(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)

(Langley, British Columbia ---23 June 2022) Audrey Goddard competing on day two of the Canadian Track and Field Championships at McLeod Athletic Park. Photograph 2022 Copyright Miles Ryan Rowat / Mundo Sport Images ******* EDITORIAL USE ONLY ******* ******* EDITORIAL USE ONLY ******* ******* EDITORIAL USE ONLY *******

Goddard and Adeleye open season with a bang

by linkinbioUniversity

What better way to kick off your university career than with a personal best and the fifth best performance in Club history. That’s exactly how first year Western University student Audrey Goddard started things off Friday at the Saginaw Valley State Holiday Open as she led the Mustangs to a sweep of the podium in the pentathlon with an impressive 3526 points total. 

Goddard’s new Club U20 record was fuelled by a pair of victories in both the 60 metres hurdles (8.77) and long jump (5.34m). In fact, the Merivale High School graduate never finished lower than third in the other three events – high jump, shot put, 800 metres – producing four individual bests in total.

However, Goddard was not the only Lion storming out the gate on the opening weekend of the indoor season. David Adeleye, who took home Canada Games silver in the 110 metre hurdles last we saw, broke through the 8 second barrier in the 60 metre hurdles at the Greg Page Relays in Ithaca, New York. A third year kinesiology student at the University of Toronto, Adeleye set a new best of 8.05 seconds before finding another gear in the final and crossing the line in 7.98 seconds. Adeleye was second behind Syracuse’s Anthony Vazquez in 7.95.

The Ashbury College graduate is currently ranked first among USports 60 metre hurdlers, and moves to third in Club history. The only two men in the Club to run faster are 2004 Olympic finalist Charles Allen and 2016 Olympian Sekou Kaba. 

Other notable performances from the weekend included Joe Fast opening his season with a victory at 1000 metres in New York City. The third year Princeton student posted a 2:32.06 opener to take The College of New Jersey Winter Open by 10 seconds. At the Clemson Opener in South Carolina, Keira Christie-Galloway started her season with a 8.39 second clocking to take top spot in the 60 metre hurdles. Christie-Galloway is competing for Grand Canyon University where she is pursuing a Master in Business Administration degree after graduating from Arizona State earlier this year. 

For updated Club rankings and stats following the first week of indoor competition, please visit ottawalions.com/awards-and-records.

(Canton, United States---03 December 2022) David Moulongou 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

Lions athletes break records at season opener in New York

by ClublinkinbioUniversity

Arriving on the campus of St. Lawrence University Saturday morning the unseasonably warm weather may have had a few people wondering if they were competing outdoors, but the Lions and both varsity programs were in town to kick off the 2022-23 indoor campaign. This was the first time making the familiar drive down the 416 and across the border to our Northern New York neighbours since 2019 and the athletes were eager to make up for lost time as they set six meet records, including two facility records. 

University of Ottawa sophomore David Moulongou was the first to etch their name into the record books as he ran away from teammate Lucas Zanetti in the final lap of the 600 metres to win in 1 minute and 25.26 seconds. Zanetti held a near 10 metre lead as the pair heard the bell for the final lap before Moulongou shifted into another gear and ran his way to victory over the final 200 metres. The previous meet and facility record of 1:25.42 belonged to Lion Zachary Meredith and were set in 2019. 

Fellow second year uOttawa student Bianca Borgella was next to rewrite the record books with her 60 metre winning time of 7.78 seconds equalling the mark of Gee-Gee alum Sarah de Carufel from 2014. Borgella dominated the field, opening an eight metre gap by the halfway point and winning by a half second over teammate Kennedy Banton-Lindsay. Borgella’s mark time moves her to 12th on Club’s U20 list and she is 9th in the early season USports rankings. 

Training partners Sydney Smith and Stephen Evans each produced dominating results in their respective 1000 metre events. Evans went first, trimming more than a second off his own meet record with his winning time of 2:28.20. While Evan’s margin of victory was sizable (15.78 seconds), Smith’s complete domination of the women’s field took it to another level as she lapped all but one runner to win in a new facility record of 2:49.80. The reigning Ontario 800 metre champion bested the 18 year old facility record by more than two and a half seconds and moved to number 16 on the Club’s all-time list. 

The 300 metres also produced a pair of meet records for Club athletes. The University of Ottawa’s Doyin Ogunremi took down her old standard by nearly half a second with her winning time of 41.70 seconds. Jay Yetman shaved 14 hundredths off the three year old meet record with his winning time of 36.01 seconds. The performance was also a new personal best for the grade 12 student at Glebe Collegiate.

For a full list of results from Holiday Relays as well as photos from the event, please visit our results page.

(Ottawa, Canada---08 July 2017) Katarina Vlahovic, Keira Christie-Galloway competing in the U20 100m hurdle final at the 2017 Canadian Track and Field Championships. (Photo by Sean W Burges / Mundo Sport Images).

Tough weekend for Lions at NCAA Preliminaries

by linkinbioNationalUniversity

A spot at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships was on the line this past weekend for three Lions athletes as they took part in regional events at the University of Indiana (East) and the University of Arkansas (West). 

Syracuse runner Kevin Robertson got the action started last Wednesday night in the 3000 metre steeplechase finishing 39th in the field of 48.  Racing in the second of three quarter final heats, the third year student was two seconds back of the leaders by the second pass of the finish line. With laps between 76 and 80 seconds, Robertson was unable to narrow the gap and finished in a time of nine minutes and 9.22 seconds. 

At McDonnell Field in Arkansas, Keira Christie-Galloway closed out her collegiate career Thursday night with a fourth place finish in her first round heat of the 100 metre hurdles. The Arizona State runner’s time of 13.52 seconds was a scant four hundredths of second outside of a qualifying spot. 

Lauren Gale looked primed to return to the NCAA Championships next month after comfortably winning her 400 metre heat at the West Preliminary on Thursday night. Running out of lane two, the six time Mountain West Conference 400 metre champion finished two tenths ahead of Baylor’s Kavia Francis in a time of 52.40. 

However, Gale’s fortunes were not as good yesterday in the quarter final. After narrowly missing qualifying in the 4×100 relay early in the session, Gale dropped out of the 400 metre quarter final almost immediately after the gun went off, according to the school’s press release. As a result she did not compete in the 4×400 relay.

(Guelph, Canada---07 June 2019) Stephen Evans competing in the 800m at the 2019 Speed River Inferno Track and Field Festival held at Alumni Stadium at the University of Guelph. Copyright image 2019 Sean W Burges / Mundo Sport Images

Robertson, Evans, and Gale have big weekend south of the border

by InternationallinkinbioUniversity

Another stellar weekend of performances for the Lions south of the border this past weekend as Kevin Robertson set a big personal best for the second week in a row, Stephen Evans the best season opener of his career, and Lauren Gale ran the second fastest outdoor 400 of her life. 

Like we said just a week ago, all Kevin Robertson seems to do these days is run faster. The Syracuse junior skimmed more than four seconds off his previous 1500 metre best en route to a sixth place finish at the Virgina Grand Prix on Sunday with a time of 3:46.26.

Sunday’s run is just the latest in a series of personal best performances this season. Beginning all the way back in December of 2021 with a lifetime best in the 300 metres at Cornell, Robertson has run a personal best in every competition since with the exception of the Atlantic Coast Conference Indoor Championship 3000, and that was only because he had obliterated his previous best in the event the meet before. 

On the other side of the continent, Stephen Evans produced the best opening run of his career as he took second at the Payton Jordan Invite 800 metres in California on Friday night. The former USport champion continued the strong running that saw him produce multiple indoor 800 bests as he crossed the line in 1 minute and 48.52 seconds – the second fastest performance of his life. 

Finally, Lauren Gale put on a show at the Fresno State Invitational. The Colorado State senior took top spot in the 400 metres with a time of 51.99 seconds. It was the closest matchup of the season for Gale with second place finisher Tiana Holmes of New Mexico State University finishing 69 hundredths of a second behind the 2021 Olympian. 

The pair will battle again in two weeks time as Gale looks to capture an unprecedented sixth straight Mountain West Conference 400 metre title (indoors and outdoors).

In addition to her individual success, Gale led the Rams 4×400 metre relay to a school record performance of 3:36.42. The mark is just one of six Colorado State records Gale now holds indoors and outdoors.

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. 

Sharelle_Samuel_400H_FeatureImage

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.

(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.

Louise Stonham Myrtle Beach

Lions start season on right foot in Myrtle Beach

by High SchoolInternationallinkinbio

After a week of putting in work under the bright South Carolina sun, the small contingent of Lions high school athletes attending training camp in Myrtle Beach had the opportunity to put a marker out and see where they were in their training. The results were promising with the Lions posting eight top ten finishes, including a victory by Louise Stonham in the 3000m steeplechase.

Stonham laid on the gas from the gun and ran right to the front of the pack. By the end of the fourth lap, the Arnprior District High School student had opened the gap on the field to two seconds. As Stonham hit the bell, her lead had grown to nearly eight seconds and she would close in her second fastest lap of the day to stop the clock in 11 minutes and 50.87 seconds.

Racing against a field of university students, Stonham appeared unfazed in her debut at the longer steeplechase distance. The 2021 Ontario U18 2000 metre steeplechase champion’s winning time now moves her to eighth in Club history for the event.

A second medal performance came from Maddie Seaby who took the silver over 3000 metres in a time of 10 minutes and 7.95 seconds. Running second the whole race, the grade 12 student found herself six seconds back of Colgate University senior Sophia Manners with two laps to go. However, the Carleton Place District High School student kicked her way home, closing in 2:38.05 to narrow the gap to just three seconds. Seaby’s time is the 12th fastest in Club history at the U18 level.

Falling just short of the podium were Olivia Baggley and Cora McQuinn who each placed fourth in their respective events. Baggley set a new lifetime best at 5,000 metres with an 18:27.74 clocking while McQuinn dropped more than half a second off her 400 metre best with her 57.91 performance.

Other individual top ten performances came from Amelia Van Brabant and Audrey Goddard. In the mile, Van Brabant placed fifth with a 5:10.43 performance while Goddard ran 15.30 for the 100 metre hurdles to place tenth.

Both women featured on relay teams which also placed well. Goddard ran lead off on the 4×200 metre relay with Tatiana Pender, Allison Dewar, and Cora McQuinn as the quartet placed seventh in 1:47.74. Van Brabant ran anchor on the 4×800 metre squad with Maddie Seaby, Ella Lalonde, and Louise Stonham as the ladies posted a time of 10:03.29 to finish sixth.

Full results from the meet are available on our website at https://ottawalions.com/results/2022-results