(Ottawa, Canada---05 June 2021) Barclay Frost receiving an appreciation award for a lifetime of officiating from Ottawa Lions Executive Director Richard Johnston at the Ottawa High Performance Weekend, held at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility. Photograph copyright 2021 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images

Barclay Frost honoured with Athletics Ontario Hall of Fame induction

by linkinbioProvincial

The Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club are proud to celebrate the recent induction of local official Barclay Frost into the Athletics Ontario Hall of Fame in the Builder Category. The induction, recognizing a remarkable 65-year journey of dedication to athletics, took place Saturday night during Athletics Ontario’s annual Awards Gala and honours Barclay’s profound contributions as an athlete, coach, educator, official, and executive.

Barclay Frost, an Ottawa native and a true all-around sportsman, began his journey in athletics by setting a high school record in the high jump and subsequently became a Canadian U18 high jump champion. Over the years, he excelled in multiple sports but remained deeply committed to track and field.

As an educator for 34 years, Barclay’s communication skills allowed him to not only teach his students but also to inspire them to engage with sports. He coached numerous elementary school teams to championships, leaving a lasting impact on young athletes.

Barclay’s impressive journey as an official spans 54 years, and he remains one of Canada’s top officials. He has officiated at all levels, from high school meets to the Summer Olympics, always displaying his in-depth knowledge of the rule book and exceptional communication with athletes and coaches.

His contributions extended beyond the track; Barclay held numerous executive roles in organisations aimed at enhancing the sport of Track and Field. He is instrumental in the staging of the Ottawa Sports Awards Dinner, which annually honours outstanding amateur athletes in the city and he has been an ardent supporter of the Lions members in being recognized in the city’s sporting community.

In recognition of his dedication and contributions, Barclay has received several prestigious awards, including induction into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 and being selected for the Athletics Canada National Officials Committee Wall of Honour in 2021.

Barclay’s legacy as an athlete, coach, educator, and official has left an indelible mark on the world of athletics. His induction into the Athletics Ontario Hall of Fame is a testament to his lifelong commitment and outstanding achievements.

Sultana Frizell celebrates bronze medal in hammer throw at 2015 Pan Am Games. Copyright Miles Ryan Rowat

Sultana Frizell joins Athletics Ontario Hall of Fame

by linkinbioProvincial

The Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club is thrilled to extend its heartfelt congratulations to Canadian Olympian Sultana Frizell on her well-deserved induction into the Athletics Ontario Hall of Fame. This prestigious recognition is a testament to Frizell’s outstanding accomplishments, particularly in the hammer throw, and marks another historic milestone in her illustrious athletic career. The induction ceremony took place this past Saturday as part of Athletics Ontario’s annual Awards Gala.

Sultana Frizell, a name synonymous with excellence in Canadian athletics, enjoyed an athletics career spanning nearly two decades that saw her represent Canada internationally on 18 separate occasions. Her journey in the sport began at the young age of 14 where she took home a pair of national titles from the Royal Canadian Legion Championships. A year later she was Canadian Under-20 Champion in the shot put and would compete for Canada in a dual meet against the United States.

Frizell’s journey would only continue upwards from there, winning 13 Canadian age-class titles by the time she enrolled as a freshman at the University of Georgia. At the age of 23, Frizell set her first Canadian record in the hammer throw and subsequently broke it three more times that same year en-route to qualifying for her first Olympic team in Beijing.

Over the following 10 years, Frizell would break the Canadian record in the hammer throw five more times – extending the mark out to what was then a North American record of 75.73 metres in 2014. During the same period, the Perth native made her second Olympic team (2012), represented Canada at three World Championships, won two Commonwealth Games titles, and was twice a medallist at the Pan American Games.

Beyond her 7 Canadian senior titles and 12 national records in the hammer throw and weight throw, Frizell’s greatest legacy in the sport will be on the people around her. Undeniably one of the most loved personalities in our sport, Frizell’s success in the field helped inspire a generation of female throwers in Canada the likes of which we have never seen before. One of the kindest people you will meet, she has always been willing to take the time to help younger athletes get better at their craft.

As the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club, we stand alongside Athletics Ontario in applauding Frizell’s remarkable career and recognizing her invaluable contributions to the sport and her role as a true Canadian sporting icon. Her story is a source of inspiration for all who share a passion for track and field.

SB20220611AthOntChamps597

Lions clinch U20 provincial title; hold narrow lead in Open Championship

by linkinbioProvincial

With a locked up U20 team title and a hand on the Open crown, the Ontario Championships would have to be considered a success for the Lions. A success that included For the second year in a row the Lions left the Ontario Championship with a U20 title with some hardware in tow, as they clinched the team title with an impressive 33 medals, including 12 gold. 

The U20 Lions clinched their second straight provincial title by amassing 208.5 points over the three day competition, nearly double last year’s winning score. While the U20 Championship will officially end late July with the hosting of the Combined Events Championship, the Lions’ 92 point lead over London Western is mathematically impossible to overcome. 

For the Open Championship, the Lions were able to put 166.5 points on the board to hold a 10.5 point lead over Royal City Athletics Club. However, it is London Western with 140.5 that poses the greatest threat to the Lions title hopes with multiple athletes likely to contest the Combined Events Championship. 

Setting the tone for the weekend were a trio of teenage steeplers in Gillian Porter, Zachary Sikka, and Elizabeth Vroom. Porter and Sikka each won their respective U20 events by more than 10 seconds, while Vroom moved up to the open 3000m steeple event to take silver in 10:58.23 – the second fastest time ever by a junior in Club history. 

Taking home an impressive three individual medals was thrower Tommy Nedow. The Brockville native produced gold medal efforts in both the discus (49.30m) and hammer throw (52.87m). 

Nedow’s gold in the discus completed a full set of medals in the open discus after bronze in 2018 and silver in 2019. As well, his hammer throw victory was the first by a male Lion since James Fahie’s victory in 1994 – four years before Nedow was born. 

Rounding out the medal haul on the weekend was a bronze in the shot put for Nedow, who produced a best throw of 15.49 metres on his final effort. 

Sprinter Katie Manor had a big weekend on the track that included three personal best performances, a silver medal, and her first provincial title. The University of Ottawa student started the championship off right by producing the fastest time in the U20 women’s 100 metre qualifying – a personal best of 11.94 seconds. She followed it up with a similarly fast 11.96 clocking in the final to place second.

Over 200 metres, Manor continued her strong running, clipping nearly four tenths off her personal best in the heats with a time of 24.90 seconds to lead qualifying. Not to be outdone, she followed it up in the finals with an impressive 24.75 second showing and a gold medal. So far this season, Manor has erased 1.3 seconds off her personal best.

Audrey Goddard added to the gold medal count with her victory in the U20 women’s 100 metre hurdles on Saturday. The 18 year old produced back-to-back personal bests in the heats and finals en-route to a narrow victory over Robyn Larkan of Toronto Racers (14.34  to 14.39). Goddard’s winning time moved her to eighth on the Club’s U20 all-time list. 

The final individual gold came from Sydney Smith in the open women’s 800 metres on Sunday. Competing in her first 800 of the season, Smith appeared well seasoned as she bided her time before a well timed kick for home in the final 100 metres sealed the victory for her. Smith’s winning time of 2:05.35 was a massive improvement over her previous best of 2:12.88 and moves her to seventh on the Club’s all-time list. 

Below is a complete list of medal winners from the weekend:

Gillian Porer – Gold (U20 Women 2000m Steeplechase)
Zachary Sikka – Gold (U20 Men 3000m Steeplechase)
Audrey Goddard – Gold (U20 Women 100m Hurdles)
Tommy Nedow – Gold (Open Men Discus)
Tommy Nedow – Gold (Open Men Hammer Throw)
Katie Manor – Gold (U20 Women 200m)
Sydney Smith – Gold (Open Women 800m)
Vanessa Lu Langley, Doyin Ogunremi, Paulina Procyk, Maria Okwechime – Gold (Open Women 4x100m)
Elizabeth Vroom, Gillian, Porter, Lauren Alexander, Freya Hurst – Gold (U20 Women 4x800m)
Brooklyn McCormick, Grace Munro, Olivia Baggley, Charlotte Murchison – Gold (Open Women 4x800m)
Helena Jovic, Alexandra Telford, Sydney Smith, Doyin Ogunremi – Gold (Open Women’s 4x400m)
Luca Nicoletti, Nolan Legare, Thomas Kukla-Colby, David Moulongou – Gold (U20 Men’s 4x400m)
Elizabeth Vroom – Silver (Open Women 3000m Steeplechase)
Maria Okwechime – Silver (Open Women Long Jump)
Katie Manor – Silver (U20 Women 100m)
Olivia Baggley – Silver (U20 Women 3000m)
Saj Alhaddad – Silver (Open Men 400m Hurdles)
Luca Nicoletti – Silver (U20 Men 200m)
Audrey Goddard, Mattson Strickler, Cora McQuinn, Bianca Borgella – Silver (U20 Women 4x100m)
Seiyf Gebara, Luca Nicoletti, David Moulongou, Leo Wallner – Silver (U20 Men 4x100m)
Fabrice Nonez, Saj Alhaddad, André Alie-Lamarche, Leewinchell Jean – Silver (Open Men’s 4x400m)
Coralie Ostertag, Kelly Brennan, Audrey Gilmour, Emily Brennan – Silver (Open Women’s 4x100m)
Mattson Strickler – Bronze (U20 Women 400m)
Alexandra Telford – Bronze (Open Women 400m)
Alexandra Telford – Bronze (Open Women 400m Hurdles)
Tommy Nedow – Bronze (Open Men Shot Put)
Emily Brennan – Bronze (U20 Women 400m Hurdles)
David Moulongoou – Bronze (U20 Men 400m Hurdles)
Elizabeth Moreland – Bronze (U20 Women Triple Jump)
Stephen Evans – Bronze (Open Men 800m)
Zachary Sikka, Jack Link, Kyle Porter, Nolan Legare – Bronze (U20 Men 4x800m)
Audrey Gilmour, Emily Brennan, Grace Munro, Mattson Stickler – Bronze (U20 Women 4x400m)
Brooklyn McCormick, Stephanie Leask, Sia Mahajan, Kelly Brennan – Bronze (Open Women’s 4x400m)

Sydney-Smith-Feature-Image

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.

winners_trophies_550x310.Par.0001.Image

Six Lions nominated for Provincial Awards

by Uncategorized

Athletics Ontario is set to host their annual awards banquet September 27 in Toronto and six Lions have been nominated for the provincial association’s top awards. Athletics Ontario will be handing out awards in each of the five event groups (sprints/hurdles, distance,jumps, throws, combined events) across each of the five age categories.
In the senior women’s throws category, hammer thrower Sultana Frizell will be looking to pick up her seventh straight award. The Perth native had a standout season that included extending her own Canadian record to 75.73m, and a second consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medal and Games record. Her record throw also ranked her fourth in the world for 2014. In recognition for her outstanding performances, she has also been nominated for the Ontario Athlete of the Year award.
Lions athletes will be best represented in the female distance category with the trio of Shona McCulloch (midget), Erinn Stenman-Fahey (youth) and Melissa Bishop (senior) all receiving recognition. Commonwealth Games finalist Melissa Bishop had the strongest season of her career, once again lowering her Club and Ontario record in the 800m to 1:59.70, while also winning her second Canadian championship and running under 2:01 seven times in 2014. After winning in 2013, Bishop will be up against tough competition that includes Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Kate van Buskirk (1500m) and racewalker Rachel Seaman who broke numerous Canadian records this past season.
Fellow 800m runner Erinn Stenman-Fahey is being recognized for her medal silver medal winning performances at both the Canadian Youth and Junior championships. However, the highlight of Stenman-Fahey’s season is undoubtedly her performance at July’s World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon where she ran a lifetime best of 2:06.97 to qualify for the semi-finals. The time was the second fastest in the country by a 17 year old, bettered only by fellow nominee Kailee Sawyer of Laurel Creek.
Shona McCulloch would appear to be a favourite in the midget category after capturing both the 1200m and 2000m titles at the Canadian Youth Championships in August. That performance came just two weeks after sweeping both events at the Ontario Championships in Windsor. The Longfields-Davidson student also set a new record in the 2000m at the Ontario Legion championship as well as placing 17th in the 10km at Ottawa Race Weekend in an impressive 37:49.5 despite being almost 10 years younger than her competitors.
In the midget girls jumps category, Keira Christie-Galloway was recognized for her successes at both the provincial and national level. The St. Matthews student was a provincial champion in the long jump before using some late round heroics to leap to a personal best 5.38m to capture a silver medal at the national championships. Christie-Galloway also excelled in the sprint hurdles where she was provincial champion and national finalist.
The final nominee is decathlete Patrick Arbour, who is being nominated for the fourth time in the combined events. The 26 year old repeated as national silver medallist, scoring the second highest total of his career, 7385 points. Arbour was also a fourth place finisher at the Panamerican Combined Events Cup in July.