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The sun was out, the hills were high and the hay bales were plentiful helping contribute to another great year of the Capital Cross Country Challenge. The two day event concluded Saturday afternoon with the racing of the University/Open division races which featured wins for Lions runner’s  Jean Marie Uwajeneza and Beatha Nishimwe in the men’s and women’s six kilometre events respectively.

Uwajeneza proved himself to be the class of the field early on, holding a nearly 30 metre lead on the field a little under half way through the race. The Rwandan native would continue to push the pace, finishing in a time of 18 minutes and 26.82 seconds, 20 seconds clear of second place finisher, Jeff Archer of the Mile2Marathon running club.

Behind Archer was the Gee Gees leading runner, Andre Alie-Lamarche, who took third in a time of 19 minutes and 1.36 seconds. The second year International Development student led the Gee Gees to the team title which included top ten finishes for Adrian Fournier (6th), Robert Mitchell (8th), and Stephen Robinson (9th).

On the women’s side, Nishimwe was as equally dominant as her countryman, Uwajeneza, winning by more than 12 seconds in 22 minutes and 17.63 seconds. Much like the men’s race, it was another Gee Gee taking third with Rebecca Brennan finishing in 22 minutes and 32.70 seconds. While teammates Keili Shepherd (7th) and Maeliss Trapeau (10th) also cracked the top 10, the Gee Gees fell to McGill University by one point, 48-49.

In Friday’s high school division, Ridgmont’s Joe Fast dominated the varsity boys six kilometre race with his run of 19 minutes and 50.21 seconds. The high school senior posted a 30 second margin of victory over second place runner, Adam Sanger of Glebe.

The varsity girls race was won by Lisgar’s Emma Beatty in 23 minutes and 45.35 seconds, while St. Peter’s Katie Newlove was second in 24:00.39.

Every sport has it. That bottom of the ninth, two outs kind of moment when you have the opportunity to be the hero or the goat. On Thursday, at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, it was exactly that kind of moment staring down Lions shot put record holder Tim Nedow as he was trying to advance to his first outdoor global final. Boy did he rise to the occasion.

Competing in his fourth outdoor championship, the 6 foot 7 inch behemoth of a man looked prime for a spot in the final. After all, Nedow had heaved the 16 pound steel ball to an outdoor personal best of 21.18 metres earlier this season and captured his seventh straight Canadian Championship this July in Montreal.

With the qualifying standard set out at 20.90 metres, Nedow wound himself up like a corkscrew before unleashing a throw of 20.51 metres in round one. While the result would have qualified him for 15 of the past 16 shot put finals in World Championship history, there was a feeling even in the first round that it would take even more on the day. With only a small improvement to 20.54 metres in the second round and a mounting list of competitors dropping their ball beyond the qualifying mark, the pressure began to mount for Nedow and it was time to rise to the occassion.

Nedow stepped into the seven foot ring for his final throw, loaded his powerful legs in the middle of the circle to give that extra little pop in the shot and drop it beyond the yellow qualifying line in the field. When the scoreboard displayed the distance 20.94, the Brockville native got his big Q and a spot in Saturday’s final.

“It was really my only option because the same throw wasn’t going to cut it,” said Nedow of his final effort. “The other group hasn’t even gone yet and I’m sure there are at least 3 or 4 guys who will get the auto, so I had to get that auto qualifier. 20.50 would cut it a few years ago, but it’s not anymore.”

With a staggering eight men having thrown in excess of the magical 22 metre barrier this year, the level of competition in the event has most certainly risen to levels never before seen in the sport’s history. One need look no further than the start list for Saturday’s final as each and every one of the 12 competitors bettered the qualifying mark on Thursday – the first time in history this has ever happened.

“We have such a strong group of guys, it’s so fun. I’m so proud to be part of this historic shot put final. It’s going to be something crazy.”

The men’s shot put final gets started at 1:05 pm eastern. You can watch the action live at CBC.ca/Sports.

It was a return to action for both the University of Ottawa Gee Gees and Carleton University of Ravens as they spent Saturday at the Sherbrooke Vert et Or Invitational.

Despite the week off, the Gee Gees Rebecca Brennan picked up where she left off in Quebec City as she posted the best finish of the group with her eighth place finish in the women’s six kilometre event. Brennan’s time of 25 minutes and 25 seconds put her 65 seconds off the podium.

Following the results of the season opener, third year runner Keili Shepherd was second across the line for the Gee Gee women as she crossed the line in a time of 26:32 to finish 21st.

Pippa Norman was Carleton’s top finisher in 44th with a time of 27:52.

On the men’s side, Gee Gee sophomore Stephen Robinson was the top finisher in 19th with a time of 29 minutes and 58 seconds over the eight kilometre course. Much like in Quebec, it was a tight bunching of Gee Gees as teammates Adrian Fournier and Robert Mitchell were two and three spots back, respectively.

The top finisher for Carleton was Cameron Bruce, who placed 46th with a time of 31:50.

Next up for both teams is the Capital Cross Country Challenge this weekend at Mooney’s Bay. Action starts Friday with the High School section and culminates Saturday with the Eastern Ontario Elementary Schools XC Championship and the Capital XC Open.

For more information on the event, head over to www.ottawalions.com/capital-cross-country-challenge

At the Special General Meeting of members on Thursday, August 29th, a new board of directors was elected. The new members bring a vast array of personal and professional skills to the board and the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club is excited for this new chapter and the upcoming Olympic year!

Board of directors

Nathalie Côté President-2 year term

Jennifer Dumoulin Vice-President -1 year term

Christopher Benk Treasurer-3 year term

Zeena Rashid Secretary-2 year term

Kirk Dillabaugh Coaches’ representative-3 year term

Derek Brougham Athlete representative-3 year term

Gordon Cavé Director-at-large-1 year term

Dave Farthing Director-at-large-2 year term

Eleanor Fast Director-at-large-1 year term

Lynn Thompson Director-at-large-2 year term

Sammie Brennan Director-at-large-3 year term

This past weekend 20 Lions athletes closed out the 2019 competitive season at the Legion National Championships in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. In total, the athletes registered 15 top 8 finishes including four medal winning performances.

David Adeleye was the first athlete to win medal at the Championships winning the U18 boys 110 metre hurdle final in 14.45 seconds, just off his personal best. The result was one of redemption for the Ashbury College student after a stumble in the OFSAA final back in June pushed Adeleye off the medal podium and down into eighth place.

Adeleye would also feature in the U18 boys 4×100 metre squad which placed fourth in a time of 43.61 seconds – seven tenths off the podium. Impressive was that the Lions were the only club team to finish among a group of six provincial squads. The team of Adeleye, Zach Bryant, Sam Frankowski, and Zach Meredith even managed to beat the Team Ontario entry by almost a full second.

It was another hurdler who grabbed the other individual medal of the weekend as Luca Nicoletti took silver in the U16 boys 200 metre hurdles. Nicoletti recovered from smacking the final hurdle to finish in a time of 25.26 seconds. Sunday’s result in the intermediate hurdles was almost Nicoletti’s second medal of the weekend. He had been leading the 100 metre hurdle final before getting tangled up at the seventh hurdle and dropping back to eighth.

In addition to his success in the individual events, Nicoletti also picked up two medals as part of relay teams. The U16 boys 4×100 metre relay team of Nicoletti, Yannick Meredith, Thomas Kukla-Colby, and Joshua Van Der Laan posted a time of 46.93 seconds to finish in third behind Alberta-Northwest Territories and Quebec. The exact same quartet of athletes lined up in the sprint medley relay race where they placed second in a speedy time of 3:45.90.

The pair of U18 girls relay teams were nothing if not consistent, posting fourth place finishes in each of the two relay events. First was the 4×100 metre event where the quartet of Katie Manor, Doyin Ogunremi, Audrey Gilmour and Paulina Procyk posted a blistering 48.97 second clocking to set a seasonal best. The same quartet filled out the line up card for the 4×400 metre relay where the ladies posted a time of four minutes and 3.26 seconds.

This weekend’s events marked the culmination of the 2018-19 season for our Foundation and ASpire programs. New programs are set to kick off the 2019-20 season in early September. Check out our Programs page for all the necessary information.