The Canadian Track and Field League (CTFL) Final, held in conjunction with the sixth meet of Ottawa’s Summer Twilight Series on Friday night, delivered a string of standout performances, including a world record, multiple personal bests, and national championship qualifiers.
Headlining the results was once again Wendy Alexis, who continues to redefine the limits in masters sprinting. The veteran runner shattered her own world record in the W70 100 metres, clocking 14.54 seconds—an improvement on her previous mark of 14.64 set earlier this season. Alexis came heartbreakingly close to rewriting the record books two weeks ago with a 14.51 effort, only to see the wind reading come in at 2.1 m/s, just above the allowable limit. She’ll look to lower the mark even further next month at the Canadian Masters Championships in Laval, QC.
The 800 metres proved particularly fruitful for Lions athletes. Fresh off her fourth consecutive Ontario title, Sydney Smith capped off her week with a tactical win in the CTFL final, crossing the line in 2:05.09. Holding back through the early stages, Smith surged past Royal City’s Sadie-Jane Hickson over the final 200 metres to take the victory.
Sixteen-year-old Ellie McGregor continued her breakout summer with a personal best 2:09.38—nearly two seconds faster than her previous mark—to place fifth overall. She was followed closely by Brooklyn McCormick, whose 2:10.63 was just shy of the lifetime best she set the night before in Toronto (2:10.46).
On the men’s side, Safwan El Mansari finally got the breakthrough he’d been chasing all season. The University of Ottawa student chopped more than half a second off his indoor PB to clock 1:51.81, good for sixth in a tightly contested final and a move from 10th to 7th on the Club’s U20 all-time list.
Also climbing the Club rankings was Jocelyn Giannotti. The University of Guelph runner has dropped a remarkable 10.5 seconds from her 1500m personal best so far this summer, most recently stopping the clock at 4:31.75.
At even longer distances, 18-year-old Daniel Cova made an impressive debut over 5000 metres, finishing fifth in 15:02.13. The time moves him to fifth all-time in the Club’s U20 rankings and meets the qualifying standard for this summer’s Canadian Championships. Teammate Derek Strachan also dipped under the standard, placing seventh overall in 15:20.66.
In the CTFL 400m hurdles final, David Moulongou recorded his fastest time in two years, finishing fifth in 52.29 seconds—just a second behind Jamaican winner Sean Kalawan. Moulongou’s time ties him for seventh on the Club’s all-time list with Stuart Pearson.
In field events, Jessica Gyamfi continued her winning ways, claiming top honours in the CTFL shot put final with a best of 13.25 metres. In the men’s competition, Liam Davis led the field with a throw of 15.10 metres. Meanwhile, Maria Okwechime posted a season’s best of 5.91 metres in the long jump as she sharpens up for the Canadian Championships.
Rounding out the night’s highlights, Zachary Jeggo raced to a runner-up finish in the CTFL men’s 400m final, stopping the clock at 47.74 seconds.
With the Canadian Championships now less than three weeks away, Friday’s performances offer plenty of momentum heading into the season’s most anticipated competition.
