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Lions celebrate two years of excellence

It was a true evening of excellence Saturday night at the Arrow and Loon Courtyard as nearly 200 memebers of the Ottawa Lions family gathered to celebrate two years of excellence at their Awards Banquet. In total, more than 65 individuals were honoured for their success on the track or their dedicated service to the club. Three of the big winners on the night included hammer thrower Sultana Frizell, runner Jason Dunkerley and decathlete Patrick Arbour, who were each recognized three times for their performances.
 
Over the past two years, Frizell has continued to excel in the hammer throw, first by winning silver at the 2011 Pan American Games and followed that up in 2012 with a North American Record of 75.04m and her second Olympic Performance. For her efforts, Sultana was named the Most Outstanding Field Event Performer for females for both 2011 and 2012, improving her career total to eight awards and one away from Ann Peel’s club record of nine. Frizell was also presented with a President’s Award, instituted in 1990 to honour athletes and coaches who have represented their country on a national team in international competition.
 
For his success on the track over 1500m and 5000m, Jason Dunkerley was awarded the Sam Estwick Memorial Award, honouring the club’s Most Outstanding Para Athlete, for both 2011 and 2012 . Like Frizell, this brought his total to eight outstanding athlete awards for his career. In 2011, Dunkerley claimed silver and bronze in the 1500m and 5000m respectively and the flipped the results in September at the Paralympics in London, running national records in both events. Adding to his international medal tally, Jason also picked up gold in the 800m at the 2011 IPC World Championships  in Christchurch, New Zealand.
 
Over the past four years, Patrick Arbour has positioned himself as one of the top field event athletes in club history.  He was recognized for his efforts on Saturday evening as he was named the most outstanding male the field events for both 2011 and 2012. This brought Patrick’s string of victories to four. The former thrower turned decathlete experienced a great amount of success over the past two seasons, highlighted by three national team appointments, including a Pan Am Combined Events Cup team title in 2012. In addition to his success in the decathlon, Arbour produced two all time top ten performances in 2012 in both the discus and pole vault, where he currently sits fifth and sixth respectively.  Currently, he is also ranked in the top ten in the shot put and javelin, making him the only male to be ranked in more than two field events.
A complete list of award winners is included below:
Most Outstanding Male Athletes

  Track Athlete Field Athlete
2012 Oluseyi Smith Patrick Arbour
2011 Oluwasegun Makinde Patrick Arbour

Most Outstanding Female Athletes

  Track Athlete Field Athlete
2012 Melissa Bishop Sultana Frizell
2011 Esther Akinsulie Sultana Frizell

The Denis Landry Memorial Award – Most Outstanding Athlete: uOttawa X-Country / Track & Field

  Male Female
2012 Sekou Kaba / Michael Robertson Jennifer Perrault
2011 Christopher Greenaway Michele Krech

Most Outstanding Junior Athlete (Under 20)

  Male Female
2012 Adam Palamar / Yves Sikubwabo Emma Galbraith
2011 Devin Biocchi Ashlea Maddex

Most Outstanding Youth Athlete (Under 18)

  Male Female
2012 Zach Kerr Charifa Labarang
2011 Adam Palamar Emma Galbraith

Most Outstanding Midget Athlete (Under 16)

  Male Female
2012 Geoff Lawson Hannah-Kelsey Smith
2011 Matthew Bedard Maggie Scheunert

Most Outstanding Bantam Athlete (Under 14)

  Male Female
2012 Not awarded Lauren Gale
2011 Eric Mitchell Colle Thompson

The Sam Estwick Memorial Award : Most Outstanding Para Athlete

2012 Jason Dunkerley
2011 Jason Dunkerley

Most Outstanding Masters’ Athlete (35 and over)

2012 Wendy Alexis / Lawrence Williams
2011 Wendy Alexis / Kevin Lake

Most Outstanding Athlete: Road Racer

2012 Josh Cassidy
2011 Dave Kary

Most Outstanding Athlete: Combined Events

2012 Mark Chenery
2011 Mark Chenery

Sean Cole Memorial Award: Dedication to club service

2012 Karen and Paul Bedard
2011 Reba Timbrell

President’s Award Winners

Gavin Smellie Sean Young Alister McQueen
Oluseyi Smith Ian Clark Jacqueline Rennebohm
Melissa Bishop Hugh Conlin Cody Boast
Sultana Frizell Amanda Fader Brian Cummings
Oluwasegun Makinde Robert Schrader Patrick Arbour
Glenroy Gilbert Michael Robertson Mark Chenery
Esther Akinsuile Devin Biocchi James Holder
Rachel Burrows Sekou Kaba Wendy Alexis
Josh Cassidy Ashlea Maddex Kevin Lake
Jason Dunkerley Emma Galbraith Rob Lindsay
Jon Dunkerley Denray Jean-Jacques Geoff Outerbridge
Brandon King Brandon Heroux Marta Piresferreira
Leah Robinson Noella Klawitter Bob Staveley
Curtis Thom Greg Dailey Ray Wardle
Andrew Heffernan Courtney Johnson Lawrence Williams
Josh Karanja    

 
 

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Lions set to host largest awards banquet ever

The Ottawa Lions are proud to announce they will host the largest awards banquet in the club’s 39 year history tomorrow evening at the Arrow and Loon Indoor Courtyard in the heart of the Glebe. Nearly 200 guests are expected to turn out as the club recognizes the many accomplishments of the past two seasons. Highlighting those accomplishments is certainly the club’s largest participation at this past summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. At least four of our outstanding athletes who competed in London are expected to be in attendance Saturday evening. Many of them will be in the running to pick up some of the nearly 40 awards that will be handed out.
 
Tickets are currently still available, and may be purchased at the door.
 
Details:
2012 Ottawa Lions Awards Banquet
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Reception: 5:30pm / Dinner and Awards 7:00pm
Arrow and Loon Indoor Courtyard
99 Fifth Avenue
Tickets: $20
Free Parking available on site. Accessible from Fourth Avenue.
 
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Junior Men Repeat As Ontario Cross Country Champions

For the second year in a row the Athletics Ontario Junior Men’s XC team title will be returning to Ottawa. On a warm Sunday in Kingston, the team of Mickey Day, Alex Behre, Alex Wilkie, Mohammed Souleiman and Nicholas Favero placed four runners in the top 15 for a total of 44 points, 13 ahead of second place Toronto Olympic Club. Both Mickey Day and Alex Behre were also part of last year’s championship team.
Although he was the fourth runner across the line, Mickey Day replicated his silver medal performance from the recent OFSAA championships, as two competitors ahead of him were from outside the province. Day finished the 8km race on the tough Fort Henry course in a time of 25:56.09.
Other runner’s to post top 10 finishes on the day included Day’s younger brother, Owen, who finished 7th in the Midget Boy’s 4km race. In her first year as a youth athlete, Olivia Robertson placed fifth after finishing fourth a year ago in the midget category. Her performance Sunday helped the Youth Girls to a fourth place finish as a team with 123 points, 12 behind third place London-Western. Also on the team were Lindsay Kary, Maggie Scheunert, Alanna Shearman and Shanna Boutilier.
With the end of the cross country for most of the club runners, the focus now shifts to the indoor season which kicks off at the Dome @ Louis Riel on December 15th.

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Silver Days at OFSAA

Day brothers win silver medals, 3 others in top 10 and 4 more in top 20
Mickey Day stood on the starting line of the Senior Boys’ race at the OFSAA Cross Country Championships in Brampton on Saturday with two great sources of inspiration to run the race of his life. The chattering heads on the internet forums had snubbed him.  Not one of those “great” prognosticators had picked him to finish in the top 20.  The second source was much closer to home, in fact, it was the vision across the dining room table of his brother Owen’s smirk that said “I finished 2nd at OFSAA, how did you do?”  Owen accomplished that feat earlier in the day in the Midget Boys’ race.
In the early going, Mickey was well placed in the lead pack of 15 runners.  Entering the last 2k of the 7k race, the pre-race favourite, Ben Flanagan, had established a large lead but Mickey was in 4th place about 10 metres behind the pair in 2nd and 3rd. He slowly closed on the pair, moving up even with them with 1k remaining, surging past them with 500m left and finishing comfortably in 2nd place.  His finish not only surprised the predictors and his coach, but as Mickey himself said, “That awkward moment when you finish second at OFSAA and you’re just as surprised as everyone else…”.
On the other hand, Owen was expected to contend for a place on the podium and he did not disappoint.  He and Ed Hayfron of Birchmount Collegiate Institute pulled away from the pack and while Owen ran an awesome race, well ahead of the rest of the field, Hayfron was just a little stronger leaving Owen with the silver medal.
Glebe Collegiate’s Junior Girls’ team, powered by 3 members of the Lions and led by Lions coach Kirk Dillabough, won the first gold medal by an Ottawa area school in last couple of decades.  Claire Smith had an outstanding race placing 5th while teammates Zoe Pritchard and Alexa Livingstone placed 30th and 31st respectively in the field of 200 plus.  Not only did this team win, but of the winning teams in the 6 categories, their score of 77 points was 44 points better than next best winning team and more than 100 points better than some of the other winning teams.
Running in her first OFSAA competition, Sophie Rodenburg took home the 6th place ribbon in the Midget Girls’ race and Olivia Robertson, in her first year in the Senior category, always a challenge for the Grade 11 athletes, ran a very strong race to finish 7th.
In the Senior Boys’ race, Alex Wilkie did not even qualify for OFSAA last year but his determination and hard work paid off this year as he finished 12th.  Lindsay Kary improved on her 31st place last year to finish 17th in the Senior Girls’ race.  Rounding up the top 20 performers from the club, Jonathan Favero ran his best race of his young career to finish 18th in the Junior Boys’ race.
Full results can be found at http://www.chiptimeresults.com/
Next up, the Lions will be heading to Kingston’s Fort Henry on Sunday, November 11 for the Athletics Ontario Cross Country Championships.
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22 Lions Athletes Set To Compete At OFSAA Championships

The 2012 OFSAA Cross Country championships kick off Saturday morning at 10:30 am at the Heart Lake Conservation Area in Brampton. In total, 22 Lions runners will take to the course in Brampton, looking to bring home a coveted OFSAA medal. The day kicks off with the midget girls race and finishes with the senior boys at 2:10 pm.
At last year’s championships, held at the Hornet’s Nest in Blackburn Hamlet, Yves Sikubwabo brought home the club’s only medal, winning gold in the senior boy’s race.
List of club qualifiers
Midget Girls
Sophie Rodenburg – Earl of March
Olivia Gaudet – Nepean
Talia Brennan – Franco Ouest
Julia Cawthorn – Nepean
Midget Boys
Owen Day – Holy Trinity
Darion Dillabaugh – Glebe
Junior Girls
Kacia Elliott – St. Francis Xavier
Caroline Baker – St. Francis Xavier
Alexa Livingstone – Glebe
Zoe Pritchard – Glebe
Claire Smith – Glebe
Junior Boys
Jonathan Favero – L’Escale
Arjun Walia – Sir Robert Borden
Yannick Banville – Garneau
Cameron Caughey – Bell
Justin Cuddihey – St. Mark
Senior Girls
Olivia Robertson – Brookfield
Lindsay Kary – St. Matthew
Senior Boys
Mickey Day –  Holy Trinity
Alex Wilkie – Notre Dame (Carleton Place)
Nic Favero – L’Escale
Farah Abdulkarim – Gloucester

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2012 Ottawa Lions Awards Banquet Tickets Now Available

The 2012 Ottawa Lions Awards Banquet will take place November 24th at the Arrow and Loon Indoor Courtyard in Ottawa. The club will be honouring the many outstanding performers from the past season as well as recognizing the award winners from the 2011 season.
Tickets for the event are available for purchase at the club’s office at the
Dome @ Louis-Riel or via email – info@ottawalions.com
Details:
2012 Ottawa Lions Awards Banquet
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Reception 5:30pm / Dinner and Awards 6:30pm
Arrow and Loon Indoor Courtyard
99 Fifth Avenue
Tickets: $20

The start of the 2011 women's OUA XC Championships presented by Suunto

Yves Sikubwabo finishes second at OUA XC Championships

It was a rainy morning on the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championship course in King City today as members of the Ottawa Lions toed the line, representing the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, Queen’s University and the University of Guelph.
For Yves Sikubwabo, he continued to demonstrate why he is widely considered one of the best young running talents in Canada as he claimed second place in the tough 10 kilometre race, finishing in a time of 32:22.74, and helping his Guelph teammates claim their 8th consecutive OUA title. For the reigining Canadian junior 800m champion, a silver medal was not the only piece of hardware he would be taking home with him today. As the top rookie finisher in the field of 95 runners, Sikubwabo was also named the OUA Men’s XC Rookie of the Year.
Also being recognized for his efforts at the championships was Tyson Loney, as he finished in 14th place to capture Second Team OUA All-Star recognition. Loney was the second team finisher for Queen’s University as they finished third in the men’s team standings.
The Gee-Gee women were led by Julia Nikonorova, as she crossed the line in a time of 19:37.50 to finish 28th.  She was closely followed by teammate Isabelle Kanz, who finished in 35th. As a team, the women finished in 9th with 238 pts, two places better than last year’s OUA performance at Mooney’s Bay.
Remy Binns was the top finisher on the men’s side, crossing the line in 53rd place with a time of 35:48.06. Overall, the men dropped two places from last year’s OUA’s, to finish 12th with 351 points.
The university cross-country season wraps up in two weeks time as Western University hosts the CIS championships on the famed Thames Valley Golf Course where Yves Sikubwabo, Tyson Loney and Julia Nikonorova have all qualified to compete.

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Lycée Claudel wins Eastern Ontario Elementary Schools XC Championship

The running paths around the Terry Fox Athletic Facility at Mooney’s Bay were filled with moving bodies yesterday as school children from across the region raced to capture top spot in the third annual Eastern Ontario Elementary Schools XC Championship presented by TD Bank. Nearly 500 boys and girls competed, across three age categories, as Lycée Claudel won the distinction of “Top School” after capturing the 12-13 year old girls division, as well as the 10-11 and 12-13 year old categories on the boys side. For their efforts, Lycée Claudel was awarded $700 in support of their school’s sports programs. Other team winners included First Avenue Public School, who took home the titles for both the boys and girls 8-9 year old divisions while École élémentaire catholique Jean-Robert-Gauthier captured the girls 10-11 year old category.  For their efforts, the two schools received $200 and $100 respectively to help benefit their sport programs.
Below is a list of  the top three finishers in each category:

Girls 8-9 year olds  
1st Carolyne BEAUDOIN Jean-Robert-Gauthier
2nd Emma JARVIS First Avenue
3rd Alyshia ALKERTON St. Marks Brockville
     
Girls 10-11 year olds  
1st Teagan SHAPANSKY First Avenue
2nd Selena MOUSSA Jean-Robert-Gauthier
3rd Carmen MARIN Elmdale
     
Girls 12-13 year olds  
1st Mei Mei WESTON Hopewell Avenue
2nd Brittany ALKERTON St. Mary Brockville
3rd Jenna ROSSI Gisele Lalonde
     
Boys 8-9 year olds  
1st Judd SJOLUND St John the Apostle
2nd Cameron PORTER Knoxdale
3rd Maxime FILION Carrefour Jeunesse
     
Boys 10-11 year olds  
1st Callum SARAVANAMUTTOO Mutchmor
2nd Rylan MARTIN Hopewell Avenue
3rd Lars GIERULL Lycee Claudel
     
Boys 12-13 year olds  
1st Reilly MCCAAN Franco Cite
2nd Teagan HARRIS Hopewell Avenue
3rd Andre ALIE-LAMARCHE Emily Carr
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Lions finish 3rd and 4th at Hoffman Invitational

The Lions opened up their cross country season yesterday at the Ronald Hoffman Invitational on the campus of St. Lawerence University. The men’s team finished in third, with 90pts, behind both Cortland State and St. Lawerence. The women also scored 90 pts, as St. Lawerence, currently ranked 7th in the NCAA Div III polls, took the win with 28pts.
Leading the Lions in the nine team men’s field was Alex Wilkie, who covered the 8km course in a time of 26:38.38 – good enough for seventh place. Other scorers for the Lions included Alex Behre, Kieran Day, Nicholas Favero and Jay Sneddon.
On the women’s side, Olivia Robertson finished the 6km run through the forest in a time of 22:58.80 to finish in fourth. Teammate Lindsay Kary also managed to finish among the top 10, with her ninth place run of 23:47.50. Rounding out the top five placers were Maggie Scheunert, Katie Britton, and Danika, Cziranka-Crooks.
The next meet on the cross country schedule is November 11th in Kingston for the Athletics Ontario Championships.
 

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Programs Begin to Move Indoors

Please note both the Junior Development and Junior Competitive programs have moved their training indoors to the Dome @ Louis Riel. However, Junior Competitive distance runners will continue training outdoors at Terry Fox Athletic Facility.
For all new potential members, you are also asked to visit the Dome to register for any of our many programs.
If you are unsure of your training location, please consult your coach for details.