Charlotte Gardner 1:34.41
11th place – Women’s Pole Vault – Felicite Kokron 3.41m
Lindsay Brandys, a freshman at the University of Toronto, ran in the women’s 4x200m preliminaries for the Varsity Blues. The Varsity Blues were also crowned CIS Women’s Track and Field Champions.

The Dome Super Saturday Series ended with a bang this past weekend with no less than 15 Dome records falling by the wayside. Leading the way was 15 year old Lauren Gale who broke no less than six age group records across the 100m, 200m and 400m.
With a new lifetime best in the 100m of 12.26 seconds, Gale took nearly three tenths off the previous standard set by fellow Lion, Shelani Fernando in 2010. As the distance expanded, Lauren’s performances kept improving as she took down both the midget and youth 200m records with a new personal best of 24.79 seconds. Saving the best for last, Gale sped to a 55.75 second clocking in the 400m, removing three and a quarter seconds off Fiona Callendar’s eight year old midget record. The time took down the youth and junior marks as well.
In each race, Gale finished second to Farah Jacques, who took down a few records of her own. With a time of 11.86 seconds in the 100m, Jacques, erased Genevieve Thibault’s nine year old standard of 11.88. While Jacques narrowly missed out on the 200m record, she managed to improve on the 400m record by more than half a second with her run of 54.53 seconds.
Below is a list of other Dome records broken by Lions athletes on Saturday:
Keira Christie-Galloway – Youth Girls 100mH 14.24 – Old Record 14.39 Ashlea Maddex 2009
Jeremie Venne – Open Men Mile 4:17.39 – Old Record 4:19.24 Allen Brett 2006
Jeremie Venne – Junior Men Mile 4:17.39 – Old Record 4:19.24 Allen Brett 2006
Owen Day – Youth Boys Mile 4:39.55 – Old Record 4:44.32 Ian Donald 2006
Jonathan Rioux – Midget Boys Mile 4:40.95 – Old Record 4:44.32 Ian Donald 2006
Erinn Stenman-Fahey – Open Women Mile 5:06.83 – Old Record 5:11.47 Janine MacLeod 2006
Erinn Stenman-Fahey – Junior Women Mile 5:06.83 – Old Record 5:36.72 Emma Norman 2005
Erinn Stenman-Fahey – Youth Girls Mile 5:09.66 – Old Record 5:36.72 Emma Norman 2005
Erinn Stenman-Fahey – Midget Girls Mile 5:09.66 – Old Record 5:36.72 Emma Norman 2005
 

It was conference championship weekend across most of North America and Lions athletes made themselves known, picking up 12 medals. 2 conference records and 1 school record. At the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championships at York University, Devyani Biswal got things started Friday night by running a seasonal best in the 60m hurdles, 8.66 seconds, to win bronze.
Biswal’s was the first of three bronze medals picked up Friday night. She was followed up by Ashley Connell who had the second best throw of her life in the shot put with a heave of 14.22m for third. Closing things out Friday was the quartet of Charlotte Gardner, Chelsea Gillies, Clare McGrath, and Jennifer Murawsky who decimated the previous University of Ottawa record in the 4x800m on their way to third place. Finishing in 8:58.73, the Gee-Gee time was about four and a half seconds faster than the previous standard.
Four more bronze were picked up Saturday, as Ashley Connell kicked things off in the first event, repeating her placing from the day before with a new personal best in the weight throw. Next, Nelson Cecereu picked up his first OUA medal with a 4.55m clearance in the pole vault, while the final medals came from relays. Running with the University of Toronto, Lindsay Brandys anchored her 4x200m team to bronze and a CIS Championship berth, while the University of Ottawa women’s 4x400m team of Gift Okankwu, Charlotte Gardner, Chelsea Gillies and Dominique Martel-Lamothe also finished third in a season best time of 3:52.92
South of the border, Divya Biswal had a big weekend at the New York State Collegiate Track Conference Indoor Championships in Rochester, where she captured gold in the 60 metre hurdles, long jump and triple jump for the St. Lawrence Saints, including notching a conference record in the hurdle prelims. For her success, Biswal was named top field performer of the meet.
In New York City, the Lions were represented by Adam Palamar and Emma Galbraith, both competing for the University of Tulsa, at the American Conference Championships. Palamar, who joined the sub 4-minute mile club earlier this season, captured the conference mile title in a time of 4:04.88, taking almost eight and a half seconds off the previous standard. The red shirt sophomore narrowly missed out on a second medal in the 3000m, finishing fourth in a personal best 8 minutes 13.70 seconds, two seconds out of bronze. Galbraith ran the third leg on the Tulsa distance medley relay team, as they won the event by more than four seconds.
Also of note south of the border was Olivia Robertson’s performance at the Big 12 Championships. Running on her home track in Ames, the Iowa State freshman finished eighth overall in 3000m. Robertson’s time of 9:32.82 now ranks her eighth in club history.
The Lions will host their final home meet of the indoor season this Saturday at the Dome @ Louis Riel.

It may not have been like any cross country meet she’s run in Canada, but 17 year old Claire Smith performed well in the inaugural Panamerican Cross Country Championships Saturday in Barranquilla, Colombia. The grade 12 student completed the 5km course of sand, grass and brush in 17 minutes 36 seconds to  finish 16th out of 48 competitors in the junior race. While temperatures hovered above 30 degrees Celsius, the Canadian team held strong, winning the team title with a stingy 24 points, narrowly edging out the Americans who were second with 27.
Back in Canada, efforts were split between the AC Indoor Open in Montreal,the Ontario Masters Championships in Toronto and the OUA/CIS Last Chance Meet being held at the Dome here in Ottawa.
In Montreal, the story of the weekend for the club was undoubtedly grade nine student Lauren Gale who won double gold in the youth girls 200m and 400m. Lauren opened things up with victory in the 400m on Saturday, besting the field by nearly two seconds to win in 56.80. The time now ranks as the second fastest by a youth aged runner in Canada this year. Gale managed to improve on Saturday’s performance, winning the 200m in a personal best time of 25.22 seconds to take over the top spot in this year’s national rankings.
Also taking home gold in Montreal was grade 10 student Shona McCulloch, as she captured the junior women’s 3000m title quite handily Saturday night in 9:52.19. She was joined on the podium by teammate Alexa Livingstone who was third in 10:31.83. Livingstone also captured a bronze in the 1500m on Friday night. Farah Abdul-Karim front ran the junior men’s 3000m to take home gold in 8 minutes 59.68 seconds.
Other medalists from the championship included hurdlers Keira Christie-Galloway (silver – youth girls) and Karelle Edwards (bronze – open women) as well as Oluwasegun Makinde (bronze – men’s 400m) and Jeremie Venne (silver – men’s 800m).
At the provincial masters championships, club athletes garnered seven medals, including three gold. The team was lead by world champion sprinter Wendy Alexis who swept the women’s 55 60m and 200m sprints with times of 8.70 and 30.12 seconds respectively. The other gold came from Robert Muir who won the men’s 45 1500m in 4 minutes 17.59 seconds.
In Ottawa, it was all about the field events where two University of Ottawa Gee-Gee records were broken as well as one Dome record. Gee-Gee pole vaulter Felicite Kokron kicked things off with a 3.46m clearance to take sole claim of the school record. Earlier this season, Kokron had equalled the previous standard of 3.45m set by Melinda Rock in 2012. The other Gee-Gee record came from Corey Wingate, who added nearly a full meter to the school’s best in the weight throw with his toss of 14.54m. Decathlete Patrick Arbour had set the previous mark of 13.55m in 2007. Also making a mark in the weight throw was Tanya Coulter, who extended her own Youth Dome record to 13.78m – an almost full meter improvement.
Lions return to action next weekend at the OUA Championships at York University while the last home meet of the season is scheduled for two weeks time, on Saturday, March 7.

The Ottawa Lions will host their Annual General Meeting on the evening of Monday, March 2, 2015 at 7:00pm. The meeting will take place at École Secondaire Louis-Riel. All members are invited to attend.
Details
Annual General Meeting
École Secondaire Louis-Riel
1655 Bearbrook CH, Gloucester, ON
7:00pm
March 2, 2015
Room TBA
March 2015 AGM Agenda
March 2014 AGM Meeting Minutes

They say records are made to broken, but at Saturday’s University of Ottawa Winter National Invitational three young Lions smashed some of the longest standing age class records at the Louis Riel Dome.
In the women’s 600m, former Lion Fiona Callender took the race out quickly, leading through the first 450m until Erinn Stenman-Fahey began her kick for home. By the time Erinn hit the homestretch, she had firmly grasped the lead, and did not relent in her push to the finish line – winning in 1:29.86. With the time, Stenman-Fahey became the first junior to ever break the 1:30 barrier at the Dome, taking more than two seconds off the previous record of 1:32.10 set by Julia Tousaw in 2008.
It was a battle of two of Canada’s top young distance runner’s in the youth girls 3000m as Ottawa’s Shona McCulloch squared off against Kingston’s Branna MacDougall. In a back and forth battle, it was McCulloch who prevailed, taking the race in 9:44.31, a half second ahead of MacDougall. With the time, McCulloch bested the previous youth and junior record of 9:48.82 set by Danelle Woods back in 2006. The Longfields Davidson grade 10 student know owns the midget, youth and junior 3000m records at the Dome.
Also setting records across multiple age categories was Lauren Gale, who dominated the youth girls 300m, winnig in an impressive 39.13 seconds. So dominate was Gale’s performance that her next closest competitor was nearly two and a half seconds behind. In addition to bettering her own midget record, Lauren also took down the youth and junior records. Her time stands as the second fastest in Canada for girls under 18 as well as one of the top five fastest times over the past six years.
The Lions return to action this Friday and Saturday as they head to Boston for the BU Valentine Invitational.

It was big lights, fast city for the group of Ottawa athletes who headed to the Big Apple over the weekend to compete at the Amory Invitational. The competition, one the most well attended south of the border, featured many top flight track and field programs.
It was a breakthrough meet for hurdlers Sekou Kaba and Karelle Edwards as both athletes posted lifetime bests on the way to earning top five finishes. Both athletes cruised through the opening round before setting personal bests in the semi-finals on Friday afternoon.
For Kaba, it was a return to form that saw him claim CIS gold last March as the University of Ottawa graduate sped to a time of 7.77 seconds in the semi-final to qualify second to Saturday’s final. The time currently ranks Kaba second best in Canada. In the final, he finished fifth in the third fastest time of his life – 7.82 seconds.
In Karelle Edwards’ semi-final, she sped her way to a time of 8.40 seconds to qualify seventh to the final and move her to third in the Canadian rankings. She would equal her previous best of 8.44 seconds en-route to finishing fourth.
Also excelling on the sprint straightaway was Farah Jacques who finished sixth in the women’s 60m final with a time of 7.55 seconds. Jacques qualified for the final with a time 7.49 to equal her personal best set the week before in Montreal. The Gatineau native also finished 15th in the 400m in 56.26 seconds.
In the men’s 400m, Michael Robertson was the top Ottawa finisher, crossing the line in 48.17 seconds to finish 5th.
Two other noteworthy performances came from University of Ottawa relay teams. In the women’s 4x200m, the team of Charifa Labarang, Devyani Biswal, Gift Okankwu and Charlotte Gardner took more than half a second off the previous standard, finishing 11th in 1:41.81. The school record had previously been set in 2009 at the OUA Championships.
Demonstrating some range, Gardner would lead off the 4x800m relay team to the third fastest time in school history. Joined by Chelsea Gillies, Anais Leroy and Isabelle Kanz, the quartet completed the 3200m race in 9 minutes 7. 17 seconds. The time has only been bettered by the team of Emilie Halle, Julia Tousaw, Jennie Biewald and Jacqueline Malette on their way to OUA and CIS silvers.
Back in Ontario, Ashley Connell set a new lifetime best in the shot put with a throw of 14.16m to finish fourth at the York Open. Connell, a sophmore at the University of Guelph, is currently ranked third in the CIS.
The Lions return to action this Friday and Saturday as they host the University of Ottawa Winter Invitational. Competition starts Friday night at 6pm with the start of the pentathlon.

It was a packed house Wednesday night for the 62nd annual Ottawa Sports Awards banquet at Algonquin College. As the local community gathered to celebrate the best of amateur sport in the nation’s capital, the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club was once again front and center, with current and former athletes being recognized more than half a dozen times throughout the ceremony.
Commonwealth Games champion and Canadian record holder in the hammer throw, Sultana Frizell took home the title of top athlete in athletics for 2014. The Perth native was rewarded for the best season of her career, which included finishing the season as the fourth best hammer thrower globally. For her efforts, Frizell was also one of six females nominated for female athlete of the year.
Distance runner Claire Smith was recognized twice on the evening for both her individual success as well as the leader of her high school cross country team at Glebe Collegiate. Smith was named the top cross country athlete for the second year in a row following her success on the international stage in 2014 where she captured a bronze medal at the North American, Central American and Caribbean championships as well as helping Canada to team gold. In addition, Smith and her Glebe teammates were recognized for their senior girls and overall girls team titles at the OFSAA XC Championships this past November.
On the road, Tommy Des Brisay was the star of the city in 2014. Among Tommy’s many accomplishments this past year included his debut in the marathon where he finished 28th overall in Ottawa Race Weekend Marathon with a time of 2 hours 39 minutes 21.1 seconds. Other notable performances for which he was recognized for included winning the Goode Run 10km, the Wakefield 10 mile, and the 9 run run half marathon.
The final current athlete to win an individual award was Joshua Cassidy, named top parasport athlete for 2014. Cassidy’s year included a top six performance in the T54 1500m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as well as top 20 international rankings in the 1500m, 5000m, and 10,000m. Cassidy was also the Canadian T54 5000m champion for 2014.
Also recognized Wednesday night were Cody Sorensen, Jonah Shaffer and Angelo Gavillucci. Sorensen, a former sprint hurdler, was honoured for his exploits in bobsled which included multiple top 10 finishes on the world cup circuit as well a birth in the Olympic Games. Jonah Shaffer, a long time member of the club’s Speed for Sport program, took home the title of Ottawa’s top water skier. Jonah finished the year as the world’s 4th-ranked U21 following many top-10 finishes both nationally and internationally. For the former para thrower, Gavillucci, it was his body of work that was recognized. Angelo received a special recognition award for his more than two decades of work in sledge hockey. His involvement has included participation in two Paralympic Games, and many World Championships.
 

Ottawa athletes finished up day two of the McGill Team Challenge on Saturday with seven medals highlighted by two new meet records. Added to the five medals on Friday night brought the club’s total to 12 for the meet.
Sekou Kaba kicked things off with a blast claiming gold in the 60m hurdles in a meet record 7.86 seconds. The effort was so dominating, Kaba’s margin of victory was nearly a quarter of a second over Toronto’s Brandon Wilson. The previous meet record of 7.87 had stood for 15 years, set by Andrew Lissade in 2000. Also in the hurdles, Karelle Edwards took home silver in the women’s event with a seasonal best time of 8.58 seconds.
Also setting a meet record was the 4x400m team of Oluwasegun Makinde, Gabriel Tesfaye, Denray Jean-Jacques and Michael Robertson who clocked 3 minutes 17.28 seconds for the eight lap event. The time eclipsed the previous standard of 3:17.77 set in 2001, also held by the Ottawa Lions.
The other gold medalist of the day was sprinter Farah Jacques, who followed up her victory in the 60m with one in the 300m. Jacques set a new lifetime best on her way to victory, crossing the line in 38.32 seconds. The time also moves Farah into second on the club’s all-time list behind World Championship 400m runner, Esther Akinsulie.
The remaining medals on Saturday came from sprinter Michael Robertson, thrower Ashley Connell and the University of Ottawa women’s 4x400m relay team. Robertson finished second in the 600m in 1:19.84 while Connell’s final effort of 14.09m in the shot put left her just 2cm out of gold.  The Gee Gee relay team of Dominique Martel-Lamothe, Chelsea Gillies, Charlotte Gardner and Gift Okwankwu edged out their bronze, running 3:58.28 – just 0.02 seconds ahead of fourth place Guelph.
Another noteworthy performance from the weekend came from distance runner Olivia Robertson, competing for Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Robertson, a freshman, finished fourth in the mile with a time of 4:53.97. Robertson, who had missed all of the 2014 outdoor season due to injury,  now moves in to seventh in club history with her time.
Lions athletes return to action this weekend at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the famed Armory in New York City.
To see photos of the McGill competition, please checkout our Facebook page, facebook.com/ottawalionstfc
 

If you’ve ever been, the McGill Team Challenge can be in just three words – “doooown the backstretch!” However, it wasn’t just the backstretch that was good to club athletes as they captured five medals on day one of Canada’s largest indoor track and field meet.
Things got kicked off on the sprint straightaway with both Farah Jacques and Oluwasegun Makinde cracking the top three. Jacques was the class of the women’s 60m field, winning in very dominating fashion with a time of 7.49. She finished 0.13 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor, while equaling her personal best set last February. For Makinde, he finished third in the men’s 60m in 6.92 seconds. He had run 6.88 in the heats.
The ladies of the University of Ottawa picked up medals in each of the two relays held tonight – the 4x200m and 4x800m. The team of Charifa Labarang, Devyani Biswal, Gift Okwanku and Alannah McBride finished third overall after winning the slow heat. The quartet’s time of 1:42.91 equalled the fifth fastest and school history and now puts them fourth in the CIS rankings.
The women’s 4x800m team of Lina Sadqi, Clare McGrath, Chelsea Gillies and Charlotte Gardner were left to run on their own for most of the race, finishing third in 9:21.36. The time now ranks the Gee-Gees sixth in the CIS and also the fifth fastest in school history.
The final medal came in the high jump as Steve Nkusi was clear through 1.93 to finish in a four way tie for third. Nkusi is currently ranked fourth in the CIS with a best jump this year of 2.05m.
Another performance of note was in the pole vault where Nelson Cecereu cleared a personal best height of 4.63m to finish fourth. In addition to the personal best, the clearance now moves Cecereu into fifth in the current CIS rankings, second in Gee-Gee history and third in club history.
Action resumes Saturday morning with the 60m hurdles. You can watch all the action, live on Trackie.ca