(Montreal, Canada---21 June 2024) Kevin Robertson runs to win the elite 2000m steeplechase at the 2024 Classique d’Athletisme de Montreal. Photograph Copyright 2024 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Robertson and Evans re-write record book in final Olympic Trials tune up

by linkinbioNational

In a final tune up before this week’s Canadian Olympic Trials, Lions athletes put forward a string of remarkable performances at La Classique d’Athletisme de Montréal last Friday night leaving little doubt they are ready to take on the best the nation has to offer.

Kevin Robertson and Stephen Evans: Record-Breaking Performances

Racing in some off distance events, Kevin Robertson and Stephen Evans made the most of their opportunity to prove fitness and set the track on fire. The pair of defending national bronze medalists each bettered their own Club records  and showed they are primed and ready to roll at the Olympic Trials. 

Kevin Robertson’s race almost didn’t happen. When the Grand Prix event was moved from Centre Sportif Claude Robillard to the Ben Leduc Track in St. Laurent, the 2000 metre steeplechase was originally going to be cancelled, but thanks to some last minute manoeuvres fans were treated to the second fastest performance in Canadian history. 

Running well behind the leaders for nearly the entire race, Robertson bided his time before throwing the hammer down over the final three quarters of a lap. By the time he reached the final water jump, Robertson had closed the gap from 20 to less than 5 metres and quickly ran off to take the lead as he cleared the penultimate hurdle and sprinted for home. Robertson crossed the finish line in an eye-popping 5:29.27, obliterating his previous Club record of 5:47.55. The only faster Canadian is Graeme Fell’s 5:21.97 in 1990.

Stephen Evans became the first Lion to ever eclipse the 2:20 mark for 1000 metres Friday night as he took victory in Montreal in 2:19.77. The path to the top spot was equally impressive as the time itself. As Evans hit the bell in 1:23, he was overtaken by Olympian Charles Philibert-Thiboutot for top spot, but a powerful kick down the homestretch propelled the 27-year-old to victory and past his previous Club record set in January 2023.

Zach Jeggo and Quinn Coughlin: Rising Stars in the 400 metre hurdles

A pair of rising stars, Zach Jeggo and Quinn Coughlin, delivered standout performances in the 400 metre hurdles Friday night in Montreal – each improving their lifetime bests and demonstrating they are ready to compete with the best in the country at the national championships. 

Quinn Coughlin made an astonishing improvement, cutting more than a second and a half off her previous time as she crossed the line in a time of 1:00.30. Coughlin’s time currently ranks her second among U20 athletes in Canada and  catapulted her to 10th place on the Club’s all-time rankings.

Zach Jeggo, competing in the same event, secured third place with a time of 52.97. This remarkable run pushed Jeggo up to fifth on the Club’s U20 All-Time rankings and also sees him second nationally in the U20 category. 

Sydney Smith: Consistency in the 1000m

Sydney Smith continued her impressive form, running the second-fastest 1000 metre race of her career with a time of 2:43.13. Smith finished fifth overall among a field that included many of the same athletes she will go to battle with over 800 metres at the Trials.

Full results from La Classique are available on our website.

Photos from La Classique are available at MundoSportImages.com

Updated Club rankings are available at http://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/

(Ottawa, Canada---11 May 2024) L-R, Bianca Borgella, Jorai Oppong-Nketiah, Victoria McIntyre in the 100m final at the Ottawa Spring Kick Start track and field meet. Photograph Copyright 2024 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Pair of Canadian Records highlights weekend for Lions

by linkinbio

What do you get when you combine Ottawa Race Weekend and the Bob Vigars Classic? Well, for Ottawa Lions athletes there were two Canadian sprint records, some Club Top-10 performances and over 40 personal best performances. 

A Canadian Record in athletics is not a regular occurrence, but in the heats of Sunday’s women’s 100 metres at the Bob Vigars Classic in London two fell in one race. 

Just three days short of her 16th birthday, Jorai Oppong-Nketiah broke a 13-year-old Canadian U18 record in the 100 metres when she crossed the line in her heat in an eye-popping 11.51 seconds. The old mark of 11.53 had been set by Brampton’s Khamica Bingham in 2011. In addition to setting a new national standard, Jorai’s time also set Club U18, U20, and U23 records and is the second fastest record by a Lion of any age. 

However, there were more fireworks in that heat as Clubmate Bianca Borgella became the first female visually impaired runner to crack the 12-second barrier in the 100 metres. Last year’s World Championship bronze medalist set a new Canadian standard of 11.93 seconds before dropping the record again in the final to 11.92 second. Borgella’s performance currently ranks her first in the world among female T13 sprinters and puts her in a strong position heading into this year’s Paralympic Games in Paris. 

At 200 metres, Oppong-Nketiah placed second in the open section with a personal best performance of 24.35 seconds. Jorai’s time is the third fastest in Club history by an athlete in the U18 category. 

Middle distance runners André Alie-Lamarche and Nicolas Belan each produced their own notable performances in London. Alie-Lamarche, known more for his exploits in the metric mile, sliced a second and a half off his 800 metre best as he placed second to the University of Regina’s John O’Reilly in 1:50.80. 

Belan lowered his 1500 metre best for the second time this season, running 3 minutes and 52.70 seconds to place fifth in the Open Section. His performance is the 15th fastest among Lions U20 athletes.

Ottawa Race Weekend was the venue for a number of notable performances by Lions athletes, headlined a pair of top-10 performances in both the men’s and women’s 10k events. Robert Kajuga placed seventh in the men’s race, crossing the line in a time of 30 minutes and 4 seconds. On the women’s side, Salome Nyirarukundo was fifth in 33 minutes and 59 seconds. 

Over 5 kilometres, Charlie Mortimer took home the bronze medal in 15:48. The Hillcrest student was one of three Lions to finish among the top-10 men, along with Noah Mansouri and Nicolas Abanto Enns.

Zoe Gardiner and Liz Maguire cracked the top-10 on the women’s side. Gardiner was seventh in 18:57 while Maguire was tenth in 19:22.

For updated Club Rankings, please visit https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/

(Windsor, Canada---24 June 2023) Ottawa Lions team photo at the 2023 Johnny Loaring Classic held at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario. Photograph Copyright 2023 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Lions bring home medals and personal bests from Johnny Loaring Classic

by linkinbioNational

The distance from the Terry Fox Athletic Facility to the Windsor’s Alumni Stadium measures a touch under 800 kilometres. When you’re driving home, the surest way to make that trip seem a little shorter is by bringing home some top notch performances with. That’s just what the group of 17 Lions competing at this past weekend’s Johnny Loaring Classic did.

Combined, the Lions registered an impressive 12 seasonal bests, 7 personal bests and 3 all-time top 10 performances. 

Victoria McIntyre kicked the meet off in style by placing third in the open section of the women’s 100 metres. More importantly was McIntyre’s time of 12.02 seconds which erased a tenth of a second off her 10-year old personal best. 

However, that performance was simply an appetizer to the main event that was the open section of the women’s 200 metres, where McIntyre dominated the field – winning in a blazing time of 23.77 seconds. After dipping under the 24 second barrier for the first time, the 28-year-old sprinter rocketed up five spots to number five on the Club’s all-time list. 

With her performance on Saturday, McIntyre is currently ranked 17th in the country over 200 metres and she has some company on those national rankings. 

Lauren Gale moved atop the national ranking Saturday following her win in the elite section of the women’s 200 metres. Club record holder in the event, Gale produced a seasonal best time of 23.17 seconds to take the win. The 2021 Olympian also produced a seasonal best effort of 11.69 seconds in the heats of the elite 100 metres before posting a windy 11.60 clocking to finish third in the final.

It was a windy 100 metre final for Bianca Borgella, but that didn’t stop the visually impaired runner from taking top spot in the para ambulatory section. Borgella equalled her personal best time of 12.12 seconds in victory, but unfortunately for her the tail wind exceeded the allowable two metres per second. 

A pair of personal best performances came out of the men’s and women’s 400 metre hurdle events. Alexandra Telford trimmed more than half a second off her previous best in the event as she placed fifth in a time of 58.74 seconds. She remains in fourth place on the Club’s all-time rankings.

David Moulongou’s hurdle performance on Saturday pushed him inside the top-10 rankings. The University of Ottawa student-athlete crossed the line in a time of 52.52 seconds to place eighth in a strong field that saw three men dip under 50 seconds. Moulongou’s time is the eighth fastest ever in the Club for the one lap hurdle race. 

Back-to-back personal bests was what was on the menu Saturday afternoon for André Alie-Lamarche. The middle distance runner ran his second successive personal best at 1500 metres, as he took the top spot in the open men’s section in an impressive time of 3 minutes and 47.60 seconds. Alie-Lamarche, coming off a personal best effort of 3:48.10 three days prior at the Inferno, now moves into 22nd on a very deep Club 1500 metre list.

Finally, Maria Okwechime took third place in the elite women’s long jump. Despite incurring a small hamstring irritation in the warm, Okwechime did manage to leap out to a distance of 5.85 metres – the second farthest distance of her career.

For updated Club rankings, please visit https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_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 sets new Twilight record

by linkinbioLocal

A Twilight Meet Record, a number five all-time performance, and nearly 70 personal bests. If you said “What are three things that happened last night,” you would be right.

With our squad split between hosting the third Twilight Meet of the summer and competing in the Royal City Inferno, the Lions put up a great series of performances.

Kicking off the night in style was Lauren Gale as she opened the Twilight #3 with a meet record at 400 metres in her season opener at the distance. The Club record holder crossed the line in 53.28 seconds to best the previous standard of 53.52 set by Windsor’s Nicole Sassine in 2016. Finishing in second was OFSAA champion Quinn Coughlin in 57.88 seconds. 

Also in Ottawa, one of the Club’s newest members, Malachi Kenny made a dazzling debut as he took top spot in the men’s 800 metres. Covering the two lap distance in 1:57.24, Kenny bested his junior boys winning time from the recent OFSAA Track and Field Championships. The Bishop Smith student’s time is the sixth fastest in Club history by a U17 athlete.

In Guelph, Sydney Smith ran a new personal best over 800 metres to move into fifth on the Club’s all-time list. The University of Ottawa graduate found herself in a field akin to a national final and rose to the occasion, crossing the line in 2 minutes and 4.75 seconds. Her time is now ranked 10th in Canada this year.

At 1500 metres, André Alie-Lamarche bettered his near year old personal best with his ninth place finish at the Inferno. Alie-Lamarche stopped the clock at 3 minutes and 48.10 seconds – exactly a tenth of a second faster than his previous best set at last season’s Canadian Track and Field League Final. He now ranks 24th in Club history.

For updated Club Rankings, please visit https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/

Helena Jovic competes at the Bob Vigars Classic in London, Ontario, Sunday, May 29, 2022. Mundo Sport Images/ GEOFF ROBINS

Lions set bests and win medals at Bob Vigars Classic

by linkinbioNationalProvincial

The National Track and Field Tour rolled its way into southwestern Ontario for its third stop on Sunday at the Bob Vigars Classic in London. The largest outing of the early outdoor season for the Lions saw 20 athletes compete at Western University’s Alumni Stadium – pulling in a number of personal bests and six podium performances. 

Rachael Burrows captured the three Lions victoires Sunday, sweeping all three sprint events. The Paralympian rolled her way to victories over 100, 200, and 400 metres in times of 23.61, 46.75, and 1:34.52 respectively. 

Also on the sprint straightaway, Kathryn Manor and Bertwin Ben-Smith each produced lifetime bests to earn spots in their respective 100 metre elite finals. 

Manor, who just wrapped up her first year at the University of Ottawa, dipped under the 12-second barrier for the first time in her career in the heats to claim the eighth spot in the final with a time of 11.96 seconds. The time makes Manor the fourth fastest U20 woman in Club history. She would place eighth in the final with a time of 12.12.

Ben-Smith trimmed one one-hundredth of a second off his best in the heats as clocked in at 10.72 seconds. The University of Guelph graduate followed up in the final with an all-conditions equaling best of 10.68 seconds to finish sixth. 

David Moulongou and Sydney Smith, competing at 400 metres, also found their way on to the “PB train”. Moulongou trimmed five hundredths of a second off his best, crossing the line in 49.60 seconds on his way to a second place finish in the open section. Smith showed she was nothing if not consistent in her fourth place finish in the elite section. The University of Ottawa graduate student matched her best of 55.59 seconds set just two weeks prior in Ottawa. 

The other medal on the track came from Helena Jovic as she took home the bronze in the 400 metre hurdles. The University of Toronto student crossed the line in 1:03.55.

In the field, Emma Dobson-Takoff produced a best leap of 11.01 metres, just three centimetres off her best, in the triple jump to place third. Also in the horizontal jumps, Maria Okwechime exceeded her lifetime best with a windy 5.70 metre leap to finish just off the podium in fourth.