(York, Canada---20 July 2024) Brianna Asiamah and Jessica Gyamfi competes at the 2024 Athletics Ontario U20/Open Championships held at the Toronto Track and Field Center at York University. Photograph Copyright 2024 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images.

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Medal Rush: Lions Excel at Ontario Track and Field Championships

With the largest contingent of athletes in recent memory, the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club took on the rest of Ontario this past weekend, once again demonstrating their dominance in the province. More than 100 athletes competed, securing an impressive 26 medals, including 12 golds, and setting 39 personal bests at the Ontario U20 & Open Track and Field Championships held at the Toronto Track and Field Centre.

Leading the Charge:

From Salome Nyirarukundo’s gold in the 5000 metres on the opening night to the women’s triumph in the Open 4×400 metres relay for the fourth time in five years, the medals kept flowing throughout the weekend. Nyirarukundo’s performance set the tone for the Lions’ success.

In a standout performance, Quinn Coughlin, in her final big meet before the Canadian U18 Championships next month, showed she is ready to compete on the national stage with two gold medals. Coughlin’s personal best of 56.14 seconds earned her the U20 women’s 400 metres title, making her the first Lioness to win the title since Charlotte Gardner in 2012. She followed up with another gold in the 400 metres hurdles, recording the second-fastest time of her career at 1:01.10.

The 400 metres hurdles proved to be a strong event for the Lions, with Rosemary Holmes and David Moulongou also capturing medals. Holmes, a former sprinter from Western University, took the top spot in the Open Women’s event, while University of Ottawa student Moulongou finished third in the Open Men’s event.

Throwers Rise to the Occasion:

The Lions’ throwers collected a total of five medals, including two golds. Connor Fraser and Jessica Gyamfi led the way with a sweep of the Open Discus competitions. Fraser dominated the men’s field, winning by almost three and a half metres with a throw of 50.41 metres. Gyamfi’s victory in the women’s event was equally impressive, with her throw of 41.17 metres besting teammate and silver medalist Brianna Asiamah by nearly six and a half metres.

In the U20 category, the shot put events yielded silver medals for both Liam Davis and Sadie Gilbert.

Sprint to the Finish:

Sydney Smith continued her reign as Ontario Champion in the 800 metres, winning for the third consecutive year. The 27-year-old led a tightly contested race, crossing the finish line in 2 minutes and 5.10 seconds, just ahead of Royal City’s Sadie-Jane Hickson. The crowded field forced Smith to sprint out wide into lane five to find an open path, ultimately winning by less than a second from the sixth-place finisher.

In the Open Men’s 1500 metres, André Alie-Lamarche displayed tactical prowess to win his first provincial championship. Despite a time of 3 minutes and 48.67 seconds being well off his personal best, Alie-Lamarche’s strategic final kick secured the victory by just three tenths of a second.

Relay Success:

The Lions’ relay teams were equally formidable. The Open 4×100 metres relay team, consisting of Cora McQuinn, Audrey Gilmour, Vienna Courteau, and Elizabeth Moreland, sprinted to gold. The U20 4×100 metres team, featuring Jamie Meikle, Ladi Ogunmekan, Connor England, and Ange-Mathis Kramo, also captured gold. Both the Open and U20 4×400 metres relay teams delivered top podium finishes, highlighting the club’s depth and relay coordination.

Medalists:

Open Category:

  • Gold:
    • Salome Nyirarukundo (5000m)
    • Jessica Gyamfi (Shot Put)
    • André Alie-Lamarche (1500m)
    • Cora McQuinn, Audrey Gilmour, Vienna Courteau, Elizabeth Moreland (4x100m)
    • Connor Fraser (Discus)
    • Rosemary Holmes (400m Hurdles)
    • Sydney Smith (800m)
    • Audrey Gilmour, Cora McQuinn, Sydney Smith, Doyin Ogunremi (4x400m)
  • Silver:
    • Maria Okwechime (Long Jump)
    • Briana Asiamah (Shot Put)
    • Stephen Evans (800m)
    • Leewinchell Jean, Luca Nicoletti, David Moulongou, André Alie-Lamarche (4x400m)
  • Bronze:
    • David Adeleye (110m Hurdles)
    • David Moulongou (400m Hurdles)

U20 Category:

  • Gold:
    • Quinn Coughlin (400m)
    • Quinn Coughlin (400m Hurdles)
    • Jamie Meikle, Ladi Ogunmekan, Connor England, Ange-Mathis Kramo (4x100m)
    • William Harris, Safwan El Mansari, Eric Zielonka, Ange-Mathis Kramo (4x400m)
  • Silver:
    • Sadie Gilbert (Shot Put)
    • Liam Davis (Shot Put)
    • Derek Strachan (3000m Steeplechase)
    • Jorai Oppong-Nketiah (100m)
    • Zachary Jeggo (400m)
    • Kathryn Moreland, Sophie Trott, Tatiana Pender, Jocelyn Giannotti (4x400m)
  • Bronze:
    • William Harris (400m)
    • Saul Taler (3000m)

Coach’s Insight:

“We are immensely proud of our athletes’ accomplishments this weekend,” said Richard Johnston, the head coach of the Ottawa Lions. “Their dedication and hard work are evident in their results, including numerous personal bests and a significant medal haul. These achievements highlight the depth and strength of our club.”

In the team competition, the U20 squad leads the provincial scoring race with 124 points, 18.5 points ahead of London Western. With 156 points, the senior Lions team sits in second, 35 points behind Royal City. Both divisional championships wrap up this coming weekend with the combined events championship for both age categories.

For full results from the Championship, please visit our website.

For photos from the Championship, please visit Mundo Sport Images website.

Updated Club rankings can be found on our statistics page.

(North York, Canada---15 July 2023)  Connor Fraser of Ottawa Lions T.F.C. competing on day two of the Ontario U20/Open Track and Field Championships at the Toronto Track and Field Centre. Copyright 2023 Miles Ryan Rowat/ Mundo Sport Images.

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Lions take home 26 medals from Ontario Championships

A downpour on Saturday was not enough to dampen the spirits of the Ottawa Lions. Competing at the Ontario U20/Open Track and Field Championships Saturday at the Toronto Track and Field Centre, Lions athletes amassed an impressive 26 medals, including 10 gold medals. 

In the team standings, the Lions amassed 178.5 points to finish second in the U20 Championship behind London Western. The senior squad garnered 144 points as they finished in third position.

An impressive 57 personal bests were set by Lions over the three day competition. Chief among those outstanding performances was Connor Fraser who put forward the best throws of his life to take spot in both the U20 shot put and discus. 

Fraser added more than a metre to his previous best in the shot put as he dropped the six kilogram ball out at 16.58 metres. In fact, each one of the Carleton University student’s measured exceeded his previous best heading into the competition. 

It was a case of last minute heroics in the discus for Fraser. Sitting in second for almost the entire competition, the 19-year-old unleashed a massive throw on his final effort, landing the 1.75kg platter out at 50.00 metres. His effort catapulted him into the gold medal position and London Western’s Jeremy Vandenboorn was unable to respond on the final throw of the competition. 

Sydney Smith and Elizabeth Vroom each repeated as Ontario Champions in Toronto. 

Smith narrowly edged out York University Track Club’s Sonia Gaskin by four hundredths of second to claim her second straight provincial 800 metre title. The 26-year-old stopped the clock at an eye popping 2 minutes and 3.76 seconds as she took nearly a full second off her previous lifetime best set at last year’s championship. 

Domination was the name of the game for Vroom. The Queen’s University student comfortably took top in the U20 women’s 2000 metre steeplechase in a time of 7 minutes and 5.05 seconds – 42 seconds ahead of second place. 

Stepping down in distance to 800 metres, Vroom added a bronze medal to her collection on the final day of the competition. A strong kick down the final home stretch pushed Vroom past a couple runners and on to the podium as she stopped the clock at a personal best time of 2:13.77. 

For Alexandra Telford and David Adeleye their respective hurdle wins over the weekend were career firsts for each athlete. 

Fresh off a flight from Belgium and a new lifetime best at 400 metres, Telford took quick control of the women’s 400 metre hurdle final. Coming off the final curve with a comfortable lead, the 27-year-old cruised home in a winning time of 1:00.19. The victory was Telford’s first individual gold medal at the Ontario Championships after five previous relay titles.

In Adeleye’s case, his victory in Saturday’s 110 metre hurdle final was the first Ontario Championship of any kind. The University of Toronto student came ever so close to breaking the 14 second barrier for the second time in his career as he stopped the clock in 14.01 seconds.

Lions athletes also added gold medals in the U20 men’s and Open Women’s 4×100 metre relays in addition to sweeping the Open Men’s and Women’s 4×800 metre events. 

Updated Club rankings can be found at https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/

Meet results and pictures from the Ontario Championships can be found on our website.

(Kingston, Canada---14 November 2021) Madeleine Seaby, Kyla Martin, Amelia Van Brabant, and Abigail Sammut. racing in the U18 Girls race at the 2021 Athletics Ontario Cross Country Championships held on Fort Henry Hill in Kingston, Ontario.. Photograph copyright 2021 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images.

Van Brabant tops in the province

Amelia Van Brabant extended her unbeaten streak to four as she took home gold in the U18 girls race at the Ontario Cross Country in Kingston on Sunday. The grade 11 student finished the six kilometre course atop Fort Henry in 21 minutes and 37.2 seconds to capture her second provincial title of 2021 after taking gold in the U20 3000 metres on the track.

Van Brabant, who easily captured the Capital XC and National Capital high school titles earlier in the fall was just as dominating at the provincial level. The Earl of March student’s margin of victory was an impressive 28 seconds over hometown runner Alexandra Campbell of Physi-Kult. The pair had been in tight until about 800 metres to go when Van Brabant found another gear and sped to the finish line.

Joining Amelia in the top-10 were Olivia Baggley (5th) and Cara MacDonald (9th) as the U18 team amassed a measly 37 points to take the team title over the Newmarket Huskies (56 pts). The fourth scorer for the Lions was Gillian Porter in 22nd with a time of 23 minutes and 36.9 seconds.

The Lions also featured two other winners on the day – Ronan Lebel in the U8 boys race while Sinead Gomes took top spot in the U10 girls event. Both of the younger events were raced over a single kilometre. Lebel enjoyed a 20 second margin of victory, finishing in 3 minutes and 52.1 seconds. Gomes crossed the finish line in 3 minutes and 30.7 seconds, 18 seconds ahead of second.

The other top Lions on the day were as follows:

U10 Boys – Eric Combasson 11th
U12 Girls – Catalina Estevez 22nd
U12 Boys – Kai Lebel 4th
U14 Girls – Laila Lebel 14th
U14 Boys – Dominique Church 66th
U16 Girls – Lauren Alexander 26th
U16 Boys – William Sanders 20th
U18 Boys – Zachary Sikka 34th
U20 Women – Skye Pellerin 4th
Open Women – Jessica McRae 15th
Open Men – Nicholas Pedersen 14th
Masters – Gilles Frenette 41st16

(Tornton, Canada---24 July 2021)  Vanessa Lu Langley competing in the 100m hurdle heats at the 2021 Athletics Ontario U20 Championships, held at the Metro Toronto Track and Field Centre. Photograph 2021 Copyright Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images.

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Lions win Ontario U20 title for first time since 2014

Not even Mother Nature could cool off the sizzling performances on the track as the Ottawa Lions captured the Ontario U20 team title – its first since 2014. Despite a rain delay Saturday, it was an otherwise perfect weekend for competition at the Metro Toronto Track and Field Centre on the campus of York University as the Lions narrowly edged out the Flying Angels Track Club by a single point, 108-107, to capture the provincial banner.  The provincial title, the Club’s 54th since 2000, was a truly team effort with points coming from 18 of the 22 events the Lions were entered in.

The lone gold medal of the weekend came from one of the youngest competitors, 16-year-old Amelia Van Brabant in the 3000 metres. The soon to be grade 11 student put together a jaw dropping performance, crossing the line in 9:57.73 and knocking over 26 seconds off her previous best. Not to be outdone, Van Brabant also dropped four seconds off her 1500 metre best as she ran to a sixth place finish in 4:42.46 to pick up an extra three points.

The remaining medals from the weekend came by way of the hurdles and relays, with Lions athletes securing a medal in each of the four hurdle events and the five relays they participated in.

David Adeleye and Vanessa Lu Langley each picked up a bronze in the sprint hurdles. Adeleye, the soon to be second year student at the University of Toronto, set a personal best of 14.14 seconds over the 110 metre hurdles in the prelims before a 14.34 second clocking in the finals. Entering her second year at McGill University, Lu Langley was at her best in the finals of the 100 metre hurdles, equaling her personal best at 15.49 seconds.

The 400 metre hurdles saw Keito Newman pick up his first provincial. Running out of the slow heat of the timed final event, Newman produced a more than two second personal best of 56.98 seconds to narrowly edge out teammate Luca Nicoletti. Similarly, Emily Brennan also produced a more than two second lifetime best (1:07.13) to nab bronze in the women’s race.

The relays produced silvers in both 4×100 metre events as the team of Cora McQuinn, Doyin Ogunremi, Emily Brennan, and Bianca Borgella finished in a time of 50.03 seconds. A slight bobble in the final handoff likely kept the quartet of Seiyf Gebara, Luca Nicoletti, David Moulongou, and David Adeleye from claiming top spot, as they finished in 42.70 seconds, just behind Flying Angels.

Nicoletti and Moulongou teamed up with Thomas Kukla-Colby and Keito Newman in the 4×400 relay to garner another silver – again in a very tight finish. The quartet led the race for 1599 metres before being edged at the line by World U20 qualifier Michael Roth of St. Thomas Legion. The margin of victory for St. Thomas Legion – just seven hundredths ahead of the Lions 3:24.71 clocking.

The women’s 4×400 metre relay team exchanged Borgella for Audrey Gilmour as they picked up another silver – this time in 4:03.26.

Andrew Taylor, Phoenix Bouma, Cameron Porter, and Jackson Roy rounded out the relay medal haul as they place second in the 4×800 metre race with a time of 8 minutes and 24.37 seconds.

“Everyone showed up,” exclaimed Aspire program lead Zach Quevillon of the the team title. “Countless personal bests and seasons bests across the board resulted in a team championship. In between events, athletes were supporting each other with advice or cheering, both of which kept team moral higher than it has been in over a year due to COVID. I am most proud of the athletes ability to weather the uncertainty of the last 16 months and show up with an incredible desire to compete and to win.”

For full results and photos of the championship, visit our results page.

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Six Lions nominated for Provincial Awards

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.