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Senechal-Becker ascends national podium

by linkinbioNationalUniversity

Despite a new personal best and school record of 2.17 metres, it was clear University of Ottawa Gee-Gees high jumper Thomas Senechal-Becker was left yearning for gold following the OUA Championships. However, at the USports Championships in Saskatoon this past weekend the second year student got exactly what he was yearning for – a national title. 

The road to the top of the podium did not go nearly as smoothly as originally envisioned as Senechal-Becker came down with what he believes was a severe stomach flu three days before Friday night’s high jump final. The ailment forced Senechal-Becker to alter his game day routines to conserve energy, and thankfully making first attempt clearances on all of his heights helped as he made it over 2.14 metres to take top spot. The performance ranks as his second best in a Gee-Gees uniform.

Garnering her first USports medal was Vanessa Lu Langley. The third year chemical engineering student at McGill University ran third leg on the Martlet’s 4×200 metre team as they finished second in a time of 1:41.47. It was the first nationals medal in the event for the Montreal based school

Elsewhere on the track, David Adeleye found himself just off the podium in the 60 metre hurdles. The third year student at the University of Toronto left a trail of barriers in his pathway as he finished fourth in a time of 8.18 seconds. Leewinchell Jean, competing for the Windsor Lancers, just missed out on a spot in the final – finishing 10th in a time of 8.33 seconds. 

Competing in one of the most gruelling events of the weekend, Audrey Goddard placed seventh in the five event pentathlon with a score of 3458 points. The OUA Rookie of the Year was the highest finishing first year student in the event. 

The weekend ended on a high note for Carleton’s Adam Nuraddeen in the triple jump. Qualifying by virtue of his victory at the RSEQ Championships, Nuraddeen entered Saturday’s event as the lowest seed with a best performance of 13.61 metres. However, the fourth year psychology student popped a massive 29 centimetre personal best to break the sand at 13.90 metres. The jump would push the Ravens record holder to a new school record and an eighth place finish in his first USports Championship. 

Other results for Lions athletes from the weekend included:

Gillian Porter and Elizabeth Vroom (Queen’s) 4x800m – 9:11.40 9th

Katie Manor (uOttawa) 60m – 7.66 11th

David Moulongou, Fabrice Nonez,Thomas Kukla-Colby, Lucas Zanetti (uOttawa) 4x400m – 3:23.39 10th

Katie Manor, Doyin Ogunremi, Brooklyn McCormick, Kennedy Banton-Lindsay (uOttawa) 4x400m – 3:56.37 12th

For full results from the USports Championship, visit our results page.

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Nuraddeen’s gold leads five medal haul for Ravens at RSEQ Championship

by linkinbioUniversity

Eight years. That was the length of time between competitions in a Lions uniform for Adam Nuraddeen. The fourth year psychology student at Carleton University returned to the sport in earnest last summer, competing in the annual Twilight Series of meets before donning the black singlet of the Ravens this past fall. In the time since, he has re-written the school record book in the triple jump and last Friday, he jumped his way to an RSEQ Conference championship and a spot in the national university championships. 

In Friday’s competition, Nuraddeen led the Ravens to a 1-3 finish in the triple jump – the first time it’s happened in school history. Although falling short of his one week old school record, the Glebe Collegiate graduate’s leap of 13.31 metres was good enough to best the rest of the field by more than a metre and earn himself an automatic bid into the USports Championship next week as the conference champion. 

Joining Nuraddeen on the podium Friday was teammate Samuel Chilima, who placed third. The first year student extended his personal best by more than a quarter of a metre to land out at 12.06 metres.

The men’s triple jump medals were part of a four medal haul for the Ravens on day one of the Championship.

Getting it done in the field was another first year student, Connor Fraser, in the men’s shot put. Fraser, heaved the 16 pound shot put out to a personal best 14.43 metres to take home the bronze. Fraser’s effort fell just short of the Raven’s record of 14.55 set by last year’sRSEQ silver medalist Alec Jeffrey.

Rounding out day one was a bronze medal effort in the 4×200 metres by the team of Michael Pinnock, Samuel Chilima, Kanique Thomas, and Lachlan Mahan. The quartet got the stick around to finish in a time of 1 minute and 36.10 seconds, just ahead of the University of Sherbrooke. 

The only medal on day two for the Ravens came in the very first event as first year student Kendal Williams took home the bronze in the women’s weight throw on her birthday. Williams’ best throw of the day measured 10.58 metres.

In addition to the Ravens’ medal haul, Lion Vanessa Lu Langley picked up a silver and bronze. Running on the McGill 4×200 metre relay team on Friday, Lu Langley helped the Martlets to a bronze medal before running a personal best of 9.09 seconds the next morning in the 60 metre hurdles to claim silver. It was Lu Langley’s second straight RSEQ silver in the hurdles.

For complete results from the RSEQ Championship: https://ottawalions.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023_RSEQ_Track_Results.pdf

For updated Ravens rankings, visit: https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings

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Senechal-Becker shines at OUA Championship with yet another Gee-Gees record

by linkinbioUniversity

It was a high jump battle for the ages Saturday afternoon in Windsor. With the 4×4 relays wrapped up on the track, the focus turned to the infield of the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse where the University of Ottawa’s Thomas Senechal-Becker and Toronto’s Aiden Grout put on what could be considered the greatest OUA Championship battle of the century. Unfortunately for Senechal-Becker, not even a third school record in as many weeks was good to secure the gold medal. 

Despite a miss at his opening height, Senechal-Becker’s first attempt clearance at 2.05 metres put the second year health sciences student in the competition’s driver’s seat. With a virtually clean sheet, Thomas would ride the lead right through a new lifetime best clearance of 2.17 metres on his first try. It was at this point things got interesting as Grout, still in second, passed to 2.20 metres for a shot to repeat as OUA champion. 

Despite some strong attempts at 2.20, Senechal-Becker could only watch as Grout pulled out a third attempt clearance for a new lifetime best of his own as the men re-took their same spots on the medal stand from the year before. 

The next highest finish for the Gee-Gees also came from a second year student – Vienna Courteau. Competing in just her second pentathlon, Courteau was firing on all cylinders as she strung together five fine performances, led by an eight centimetre personal best in the high jump, to score a personal best 3226 points and finish fourth overall. 

Just one rung up on the pentathlon leader board was fellow Lion Audrey Goddard, competing for Western University. The first year student recorded a lifetime best of 3564 points on her way to bronze as she secured her spot in the upcoming USports Championship in Saskatoon in just under two weeks. 

In Friday’s 4×800 relay, Lions Gillian Porter and Elizabeth Vroom ran the final two legs for Queen’s University to help propel the Gaels to bronze. Porter took the stick in fifth place and proceeded to run the fastest 800 metres of her life to move Queen’s to fourth before Vroom followed suit with a similar performance to narrowly pass McMaster and find a way on to the podium. 

The pair followed up their relay podium with a pair of personal bests in Saturday’s 1500 metre final. Vroom covered the seven and a half laps in 4 minutes and 35.31 seconds on her way to a fifth place finish. Porter was 13th in 4:42.18.

In the men’s 60 metre hurdles, Club U23 record holder David Adeleye just missed out on the podium. Running for the University of Toronto, the third year human kinetics student ran the third fastest time of his life, 7.97 seconds, to place fourth – just four hundredths off the podium. 

Other notable finishes from the weekend included:

Brianna Asiamah (4th – Shot Put)
Katie Manor (7th – 60m)
Jackson Colquhoun (7th – Triple Jump)
Doyin Ogunremi (8th – 300m)
David Moulongou (8th – 600m)
Katie Manor, Brooklyn McCormik, Kennedy Banton-Lindsay, Doyin Ogunremi (7th – 4x200m)
Katie Manor, Brooklyn McCormik, Kennedy Banton-Lindsay, Doyin Ogunremi (8th – 4x400m)
Fabrice Nonez, Thomas Kukla-Colby, Lucas Zanetti, David Moulongou (8th – 4x400m)

(Canton, United States---03 December 2022) Thomas Senechal-Becker competing in the 2022 St Lawrence University Saints Holiday Relays. Photograph Copyright 2022 Miles Ryan / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Records set at Ravens Last Chance

by linkinbioUniversity

It’s all in the title. The Ravens Last Chance Meet Saturday at the Dome @ Louis-Riel was a final opportunity for university athletes to improve their position ahead of next weekend’s conference championships. For a number of our varsity athletes it was an opportunity well used as 41 new personal bests were achieved – including a new high jump record for the Gee-Gee’s Thomas Senechal-Becker. 

Coming off a new school record the week before, Senechal-Becker was looking for a couple more centimetres ahead of the Ontario University Athletics Championship heading into Saturday’s competition and he did not disappoint. The second year health sciences student had already upped the record with a third attempt clearance at 2.10 metres when he upped the ante by raising the bar to 2.15. 

Following a narrow miss on his first attempt, Senechal-Becker could be seen seeking out Head Coach Richard Johnston. While the rationale wasn’t clear at the moment, as soon as he stepped back onto the apron to attempt his second jump it was all quite evident. The Canada Games silver medalist removed his Gee-Gee split shorts to jump only in his half length tights. 

The shorts were all the drag that appeared to be holding him back as he sprung up over the bar that stood more than seven feet in height and returned to the mat with cheers of exuberance ringing throughout the south end of the facility. With his new school record, Thomas now sits second in the USports rankings, one centimetre behind the University of Toronto’s Aidan Grout. 

A trio of Gee-Gee relay teams also showed they were rounding in to form ahead of the championship season – recording seasonal bests on Saturday. The biggest changes came in the 4×400 metre relays with both the men and women dropping well over three seconds off their previous bests. 

The men’s team of Fabrice Nonez, Thomas Kukla-Colby, Lucas Zanetti, and David Moulongou dropped four and a half seconds off their season’s best as they took second spot in a time of 3:19.15. The mark was the fastest by a Gee-Gees team since the 2014 USports Championship. 

On the women’s side, Katie Manor, Doyin Ogunremi, Brooklyn McCormik, and Kennedy Banton-Lindsay set a new meet record with their winning time of 3 minutes and 54.50 seconds. The quartet’s time should be fast enough to put them in the fastest section for the OUA championships. 

On the Ravens side, a pair of records were set by Laura Cross and Adam Nuradeen. A first year Biochemistry student, Cross broke the school record in the women’s 600 metres with her time of 1 minute and 39.61 seconds. The previous record of 1:40.48 had been set by Miryam Yakub Aga in 2018. For Mr. Nuradeen, it was his second record in as many weeks as the triple jumper added 19 centimetres to his previous best to land at 13.61 metres on Saturday. 

Both varsity programs return to action on Friday in their respective OUA and RSEQ Championships. 

For updated rankings, please visit the following links:

Lions Rankings – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings

Gee Gee Rankings – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/uottawatf_rankings

Ravens Rankings – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings

OTTAWA - July 14, 2021: Stephen Evans competing at Ottawa Summer Twilight #11 at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility.

Evans leads record breaking showing for Lions in Boston

by linkinbioUniversity

The Track and Tennis Center on the campus of Boston University has become synonymous with fast running and breaking records. Living up to the moniker, the venue was the site of 20 new lifetime bests by Club athletes this past weekend at the annual Valentine Invitational. 

Headlining the list of performances was Stephen Evans as he ran his way into the record books with a new Club standard in the 1000 metres. The 26 year old Evans finished second in Saturday’s race in a time of 2 minutes and 21.39 seconds, more than a full second ahead of the previous Club best set by Mohamed Souleiman in 2014. Evans had narrowly missed the record by 0.13 seconds last month at McGill, when he won in 2:22.59.

Elizabeth Vroom ran her way to ninth on the Club’s all-time mile list Friday night as the first year Queen’s University student won her heat in a time of 4 minutes and 53.30 seconds. Vroom’s performance also ranks as the third fastest U20 performance at the distance for the Lions. 

Also in the mile, the University of Ottawa’s Nina Gunther continued her string of personal bests by running 4:56.54 – a near 20 second lifetime best. Gunther’s time moved her ahead of former USports medallist Madison Clarke and into second on the Gee-Gees all-time list. 

On the men’s side, Kevin Robertson improved his time in the mile with a 4:06.28 effort, while André Alie-Lamarche trimmed nearly six seconds off his previous best, running 4:15.14 to set a new Gee-Gee’s record.

The high jump produced another Gee-Gee record as second year student Thomas Senechal-Becker cleared 2.09 metres in a jump off to win in Boston. His clearance added one centimetre to the previous record set by the late Steve Nkusi in 2016. Senechal-Becker is currently ranked second within USports.

A final school record came from Carleton’s Adam Nuraddeen who bettered his own mark in the triple jump. The fourth-year psychology student bounded out to 13.42 metres to place 10th overall. 

(Canton, United States---03 December 2022) Sydney Smith competing in the 2022 St Lawrence University Saints Holiday Relays. Photograph Copyright 2022 Miles Ryan / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Fast times in Boston; Masters rake in medals at provincial championship

by linkinbioProvincialUniversity

Just two weeks removed from the second fastest 1000 metre performance in Club history, Stephen Evans returned to his favourite indoor venue to lay down his fastest indoor 800 metre time ever. Evans took top spot at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational on the notoriously fast Boston University track in a blistering time of 1 minute and 48.31 seconds.  

It was a bit of a come from behind effort for Evans who spent the first three laps of the 200 metre track back in fourth place. Entering the bell lap, the University of Ottawa graduate was able to maintain his pace over the final 200 metres and turn an eight tenths of a second deficit into a nearly two tenths of a second margin of victory.

Like Evans, Sydney Smith also produced an indoor career best 800 as she took third in her heat with a time of 2 minutes and 6.59 seconds. The performance ranks third for Smith regardless of venue and was good enough for 13th place overall in the field of 66.

At the Jud Logan Giver Open in Ashland, Ohio, Leewinchell Jean gave’r as he ran his way to a personal best of 8.22 seconds in the 60 metre hurdles to place fourth in the final. With the performance, the University of Windsor student sits in ninth place on the Club’s U23 rankings and 12th overall. Jean also posted an indoor best of 50.15 seconds in the 400 metres to place 16th. 

The York Open in Toronto featured three Lions in combined events action. In the women’s pentathlon, Audrey Goddard (Western) placed second with a score of 3379 points while Charlotte Murchison (York) scored a personal best of 2804 points for fifth. Murchison’s score moves her to eighth on the Club’s U20 list. 

On the men’s side, Leo Wallner appeared poised to set a new personal best in the heptathlon before he was forced to pull out during the final event – the 1000 metres. Before withdrawing, the first year Western University student did manage a new best of 3.70 metres in the pole vault.

Finally, the weekend wrapped up with the Ontario Masters Indoor Championships where Lions athletes captured a total eight medals including six gold. The ageless leaper, Stan Seitz picked up gold and silver respectively in the M75 pole vault and high jump. The medals bump up Stan’s career take from the Championship to 12. 

The middle distance crew put on an impressive performance as well, pulling in four golds at 800 metres followed by a gold and silver at 1500. The 800 metre victors were Fritzlor Auguste (M30), Michael Conway (M35), Gilles Frenette (M45), and Kimberley Howitt (W35). At 1500 metres, Jay Sneddon (M30) won in his masters debut, while Mike McInerney took silver in the M55 race.

To view updated Club rankings and medal totals, visit https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/

(Ottawa, Canada---08 June 2022) David Adeleye racing in the 110m hurdles competing at Ottawa Summer Twilight Series Meet Three. 2022 Copyright Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images

Adeleye’s U23 Club record highlights 17 medal haul at Kane Invite

by linkinbioUniversity

Along David Adeleye’s relatively short career as hurdler, his progression has been marked by continuous small improvements – the kind more likely to be found in the hundredths rather than the tenths of a second. The third year student at the University of Toronto knocked a few more hundredths of a second off his 60 metre hurdles best Saturday afternoon on his way to setting a new Club Under-23 record . 

Racing at the Kane Invitational in Ithaca, New York, Adeleye bested the field with a 7.91 second clocking to edge past the previous standard of 7.92 seconds set by Sekou Kaba in 2012 when he won the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now USports) Championship. Now sitting third on the Club’s all-time list, David will undoubtedly turn his attention towards Kaba’s 7.77 second best and Charles Allen’s Club record of 7.70.

Adeleye’s victory was 1 of 17 medals on the day for the Lions family, including four other golds. Gee-Gee athletes were responsible for the remaining victories.

David Moulongou took top spot in the 600 metres with a time of 1:22.85. The second year student was joined on the podium by teammate Lucas Zanetti who finished a half second back to take third. 

High jumper Thomas Senechal-Becker continued his strong season, picking up his third victory. The Canada Games silver medalist cleared 2.06 metres for the second week in a row as he was unchallenged by second place finisher Smith Charles of Cornell who finished 14 centimetres back. 

It was a sweep for both the men’s and women’s 4×400 metre relays teams on Saturday. The men’s quartet of Fabrice Nonez, Thomas Kukla-Colby, Lucas Zanetti, and David Moulongou enjoyed a comfortable 14 second margin of victory, finishing in a time of 3:26.17 – their second fastest time of the season.  The women’s team of Sia Mahajan, Brooklyn McCormik, Doyin Oguremi, and Kennedy Banton-Lindsay enjoyed a similar dominating performance as the won in 4:04.44 – exactly 13 seconds ahead of second place Binghamton. 

Below is a full list of the remaining medalists from the Kane Invitational.

Silver

Paulina Procyk (UofT) – 200m (26.04)
Doyin Ogunemi – 300m (40.60)
Brooklyn McCormik – 600m (1:38.50 PB)
Vienna Courteau – Long Jump (5.41m PB)

Bronze

Laura Cross – 600m (1:42.62 PB)
Pippa Norman – 3000m (10:49.22 PB)
Paulina Procyk (UofT) – 60m Hurdles (8.81)
Elizabeth Moreland – High Jump (1.48m)
Ella Lalonde – High Jump (1.48m)
Michael Pinnock – 300m (36.21)
Jackson Colquhoun – Triple Jump (13.57m PB)

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Evans moves to #2 on all-time list at McGill

by linkinbioUniversity

Thirteen hundredths of a second. That’s how close Stephen Evans was to setting a new Club record Friday night at the McGill Team Challenge in Montreal. A two lap specialist, Evans recorded a personal best time of 2 minutes and 22.59 seconds as he was narrowly edged at the line by Queen’s University’s Jude Wheeler-Dee in the 1000 metre contest. Evans now ranks second in Club history for both the 800 and 1000 metre events and third in the 600. 

Evans’ performance was just one of 13 medals and 36 personal bests set by Club athletes in Montreal. Among the medalists was his training partner, Sydney Smith who took top spot in Friday’s 1000 metres (2:48.59) and followed up with a silver at 600 (1:31.87) the following day.

Also reaching the top of the podium was the University of Ottawa’s Thomas Senechal-Becker. The second year student took top place in the high jump with a clearance of 2.06 metres. The mark surpassed the USports qualifying standard and also moved him into third on the Gee-Gees’ all-time list. 

Staying in the field, Elizabeth Moreland picked up a pair of medals in the high jump and triple jump. The second year University of Ottawa student set a new lifetime best Friday in the triple jump as she bounded out to a distance of 10.99 metres to place second in the competition. She followed that up Saturday with a clearance of 1.55 metres and a share of the bronze medal. 

Over at the women’s shot put, Brianna Asiamah and Jessica Gyamfi placed second and third respectively. Asiamah pushed the four kilogram ball out to 11.96 metres while Gyamfi was a metre back at 10.90.

For Vienna Courteau, Friday’s pentathlon was the first of her career, but that didn’t stop the second year Gee-Gee from putting forward a podium performance. Vie, as she is affectionately known, produced lifetime bests in both the high jump and shot put enroute to a score of 3021 points and a bronze medal finish. 

Back on the track, Lizzie Vroom produced the fastest 1500 metres of her life as she ran her way to bronze. The first year Queen’s University student was visibly excited as she crossed the line in 4 minutes and 36.18 seconds – trimming nearly four seconds off her previous best. 

Other medals in Montreal came from Alexandra Telford (300m silver), Fabrice Nonez (60m Hurdle bronze), and the quartet of Fabrice Nonez, David Moulongou, Lucas Zanetti, and Andre Alie Lamarche (4x400m bronze).

To see full results and photos from McGill, visit https://ottawalions.com/results/2023-results

To view updated all-time lists and athlete profiles, please visit:

Ottawa Lions – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/

Ottawa Gee-Gees – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/uottawatf_rankings/

Carleton Ravens – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings/

(Langley, British Columbia ---25 June 2022) Lauren Gale competing on day four of the Canadian Track and Field Championships at McLeod Athletic Park. Photograph 2022 Copyright Miles Ryan Rowat / Mundo Sport Images

Gale and Manor set records at Winter Classic

by linkinbioLocalUniversity

This past weekend the Lions hosted the Ottawa Winter Classic – the first indoor track and field meet in the City since February 29, 2020. After the nearly three year wait, the athletes did not disappoint with a number of exciting performances – including a staggering 113 personal bests.

Heading the list of performances was undoubtedly Lauren Gale and her pair of wins in both the 60 and 300 metre events. Gale started the day with successive lifetime bests in the heats and final of the 60 metre, trimming more than a tenth from her previous standard as she won in 7.55 seconds. 

The 23-year-old then followed it up with a dominating victory at 300 metres as she crossed the line in a time of 37.19 seconds – nearly a full second ahead of 2022 World Championship teammate Aiyanna Brigite Stiverne. Gale’s time broke the previous Dome record of 37.49 set by Amonn Nelson in 2010 and also moved her up one spot into second on the Club’s all-time list.

Finishing second to Gale in the 60 metres, Katie Manor also managed to etch her name in the record books Saturday. The second year psychology student at the University of Ottawa posted a time of 7.57 seconds in the final to best the previous Gee-Gees record jointly held by Christianne Lela and Charifa Labarang at 7.61 seconds. Manor also ran her way to a new lifetime best of 40.07 seconds for 300 metres.

Sydney Smith took a step into the Club’s all-time top 10 list in the 1000 metres with her victory on Saturday. Smith out-kicked former Lion Emma Galbraith over the final 200 metres to win in a personal best time of 2 minutes and 47.60 seconds. The performance moved Smith to equal number seven in the Club with her former Colonel By Secondary School coach, Nathalie Coté.

On the men’s side, David Moulongou took top spot in the 600 metres with a personal best time of 1:20.06. The second year University of Ottawa student led virtually from wire to wire as he outpaced teammate Lucas Zanetti, who finished a second and a half back in second.  Moulongou’s performance also moves the 19-year-old to number eight on the Club’s all-time U23 list.

Other notable performances included Nina Gunther and Noémie Beareguard’s victories at 1500 and 3000 metres respectively. The two Gee-Gees each won in personal best times and Gunther’s time of 4:38.38 moved her into the USports top-12.

For full results, please visit: https://ottawalions.com/2023-results/2023-university-of-ottawa-winter-classic/

To view updated Club and Varsity Program Rankings, please visit:

Club: https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/

University of Ottawa: https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/uottawatf_rankings/

Carleton University: https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings/

(Canton, United States---03 December 2022) Nina Günther competing in the 2022 St Lawrence University Saints Holiday Relays. Photograph Copyright 2022 Miles Ryan / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Gee-Gees and Ravens set 29 personal bests in Sherbrooke

by linkinbioUniversity

The varsity programs at both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University kicked off the 2023 calendar this past weekend – competing at l‘Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or Invitation. While most athletes had only just completed their first full week of training following the holidays, that did not stop the 43 athletes competing from setting 29 new personal bests during the competition. 

A pair of Gee-Gee athletes took home gold medals from Saturday’s trip to Quebec. On the track, Nina Gunther broke the three minute barrier for the first time in the 1000 metres, winning in 2 minutes and 57.39 seconds. The graduate student in Sport Management has had a strong season for the Gee-Gees after previously competing for the Carabins de l‘Université de Montréal as an undergraduate. Gunther had also opened the season with a victory in the mile at the Saints Holiday Relays before Christmas. 

Brianna Asiamah was the other Gee-Gee to ascend to podium Saturday, taking top spot in her speciality – the shot put. The third-year social work student pushed the 4 kilogram shot out to a distance of 12.53 metres to leave herself 22 centimetres clear of silver. The Holy Trinity graduate’s winning throw also surpassed her previous best of 12.51 metres set in December. 

Also picking up a medal in the shot put ring was first year Carleton student Connor Fraser. The Immaculate graduate who is more known for his success in the discus ring heaved the shot out to an impressive 13.73 metres. Fraser’s throw is a massive personal best in his first season with the senior implement and moves him to number two on the Raven’s all-time list. 

Staying with the field events, a trio of triple jumpers hopped, skipped and jumped their way on to the podium. Heather Grandy and Jackson Colquhoun took silver in the women’s and men’s competitions respectively. Grandy, who is currently pursuing a masters degree in biomedical engineering, leapt to a personal best distance of 11.14 metres, while Colquhoun’s leap of 13.39 metres was the third best of his career. Elizabeth Moreland also added a bronze in the women’s triple jump with a best of 10.47 metres.

Back on the track, Fabrice Nonez set a personal best for the second meet row enroute to a silver in the 60 metre hurdles. Nonez lowered his best to 8.64 seconds in Saturday’s heats before crossing the line in 8.65 seconds in the final.

Gee-Gee’s Sia Mahajan, Katie Manor, Courtney Cenac, and Doyin Oguremi teammed up for bronze in the 4×400 metre relay. The quartet finished in a time of 4 minutes and 9.45 seconds.

Saturday’s competition also featured a masters section to complement the University/Open races. Michael Conway took top spot in the 600 metres with a winning time of 1:31.13. Teammate Gilles Frenette finished 10 seconds back in second. Mike McInerney was the top finisher in the 1000 metres with a time of 3:14.97

For full results from Saturday’s competition, please visit ottawalions.com/results/2023-results