Photo: Graham Baird

Kevin Robertson sets new steeplechase best in Virginia

by linkinbioNationalUniversity

It seems as though every time Kevin Robertson steps on the track this season, he runs just a little faster than the last time. Such was the case Friday night at the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville when the Syracuse junior won his heat of the 3000 metre steeplechase in a new lifetime best of 8 minutes and 46.98 seconds. 

Friday night’s time was Robertson’s second personal best performance of the season and all three of his steeplechase runs have been under his pre-season best. 

“The fitness is coming along really well and I feel like my steeple technique is getting better every race,” said Robertson following his race. “I’ll probably race a 1500 next weekend where I’ll get to see what I’ve got in a flat race”

The Bell High School grad will return his focus to the steeplechase at next month’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at Duke University and then at the NCAA East Regional Preliminary where he hopes to earn a spot on the line at the NCAA Championships in June. 

The Jack Christiansen Invitational in Colorado may have had you thinking you were at a cross country meet with the mercury hovering around 10 degrees celsius and the wind blowing between 40 to 55 km/h. Despite the unfavourable conditions, Lauren Gale finished the final home meet of her collegiate career with a pair of sizable victories.

Gale started the day off by outclassing the 400 metre field by more than five seconds as she powered through the gusting winds to win a time of 52.49 seconds. The Colorado State senior promptly followed that up with an outdoor all-conditions best of 23.07 seconds – more than a second and a half ahead of teammate Grace Goldsworthy in second. While the trailing wind of 4.0 m/s was too much for record purposes, the performance was within the allowable limit for NCAA ranking purposes.

With her two victories on Saturday, Gale now ranks 29th and 30th in the NCAA for the 200 and 400 metres respectively. 

Keira Christie-Galloway took top spot at the ASU Twilight Collegiate in Tempe, AZ. The Arizona State runner won the 100 metre hurdle event in a time of 13.38 seconds, narrowly edging out teammate Cortney Jones. Christie-Galloway, who owns a seasonal best of 13.34 seconds, is currently ranked 41st in the NCAA and well positioned to return to the NCAA West Preliminaries next month. 

Down in Texas,Sharelle Samuel’s winning streak over the 400 metre hurdles was snapped Saturday at the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco. The Harvard senior placed 10th in 59.41 seconds – the second best of her career. Samuel was also 12th in the open 400 metres in 55.52 seconds.

Rounding out the performances from the weekend, Tommy Nedow posted two top five finishes at the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge. Nedow placed fourth in the discus with a throw of 51.50 metres and took fifth in the shot put with a heave of 16.35 metres. The Southeastern Louisiana University student also placed 9th in the hammer throw, hurling the 16 pound ball out to 51.49 metres. 

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Samuel smashes personal best; wins at Auburn

by InternationallinkinbioUniversity

They say good things come to those wait. For Sharelle Samuel the wait had been nearly five years in the making, but after a new personal best at the War Eagle Invitational in Auburn, Alabama on Saturday it was definitely worth it. The Harvard University senior took top spot in the 400 metre hurdles in a time of 58.23 seconds. Samuel’s previous best in the event came back in July of 2017 when she ran to a silver medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 59.59 seconds.

In addition to a new personal best, Sharelle’s performance on Saturday also moved her to third on the Club’s all-time list behind former Canadian team members Rosey Edeh and Isabelle Gervais. Furthermore, the economics student is currently ranked 27th in the NCAA and 13th in the East Region. The top 24 athletes in the East Region will qualify for the NCAA East Preliminaries the last weekend of May in Indiana.

Saturday’s victory also extended Samuel’s winning streak in the 400 metre hurdles to four, as she remains undefeated in the event this season.

Samuel also placed sixth in the flat 400 on Saturday, running a collegiate best time of 54.50 seconds.

In Colorado, Lauren Gale made her return to the track after nearly a month away from competition following her appearance at the World Indoor Championships. Despite temperatures hovering around 6 degrees centigrade, the Colorado State senior easily won her 400 metre event on her home track at the Doug Max Invitational in a time of 52.84 seconds – more than two seconds ahead of second place.

Elsewhere in NCAA competition, Tommy Nedow took second place in the discus with a throw of 52.64 metres at a home meet for Southeastern Louisiana University. Nedow was also fourth in the shot put with a best of 15.16 metres. At the Mt. Sac Relays in California, Keira Christie-Galloway placed 16th in the 100 metre hurdles with a time of 13.69 seconds.

Finishing off the long weekend was Josh Cassidy as he rolled to a seventh place finish in Monday’s Boston Marathon. The former Boston champion covered the 26.2 mile course, which winds from the suburb of Hopkinton to famed Boylston Street, in 1 hour, 35 minutes and 2 seconds. Cassidy, who failed to finish Saturday’s 5km event after an issue with his chair, was consistent in his racing Monday – sitting in third through fifth position most of the race. In a post race Instagram story Cassidy likened the final mile to hitting a wall where he was passed by Ireland’s Patrick Monahan and Spain’s Raphael Botello Jimenez – finishing 24 seconds behind the pair.

(Toronto, Canada---18 March 2022) David Adeleye of the University of Toronto competing on day one of the OUA Track and Field Championships at the Toronto Track and Field Centre on the campus of York University. Photograph 2022 Copyright Miles Ryan Rowat / Mundo Sport Images

Adeleye and Telford bring home bronze from USports Championship

by linkinbioNationalUniversity

The 41st edition of the USports Track and Field Championships wrapped up Saturday at the Irving Oil Fieldhouse in St. John, New Brunswick with much to celebrate. While the championship marked the return of the national event after a one year hiatus due to pandemic restrictions, it was also the first time the event had ever been held on Canada’s east coast. With a pair of bronze medals and another two fourth place finishes, it was a successful weekend for the Lions athletes.

Taking home the first medal of the weekend was David Adeleye in the 60 metre hurdles. The second year student at the University of Toronto, posted a time of 8.15 seconds in the final to narrowly edge out the next three finishers, who all crossed the line with four hundreds of a second of David. 

In the heats, Adeleye posted the fastest time of his career – a blazing 8.07 seconds. The time makes the Ashbury graduate the sixth fastest in Club history. 

A five time relay medalist at Canadian age class championships, Alexandra Telford snagged her first individual medal on the national stage with a bronze in the 300 metres. Running a Carleton University record of 38.69 seconds in the slow section of the timed final, Telford had to wait a few minutes for the fast section to go before her spot on the podium was confirmed. 

Thomas Senechal-Becker had his eyes on a podium spot heading into Friday night’s high jump final, but would settle for fourth place. The first year student at the University of Ottawa entered ranked third with a best of 2.05 metres, but struggled with misses at his early heights and was able to go no higher than 2.02 metres on the day. 

Similarly to Senechal-Becker, Sydney Smith narrowly missed the podium as well. The OUA 600 metre champion finished an agonizing four hundredths of a second out of third. Smith sat in second, with a narrow lead over eventual champion Sadie-Jane Hickson of Guelph at the bell before quickly pushing to the lead on the backstretch. She would maintain the lead through most of the final corner before it appears she is bumped and ends up swinging wide out into lane two as she enters the straightaway. Fighting for the line, Smith was out leaned in the final metre for bronze. 

Smith’s meet was not over, as she would finish the Championship by helping the Gee-Gees 4×400 metre relay team to a seventh place finish. The quartet, which also included Doyin Ogunremi, Frédérique Bell, and Hannah Frazer posted a time of 3:54.71 – their second fastest of the season. 

The final top eight finish came from shot putter Brianna Asiamah. The third year student at the University of Ottawa managed a best throw of 12.31 metres to place eighth in her first USports Championship. 

Other Lions results from the Championship include:

Paulina Procyk & Helena Jovic (Toronto) 4x200m – 9th 1:44.74
Vanessa Lu Langley & Audrey Gilmour (McGill) 4x200m – 11th 1:57.53
Will Cox (Dalhousie) 3000m – 12th 8:37.96
Robert Mitchell (Calgary) 4×800 – 11th 7:56.68
Helena Jovic (Toronto) 4x400m – 5th 3:53.20

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USports Championships kick off today with 14 Lions in action

by linkinbioNationalUniversity

For the first time in two years, Canada’s best university athletes are gathering in New Brunswick for national bragging rights and some glittering hardware. The USports Track and Field Championships start today in St. John at the recently built Irving Oil Fieldhouse and continues through Saturday.

A total of seven Lions varsity athletes representing the University of Ottawa and Carleton have made the trip out east for the Championship where they will be joined by seven other Club members representing their respective universities.

The University of Ottawa is led by OUA Champion Sydney Smith who looks to add national champion to her running resume in the 600 metres and will also run anchor on the Gee-Gees 4×400 metre relay team. Smith enters the heats of the 600, which take place today at 6:30pm eastern, as the top seed.

Joining the medal hunt for the Gee-Gees is Thomas Sénéchal-Becker in the high jump. The first year accounting student boasts a best of 2.05 metres this season, which ranks him third in the country heading into this weekend’s competition. The OUA silver medalist jumps for gold Friday night at 4pm.

Brianna Asiamah enters Friday night’s shot put competition ranked 10th in the country. The third year social work student will be pushing for a spot in the final when action goes Friday night at 6pm.

The Gee-Gees 4×400 metre relay team will be running in the fast section of the timed final Saturday afternoon. The quartet of Doyin Ogunremi, Frédérique Bell, Hannah Frazer, and Sydney Smith just missed out on a medal at the OUA championships and are eager to show the country just how fast they can go when the gun goes off at 3pm on Saturday.

Carleton University’s lone entry in this year’s championship is Alexandra Telford. The architecture graduate student is among the medal favourites when competition in the 300 metres gets underway on Friday – having posted the third fastest time in the country while winning the RSEQ Championships two weeks ago.

Telford had qualified in the 60m hurdles as well, but dropped the event to focus on the 300, as the hurdles are also scheduled for Friday. It will be a tight turnaround for the 300 metre field with the heats scheduled for 4:50pm and the final set to go just 110 minutes later at 7:40.

A trio of Lions will be representing the Varsity Blues of Toronto this weekend. David Adeleye will contest the 60 metre hurdles, where he enters with the sixth fastest time. The duo of Paulina Procyk and Helena Jovic will run on the Blues 4×200 metre squad, with Jovic also featuring on the 4×4 team as well.

Leewinchell Jean, a third year student at the University of Windsor, will line up for his second USports Championships this weekend. A finalist in the 60 metre hurdles two years ago, Jean will only contest the 4×400 metre relay this weekend for the Lancers as an injury hampered early season preparation in his marquee event.

In tonight’s 4×200 metre relay heats, Vanessa Lu-Langley will pass the baton to clubmate Audrey Gilmour as the pair represent McGill University. The Martlets enter the championship with the sixth fastest time in the country this season.

Rounding out the field of Lions is Will Cox, representing Dalhousie University. Cox will run the 3000 metres for the Tigers Friday night at 5:50pm. The AUS Champion enters the championship ranked 13th.

Lions Schedule

Thursday, March 31

Sydney Smith (uOttawa) 600m Heat 2 6:30pm
Paulina Procyk & Helena Jovic (Toronto) 4x200m Heat 3 7:20pm
Vanessa Lu Langley & Audrey Gilmour (McGill) 4x200m Heat 3 7:20pm

Friday, April 1

David Adeleye (Toronto) 60mH Heat 1 3:45pm
Thomas Sénéchal-Becker (uOttawa) High Jump Final 4:00pm
David Adeleye (Toronto) 60mH Final 4:40pm*
Alexandra Telford (Carleton) 300m Heat 1 4:50pm
Will Cox (Dalhousie) 3000m Final 5:50pm
Brianna Asiamah (uOttawa) Shot Put Final 6:00pm
Alexandra Telford (Carleton) 300m Final 6:40pm*

Saturday, April 2

Sydney Smith (uOttawa) 600m Final 12:15pm*
Paulina Procyk & Helena Jovic (Toronto) 4x200m Final 1:15pm*
Vanessa Lu Langley & Audrey Gilmour (McGill) 4x200m Final 1:15pm*
Helena Jovic (Toronto) 4x400m Final 3:00pm
Doyin Ogunremi, Frédérique Bell, Hannah Frazer, Sydney Smith (uOttawa) 4x400m Final 3:00pm

Live Results can be found at https://www.windsortiming.com/LiveResults/2022/USport/index.php

All the action will be streamed live on CBC.ca/sports

(Montreal, Canada---27 July 2019) Kevin Robertson running to Gold in the U20 3000m steeplechase at 2019 Canadian Track and Field Championships at the Claude Robillard Sports Centre in Montreal. 2019 Copyright Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images.

Robertson sets new Club U23 steeplechase standard

by linkinbioNationalUniversity

When Kevin Robertson opened his 2022 outdoor season on Friday night in Raleigh, North Carolina, it was in an event we haven’t seen him run in a while – the 3000 metre steeplechase. The 2019 Canadian U20 champion had not contested the event since capturing his only national title three years ago. A combination or COVID and lyme disease kept him away from his favourite event, but he returned like he had not missed a step.

The Syracuse University junior placed 12th in the Raleigh Relays with a U23 Club record of 8:53.53 – a full 20 seconds faster than his Canadian championship winning time and Club U20 record.

“Yep it felt pretty natural getting back into it,” noted Robertson after his run. However, he’s confident there is much more in store for him this season. “I only started steeple practice a week ago so I feel like I have a lot of room to improve this season. Just cleaning up my form should help me run a lot faster.”

At the Canadian Indoor Championships in New Brunswick, Madeline Seaby took bronze in the U18 women’s 3000 metre event. The Carleton Place resident crossed the line in a time of 10 minutes and 11.96 seconds and was followed by training partner Olivia Baggley in 10:31.16. Baggley placed sixth.

Seaby also took fifth in the 1500 metres in 4:50.21.

The Hurricane Collegiate Invitational in Miami was the site of Sharelle Samuel’s second straight victory over the 400 metre hurdles. The Harvard senior crossed the line in a collegiate best of 1:01.44 as she narrowly edged out Karlie Zumbro of Ball State for top spot.

Tommy Nedow took top spot in the discus at the Bulldog Relays hosted by Mississippi State University with a throw of 48.86 metres. It was his second victory in as many weeks in the event. Nedow also finished third in the shot put with a best throw of 15.50 metres.

22WIC_Lauren_Gale

Gale takes down another Canadian record

by InternationallinkinbioUniversity

For the fourth meet in a row Lauren Gale has broken a Canadian record; however this time she had a little help. Running lead off on the 4×400 metre relay entry at last weekend’s World Indoor Championships, Gale helped Team Canada to a time of 3 minutes and 31.45 seconds as they placed fourth in their heat in the Serbian capital of Belgrade.

Despite the new Canadian indoor record, the team of Gale, Kyra Constantine, Natassha McDonald, and Sage Watson failed to advance to the final. The previous record of 3:36.03 had been set 22 years prior in Glasgow.

Gale now holds Canadian indoor records at 200 and 400 metres as well as the relay.

Closer to home, the outdoor season was kicking into full swing with a trio of Lions in action for their respective NCAA schools.

Competing at a dual meet in Mobile, Alabama, Tommy Nedow took top spot in the shot put, discus, and hammer throw. The Southeastern Louisiana student won his speciality, the discus, by an impressive five metres as his best throw on the day measured out at 52.35 metres. His winning throws in the shot put and hammer throw measured 16.39 and 51.41 metres respectively.

On home turf in Tempe, Arizona State University runner Keira Christie Galloway placed fifth in the 100 metre hurdles at the Baldy Castillo Invitational. The 22 year old’s time of 13.43 seconds currently ranks as the fourth fastest in the PAC-12 conference.

In Houston, Sharelle Samuel opened her season with victory at the Houston Spring Break Invitational. The Harvard senior took top spot in the 400 metre hurdles with a time of 1:01.64 – nearly three seconds clear of second place.

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Smith and Telford golden at conference championships

by linkinbioProvincialUniversity

We expect there was a good amount celebrating at the Smith/Telford residence Sunday night following a golden weekend at their respective university conference championships for the two Lions varsity athletes.Roommates Sydney Smith and Alexandra Telford combined for a trio of gold medals this past weekend at the OUA and RSEQ Championships and did so in rather impressive fashion.

First to the podium was Smith who executed her 600m race strategy to absolute perfection. Biding her time for the first two laps, Smith surged past Guelph’s Sadie-Jane Hickson on the bell lap to capture her first OUA title in a personal best time of 1:30.37. The performance ranks as the sixth fastest in Club history.

The human kinetics graduate student nearly picked up a second medal in the 4×400 metre relay as her speedy anchor leg of 54.64 seconds took the Gee-Gees to within half a second of bronze. However, with their time of 3:51.66, the team of Doyin Ogunremi, Hannah Frazer, Frédérique Bell, and Smith will qualify for the USports Championship in two weeks time.

For Telford, her victories came fast and furious on day two of the Quebec conference championship. The Carleton graduate student began with a personal best effort to take the 60 metre hurdle title in 8.97 seconds. It was part of an Ottawa sweep of the podium, as silver went to fellow Lion Vanessa Lu Langley who is studying at McGill, while bronze went to recent University of Ottawa graduate Stéphanie Lapolice, who is completing graduate work in health promotion at Université Laval.

Less than an hour after her hurdles triumph, Telford was back on the track for the final of the 300 metres and another personal best performance. Her winning time of 38.74 seconds was more than a full second clear of the second place runner. Telford’s time moves her into fifth on the Club’s all-time list as she jumps ahead of two-time Olympian Alicia Brown.

Carleton’s Alec Jeffrey also found his way onto the podium at the RSEQ Championship. The school record holder in the shot put, Jeffrey heaved the shot out to 13.33 metres to claim the silver medal.

Picking up a silver medal at the OUA Championships was the University of Ottawa’s Thomas Senechal-Becker. The first year student cleared 2.02 metres in the high jump.

Another noteworthy performance included Emma Martins’ fifth place finish in the 60 metre final with a personal best time of 7.77 seconds. As well, David Adeleye, running for the University of Toronto, was just off his lifetime best, placing 6th in the 60 metre hurdles in 8.22 seconds, while Jenna Gervais (Western) set a personal best of 9.02 to qualify for the final of the women’s hurdles event, where she would place seventh overall. Finally, Brianna Asiamah just missed her lifetime best by three centimetres in the shot put with a 12.45 metre heave to place seventh.

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Gale Breaks 30 Year Old Canadian Indoor 400m Record

by linkinbioNationalUniversity

While it may not be fair to expect records every meet, that seems to be what Lauren Gale keeps wanting to give. For the fourth competition in a row Gale broke a record – this time at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Alabama. Gale’s time of 51.64 seconds in the 400 metre final eclipsed , this time taking out Jillian Richardson’s 30 year old Canadian indoor 400 metre mark.

Gale earned her spot in Saturday’s final with a second place finish in her heat Friday night. Coming off the cut in in an unfamiliar third place, the fourth year student maintained her composure and comfortably moved into second as they entered the final turn – closing in 52.17.

Entering her first NCAA final, Gale was calm in her approach. “I’m going to run my race how I usually do, split my normal times and hold on at the end,” remarked the Tokyo Olympian.

Running in the second of two final heats, Gale found herself in possibly the tightest women’s 400 metre battle in NCAA history. While she ultimately placed fourth in her heat, forced to the back of the pack after the cut-in, Gale would place eighth overall – just fifteen hundredths off the podium.

“She was a little frustrated that she couldn’t run her second lap like she wanted to, but she was in the back and had a lot of traffic,” said CSU sprints coach J.J. Riese of Gale’s performance. “That’s how it goes though sometimes, and it is nothing to be ashamed about. Overall, she had a good run and set a record for her home country which is nothing to take lightly.”

Closer to home the both varsity programs wrapped up an expedited regular season at the Redbirds Last Chance meet in Montréal. Combined, the varsity programs garnered 14 podium performances including seven victories.

Alexandra Telford led the haul with a pair of victories in both the 60 metre hurdles and 300 metre events. The Carleton University graduate student also picked up a pair of school records along the way. First was the hurdles, where she fended off strong runs by Club mate Vanessa Lu Langley (McGill) and former Gee-Gee Stephanie Lapolice (Laval) to win in a time of 9.10 seconds – five hundredths better than her previous record. Over 300 metres, Telford bested the field by nearly a second as she ran under 39 seconds for the first time. She is currently ranked first in both events heading into this coming weekend’s RSEQ Championship.

Another Carleton Record came from Alec Jeffrey who took second place in the shot put. The software engineering student heaved the 16 pound ball out to 14.55 metres, besting his previous record by nearly a metre and a half. Jeffrey is now ranked second heading into the Quebec conference championships this weekend, and 11th nationally.

The full list of other medal winners is included below:

GOLD

Sydney Smith – 600m (1:32.91)
Emma Dobson-Takoff – Triple Jump (10.75m)
Elizabeth Moreland – High Jump (1.58m)
Brianna Asiamah – Shot Put (11.60m)
Thomas Senechal-Becker – High Jump (2.02m)

SILVER

Hannah Frazer – 600m (1:37.52)
Elizabeth Moreland – Triple Jump (10.46m)
Vienna Courteau – Long Jump (5.14m)
Jackson Colquhoun – Triple Jump (13.30m)

BRONZE

Stephanie Leask, Hannah Frazer, Sia Mahajan, Skye Pellerin – 4x400m (4:09.32)
Fabrice Nonez, Dillon Landon, David Moulongou, Adam Davidson – 4x200m (1:35.18)

 

Complete results are available: https://ottawalions.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022_Redbird_Last_Chance_Results.pdf

Photos of the competition are available: https://www.mundosportimages.com/gallery/2022-McGill-Last-Chance-Qualifier/G0000L4snPxdnHmM/C000035fRIETKojQ

 

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Lions kick of March with strong start

by linkinbioProvincialUniversity

The fastest 600 in USports this season, seventh best 60 metre hurdles in Club history, and a pair of gold medals from the Ontario Championships. Seems as though the air outside wasn’t the only thing heating up on the first weekend in March.

After starting her season with a school record at 500 metres back in January, the University of Ottawa’s Sydney Smith has progressively lowered her best over 600 metres in three successive races this season. The latest effort, on Sunday at the Lancer Team Challenge in Windsor, saw her shave a second and a half off her previous best as she out leaned two-time Olympian Noelle Montcalm to win the 600 in a time of one minute and 30.47 seconds.  In the process, Smith also bested Clubmate Melissa-Bishop-Nriagu’s 12 year old meet record of 1:31.25.

“I’m really happy with the race and how I ran it – it feels good to kind of see everything start to come together,” said Smith of her USport Championship qualifying performance. However, she quickly affirmed her work is not done. “I know tomorrow [Coach] Normand and I will be back to work to get ready for the next few weeks coming up.”

Hurdler David Adeleye was also making big moves on the track Sunday – running his way into the Club’s all-time list. Also competing in Windsor, the second year University of Toronto kinesiology student dropped nearly two tenths off his 60 metre hurdles best in the prelims with an 8.14 second clocking. The time moves Adeleye to seventh on the Club’s all-time list and currently puts him fourth on the USport national rankings. David would go on to win the final in a time of 8.20 seconds.

Gee-Gee high jumper Thomas Senechal-Becker also found a spot on the top of the podium after a clearance of 2.05 metres. The height the moves the first year health sciences student into third on the USports national rankings, in a solid position to qualify for the national championships at the end of the month.

At the Ontario Indoor Championships in Toronto, the pair of Amelia Van Brabant and Oluwasegun Makinde each managed to capture provincial titles – the Club’s first at the Ontario indoor championships since 2003 when a young Stuart Pearson won the U16 tetrathlon.

After a fifth place finish in the 1500 metres on Saturday, Van Brabant added an indoor 3000 metre championship to the one she captured outdoors last summer. The grade 11 Earl of March student narrowly eked out the victory over Sarnia’s Gabby Jones by four hundredths of a second, crossing the line in 10:03.49.

The pair ran nearly in lock stop throughout the 15 lap race, creating a 16 second gap on the rest of the field by the time they went through 2000 metres. Jones had pulled ahead at the bell, 0.8 seconds in front of Van Brabant, for the largest lead of the day; however, a powerful kick home from Amelia saw her close in 36.1 for the narrow victory.

Makinde’s gold was far less dramatic, as he comfortably won the open 60 metre hurdles in 8.20 seconds – more than two tenths ahead of second. While many may know the two time Olympic relay team member for his flat speed prowess, Makinde has an impressive history in the hurdles that includes a national high school record, Canadian U20 title, and World U20 Championship semi-finals appearance. It was the 22nd gold medal he has won at an Ontario championship during his career.

The Lions will be back in action again this coming weekend with the varsity squads off to Montreal for the last chance meet and Lauren Gale as her sights set on setting a new Canadian record at 400 metres at the NCAA Championships in Alabama.

(Montreal, Canada---27 July 2019) Lauren Gale pulls away in the home straight to win the U20 400m at 2019 Canadian Track and Field Championships at the Claude Robillard Sports Centre in Montreal. 2019 Copyright Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images.

Banner weekend for Lions at NCAA conference championships

by linkinbioUniversity

Conference championship weekend south of the border brought much success and accolades to the pride. The five competing athletes collected two Canadian records, two team titles, three individual conference titles, a relay title, a silver medal, and athlete of the meet accolades.

Lauren Gale continued to sizzle this season as her two victories in the 200 and 400 metres at the Mountain West Conference Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico helped lead the Rams to a nearly 40 point victory over San Diego State. The Colorado State senior won both her events in commanding, and Canadian record setting fashion.

After breezing through qualifying Friday night, the 2021 Olympian laid down one of the most impressive performances in Canadian indoor track and field history as she took down the national under-23 400 metre record in a time of 51.78 seconds and then followed it up an hour later by bettering her two week old Canadian record with a time of 23.00 seconds for 200 metres.

For Gale, she didn’t set out to set records on Saturday. “I was going to get points for my team mainly,” explained the 22 year old after the meet. “My coach didn’t taper me much for this meet, we are aiming more for nationals. I was running the 400 and knew I had a 200 and maybe a 4×400 left so the goal wasn’t to get any records but just make it to the end of the meet and get as many points for my team as I could!”

Gale’s entry to the NCAA indoor championships was confirmed today, where she will contest the 400 metres only. She is the first Lion to compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships since Adam Palamar placed fifth in the mile at the 2017 championships

In Birmingham, Alabama, the host site of the NCAA Championships, Tommy Nedow was busy throwing his way to a pair of medal performances. The Southeastern Louisiana student-athlete started the competition off with the second best performance of his life in the weight throw – hurling the 35 pound ball an impressive 17.87 metres. The mark was good enough for a bronze, seven spots higher than his 2021 performance.

 

Nedow rounded out the championship with a title of his own in the shot put. The 23 year-old heaved the 16 pound ball out to a seasonal best of 16.75 metres. Monday’s victory was the second straight for the Brockville native at the Southland Conference Indoor Championships.

 

At the Ivy League Championships in New York City, Sharelle Samuel helped the Crimson of Harvard to their first conference indoor title since 2017. Samuel ran the second leg of the Crimson’s winning 4×400 metre relay team and also placed seventh in the 500 metre final.

 

Elsewhere, Keira Christie-Galloway had the strongest performance of her indoor season at the Pac-12 Invitational in Seattle. The Arizona State student ran a seasonal best in the 60 metres and just missed her season’s best in the 60 metre hurdles with a time of 8.38 seconds to place fifth in the final. Meanwhile, Kevin Robertson ran the second fastest 3000 metres of his life, finishing 26th at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship in Blacksburg, Virginia. He also helped the Syracuse Orangemen to a ninth place finish in the distance medley relay, where he finished the final 1600 metre leg in 4:08.49.