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The Ottawa Lions family would like to wish former hurdler Cody Sorensen and the rest of his Canada 3 sled well as they open up the four man bobsleigh competition tomorrow morning in Sochi. Sorensen now becomes the fifth athlete from the club to compete in the Winter Olympics following in the footsteps of Glenroy Gilbert, Ricardo Greenidge, Sheridan Baptiste and Ken Leblanc who all represented Canada in bobsleigh. The former CIS champion in the 60m hurdles has three fourth place finishes on this year’s World Cup Circuit but will be looking to move up to the podium after the fourth and final run finishes early Sunday morning.
The bobsleigh competition begins at 11:30 am Saturday morning where Cody’s team is slated to start 10th. Run two will follow at 1 pm with teams competing from worst to first based on the first run. Both runs will be carried live on Rogers Sportsnet.
*All times Eastern

It’s a big weekend for the Ottawa Lions family with Canadian university conference championships taking place across the country as well as the NACAC Cross Country Championships taking place in Mount Irvine, Tobago.
Competing in Tobago will be Claire Smith, a grade 11 student at Glebe Collegiate, who qualified for her first national team last November with a fourth place finish at the Canadian Junior Cross Country Championships. Smith and her Canadian teammates will be looking to defend the title Canada captured last year in Jamaica.   Smith has raced sparingly this indoor season, but did post the second fastest 1500m time by junior with a 4:30.70 last month in Ottawa. Claire is scheduled to run at 1:15 pm eastern.
The majority of Lions athletes competing will be in Toronto this weekend, where the OUA Championships kick off tomorrow afternoon before concluding late Saturday. Among the medal favourites this weekend at York University are 60m hurdler Sekou Kaba, middle distance runner Mohamed Souleiman, and thrower Ashley Connell who competes for Guelph University.
Other top ranked athletes include Gabriel Tesfaye and Wade Embury in the 300m. These two men along with Devin Biocchi and Isaiah Moses also make up Ottawa’s top ranked quartet in the 4x400m relay.
Competing at the AUS Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick are Alexa Zarins in the 1500m and 3000m along with Scott Donald who is scheduled to run the 1000m, 1500m and 3000m. Both athletes compete for St. Francis Xavier University.

Ottawa Lions athletes took to the track and field in across two provinces, the United States and the United Kingdom with impressive results. The largest contingent of athletes were in Montreal competing at the McGill Redmen Open with multiple club top ten performances being recorded.

Headlining the act was a group of 300m runners who put together three new club all-time top ten performances highlighted by Oluwasegun Makinde’s victory in a time of 33.41 seconds. Makinde, who had tied his personal best just two weeks prior with a 33.76 second clocking, moved into second position on the all time list behind training partner Michael Robertson’s 33.21. The mark also ranks as the best in the country to this point. The former number two, Gordon Frenke, was second to Makinde in 33.61 seconds. Frenke’s time was a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of his previous best, also set at McGill back in 2013. Rounding out the top three finishers was Gabriel Tesfaye with a 34.23 clocking which moved him to 10th on the club list, bumping off former Canadian junior 400m champion Brian Cummings.

Also in Montreal, pole vaulter Melinda Rock improved her second place mark on the top ten list, clearing 3.70m on her first attempt. This has been a break out season so far for Rock who has already added 19 cm to her lifetime best. The top ten performance to come out of Montreal was Sabrina Slade in the weight throw. Her mark of 11.22m moves her into tenth all-time.

Also improving their mark on the weight throw list was Ashley Connell as she added nearly a meter to her best with a throw of 15.71m to finish fifth at the Guelph Last Chance Meet. Connell, a freshman at the University of Guelph, claimed the victory in the shot put with a best throw of 13.20m. 

South of the border, Divya Biswal captured the 60m hurdles, long jump and triple jump titles at the Liberty League Championships. The St. Lawrence University junior was named the field event performer of the meet for her efforts. In Fayetteville, Arkansas Adam Palamar made his indoor debut in the 3000m with an 8:26.32 clocking to finish sixth at the Tyson Invitational. Meanwhile, across the pond Melissa Bishop finished sixth in the 800m at an IAAF Indoor Permit Meet in Birmingham. Bishop finished in a seasonal best 2:04.23.

For the second day in a row, a new club standard has been set in the 1000m. Today’s superb performance comes from Olympian Melissa Bishop running at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston this evening where she completed five laps of the Reggie Lewis Track Centre in a blazing 2:39. 77. Not only does this performances clip 5.51 seconds off the previous club standard of 2:45.38 set outdoors in 1996 by Anna Gunasekera, but also ranks as the top performance by a Canadian in 11 years behind only the current Canadian record performance of 2:38.24 by Diane Cummins in 2003. Bishop finished 6th overall in the race won by American Mary Cain in 2:35.80.
On day two of the Armory Collegiate Invite in New York City, Mohamed Souleiman followed up his club record performance in the 1000m with a new University of Ottawa standard in the mile. Souleiman broke his own record of 4:22.63 set in 2012 with a 4:18.93 clocking to finish 13th in a tactical championship section race. In the women’s 800m, Charlotte Gardner ran a new personal best 2:14.44 in the 800m to finish 12th in the college section before teaming up with Bridget Hayes, Lucie Sagot-Duvauroux and Alannah McBride to run 3:55.16 in the 4x400m relay. The time was a seasonal best for the University of Ottawa squad and moves them into seventh on the current CIS rankings.
Also in Boston, at the BU Valentine Invitational, triple jumper Divya Biswal leapt out to a distance of 11.88m to finish sixth. The mark was a 30 cm improvement on her previous best this season and moves her into second in the NCAA Division III rankings, where she competes for the St. Lawrence Saints. Biswal was an NCAA Indoor All-American in the event last year after taking home the silver medal at the national meet.

In the city where stars are made, Lions athletes shone bright on day one of the Armory Collegiate Invitational led by a new club record performance by Mohamed Souleiman in the 1000m. Souleiman’s second place run of 2:22.46, not only broke the previous club standard of 2:22.68 set by Yves Sikubwabo, but also moves him to number one on the current CIS rankings. The 2013-14 indoor has so far been a barn burner for Moh as he has set new University of Ottawa standards across the 1000m, 1500m and 3000m. He will look to improve on another tomorrow as he is scheduled to race the mile where he currently holds the school record of 4:22.63.
Also jumping to the top of the CIS rankings today was hurdler Sekou Kaba. After being leap frogged last weekend by Toronto’s Gregory MacNeil in the rankings, Kaba returned to number one with a personal best 7.85 second clocking in the semi-finals of the 60m hurdles. He would go on to finish fifth in the Championship Final with a time of 7.95 seconds.
In the women’s 500m college section, Charlotte Gardner showed she’s rounding into form ahead of the OUA Championships, setting a new University of Ottawa record of 1:13.91 to finish third. The time, which was a new personal best by more than five seconds, also moved Gardner to number two on the club’s all-time ranking.
Both University of Ottawa men’s and women’s distance medley relay teams also set new school standards today. The men’s team of Alex Behre, Gordon Cave, Scott Hitchcox, and Remy Binns finished third in 10:15.23, knocking 13.5 seconds off the previous best set back in 2012. The women’s team of Lina Sadqi, Bridget Hayes, Lucie Sagot-Duvauroux and Ruth Burrows finished 9th in 12:12.39, removing nearly two and a half seconds off the 2009 standard.
Competing in the junior women’s 1000m, Claire Smith and Erinn Stenman-Fahey finished an impressive 2-3, finishing in  2:52.45 and 2:52.56 respectively. For both women, the times represented new personal bests in excess of four seconds.
Competition resumes Saturday morning in New York City.

Canada’s largest indoor track and field meet is full of outstanding performances, and on day two of the McGill Team Challenge two in particular rose to the occasion. Middle distance runner Mohamed Souleiman and hurdler Sekou Kaba each proved they will be in the hunt for medals at this year’s CIS championships in March.
In what was likely a preview of the CIS 1500m final,battled tough for seven and a half laps before crossing the finish line in fourth in a new University of Ottawa record 3:49.24. The man known to many by his shorthand, Moh, has been on a tear the past couple weeks setting no less than three Gee-Gee records from 1000m through 3000m. The latter was the result of an endurance test. Moh will look to expand his reign next weekend as he steps down to the 600m as puts in some speed work ahead of the forthcoming OUA and CIS Championships where he will contest the 1000m and 1500m.
Over the 60m hurdles, 2012 CIS Champion Sekou Kaba showed he is ready to take back his crown after sitting out the 2013 season with an injury, running away with gold in a nation leading 7.98 second clocking. The win was Kaba’s fourth straight at the McGill Team Challenge as he out leaned York’s Ingvar Moseley by 0.05 seconds at the line.
The only other winner on day two was Michele Krech in the women’s pentathlon, who overcame a 127 point deficit heading into the final event to win with 3593 points. The victory was the second in as many weeks, as Krech captured the pentathlon title at the Saints Invitational last Friday night.
The Lions return to action next Saturday as they play host to the uOttawa WinterNational Invitational

Canada’s largest indoor track and field meet, the McGill Team Challenge, kicked off Friday night in Montreal headlined by two invitational events featuring Lions athletes. The marquee event, the men’s 300m, featured 2012 Olympic 400m silver medalist Lugelin Santos and Ottawa’s own Gord Frenke. Frenke, who produced a personal best 33.62 at this meet last year, held his own with Santos, running shoulder to shoulder through 150m before the Dominican athlete pulled away off the final corner. Frenke crossed the line in 34.04.

Competing in the evening’s other invitational event, the women’s 800m, was Olympian Melissa Bishop who was making her season’s debut at the distance. Coming off a 4:24 1500m performance last week in Windsor, Bishop was untested in victory, crossing the line in 2:05.18. Her nearest competitor finished nearly two and a half seconds back.

In the men’s 1000m, Mohamed Souleiman showed he could be a medal threat at this year’s CIS championships as he finished fourth in a new University of Ottawa record, 2:24.51. Chopping two seconds off his previous mark, Souleiman now also moves into third in the club’s all-time record list. He will see if he can again channel the speed Saturday as he moves up to the 1500m.

In the women’s shot put, Lion Ashley Connell claimed second spot with a best throw of 13.80m. Emma Galbraith was fifth in the 1000m in 2:50.96.

It was a record breaking two days for the Ottawa Lions in Canton, New York. On the heals of Michele’s Krech’s record smashing performance Friday night in the pentathlon, four more records fell by the wayside today.

The first record to fall on Saturday was the women’s 60m hurdles as Karelle Edwards was the top finisher in the prelims with a time of 8.62, shaving 0.15 seconds off clubmate Devyani Biswal’s old mark of 8.77 set last January. Karelle would drop the mark even lower in the final, winning in 8.44, more than a second ahead of clubmate Clara Phillips.

In the men’s 60m hurdles, Sekou Kaba claimed gold by more than half a second, winning in 8.10 seconds. The time was 0.01 seconds better than the old facility record, set by Kaba in 2012. Sekou is currently ranked second in the CIS.

In the men’s heptathlon, Mark Chenery took gold and the facility record with a score of 4466 points. Chenery’s victory came despite failing to register a mark in the pole vault. Teammates Zach Quevillo (4445pts) and Matthew Johnson (4256pts) rounded out the podium.

Pole vaulter Melinda Rock rounded out the list of record breakers, as she claimed victory with a clearance of 3.47m. The height added 1cm to the previous mark set in 2004. In the men’s pole vault, Olivier Gauthier-Kwan completed the sweep of the pole vault as he set a new personal best of 4.70m to win. The mark moves Gauthier-Kwan to second on the club’s all time list.

The Lions return to action next weekend at the McGill Team Challenge.

It was a solid day in Canton, NY as the club’s combined eventers competed in the Saints Indoor Invitational at St. Lawrence University. In the women’s pentathlon, veteran Michele Krech cruised to victory with a total of 3610 points, 667 clear of her nearest competitor. In their first ever combined events competition, first year University of Ottawa students, Bridget Hayes and Alannah McBride put up totals of 2885pts and 2422pts respectively. They finished in 3rd and 6th.
On day one of the men’s heptathlon, Mark Chenery proved to be the class of the field, claiming top spot in all four individual events – 60m, long jump, shot put, high jump. Chenery amassed 2904 points with performances of 7.17 seconds, 6.76m, 12.50m and 1.87m. He currently stands 430 points ahead of teammate Zach Quevillon. Matthew Johnson currently sits in 8th with 2184 points, but is sure to move up on day two where he is a favourite to win both the pole vault and 1000m