(Ottawa, Canada---19 June 2024) Maxime Cazabon competing at Ottawa Summer Twilight Meet #3 at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility. Copyright 2024 Miles Ryan Rowat / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Cazabon’s Double Gold, Oppong-Nketiah’s Sprint Crown Highlight Lions at Legion Nationals

by linkinbioNational

National champions, record-breakers, and rising stars — the Ottawa Lions delivered it all at the Royal Canadian Legion Track and Field Championships in Calgary, led by double gold medalist Maxime Cazabon and sprint standout Jorai Oppong-Nketiah.

Leading the charge was 15-year-old Maxime Cazabon, who soared to victory in the U16 high jump with a personal-best clearance of 1.96 metres. The mark ranks second all-time in club history, trailing only 1988 Olympian Brian Marshall’s 1.97m record that has stood since 1980. Like Marshall, who won the high jump and finished second in the triple jump at the 1979 Legion Championships, Cazabon left Calgary with double medals, capturing the triple jump crown with an all-conditions best of 13.45m.

On the track, Jorai Oppong-Nketiah added another national championship to her résumé, powering to gold in the U18 girls’ 200 metres in 23.79 seconds. In that race, she got the best of Speed Academy’s Elizabeth Tannis, the only woman to defeat her this season, winning by more than a quarter of a second. With the victory, Oppong-Nketiah became just the second athlete in club  history to win back-to-back medals in the 200m (Toluwalope Makinde), and the only one to claim double gold. She also claimed silver in the 100m in 11.67 seconds, finishing just behind Tannis in a reversal of their 200m result.

Eli Mordel etched his name into the club’s history books in the U18 110m hurdles (36″), breaking a 17-year-old record with a 14.00-second run in the heats. The previous mark of 14.10 had been set by Oluwasegun Makinde at the Ontario Championships in 2008 — the year Mordel was born. He went on to place fifth in the final with a time of 14.54 seconds and added an eighth-place finish in the pole vault, clearing 4.10 metres.

The Lions’ depth was on display with several other top-10 all-time club performances. Brody Charbot clocked 6:11.08 in the 2000m, ranking eighth on the U16 list and improving on the 6:11.61 personal best he set last month at the Ontario Championships. Moussa Cisse landed in 10th on the U18 triple jump all-time list with a 13.33m effort, more than a metre farther than his previous best of 12.21m set in June, good for sixth place overall.

Relay teams added to the club’s highlights. The U18 men’s 4x400m squad of Jimmy Lu Langley, Nathan Cox, Cohen Pinto, and Xavier Placid clocked 3:26.91 to move to eighth all-time and finish fourth overall, the top placing among club teams behind only provincial squads. The U16 girls’ 4x100m team of Livia Buffone, Norah Nitta Mackay, Atalia Williams, and Olivia Daigle-Dasah ran 49.51 for second on the club’s all-time list. The U16 girls’ sprint medley relay of Autumn Sakiyama, Williams, Daigle-Dasah, and Isla Kittmer posted 4:24.91, the fourth-fastest in club history.

Rounding out the weekend, ​​Cohen Pinto placed sixth in the U18 long jump with a windy leap of 6.43m.

(Ottawa, Canada---11 June 2025) Mikel Fortier competes in Ottawa Summer Twilight Meet #2 at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility. Copyright 2025 Miles Ryan Rowat / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Lions Shine at Legion District Meet with 37 Medals, Five Nationals Standards

by linkinbioLocal

Sixteen athletes from the Ottawa Lions kicked off their road to Nationals in style last Sunday, collecting a remarkable 37 medals at the Royal Canadian Legion District G Track and Field Meet held at Thousand Islands Secondary School in Brockville. With 18 golds among the haul, the regional qualifier served as a strong start toward the Legion National Championships set for August in Calgary.

Leading the charge was Eric Combasson, who stood atop the podium no fewer than three times in the U14 division, claiming gold in the 80m, 80m hurdles, and high jump. He also added silver medals in the javelin and long jump, and a bronze in the 300m—an impressive six-medal outing.

Five Lions hit national standards, earning valuable qualifications for the summer finale. Mikel Fortier delivered a strong performance in the U18 boys 2000m steeplechase, stopping the clock at 6:29.69—a personal best that clinched his ticket to Calgary. Fortier didn’t stop there, returning later to win the 3000m in 9:40.79.

Pole vaulter Eli Mordel soared to 3.30m to match the national benchmark and secure top honours in the U18 boys event. He also clocked a windy 14.50 seconds to take gold in the 110m hurdles.

Sprinter Chloë Martineau secured a coveted spot at the Ontario Championships with her runner-up finish in the U18 girls 100m. Her time of 12.65 seconds also cleared the national standard. Martineau completed her day with a victory in the 200m, running a wind-aided 26.21.

Fresh off his OFSAA triumph, Parker Baetz was a dominating force in the throws. The U18 standout notched wins in the javelin (47.76m) and shot put (12.41m), and also hit the national standard in discus with a personal best throw of 40.60m.

Elsewhere, Moussa Cisse showed continued progress with personal bests in all three of his events. He earned a silver and two bronze medals on the day and secured his Ontario Championships berth with a 12.21m leap in the triple jump.

Farrah Henderson battled the heat and came away with a golden double in the U18 girls 1500m (5:37.23) and 3000m (12:39.38), further adding to the Lions’ medal tally.

With more meets ahead before provincial and national teams are finalized, Sunday’s results showed there is much to look forward to this summer season. The next stop on the path to Calgary is the Ontario Legion Championships, set for York University July 11–12.

Let me know if you’d like a shorter version for social media, or if you’d like to highlight specific athletes in future posts.

(Montreal, Canada---30 June 2024) Zachary Jeggo competing in the 2024 Bell Trials Canadian Track and Field Championships and Olympic Trials. Photograph Copyright 2024 Miles Ryan / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Lions Shine at Royal Canadian Legion Championships, Setting Records and Securing Nine Medals

by linkinbioNational

In a weekend marked by fierce competition and record-breaking performances, the Ottawa Lions once again demonstrated their dominance as one of Canada’s top track and field clubs. The team returned home with nine medals—three gold, three silver, and three bronze—alongside 14 personal bests.

Oppong-Nketiah’s Double Gold

Jorai Oppong-Nketiah continued to solidify her status as one of Canada’s most promising young athletes with two record-breaking performances in the U18 Girls 100m and 200m events.

Kicking off the championships with the 100 metres, Oppong-Nketiah set a championship record of 11.43 seconds to capture gold on Friday evening. This performance, combined with her outstanding runs at the Canadian U20 Championship, now gives her the three fastest U18 100-metre times ever recorded in Canadian history—with one year still remaining in the category.

In the 200 metres, Oppong-Nketiah rewrote a long-standing club record, capturing her second gold medal of the championship with a time of 23.90 seconds. Not even a 3.5-meter-per-second headwind could prevent her from surpassing Lauren Gale’s previous club record of 24.03 seconds, set in 2016.

Jeggo’s Record-Breaking Weekend

One of the busiest athletes of the weekend, Zachary Jeggo, also emerged as the most decorated. Jeggo left Calgary with four medals and a championship record from two individual events and two relays.

Jeggo raced to victory in the 400-metre hurdles, clocking an impressive 52.67 seconds. This performance not only shattered his own club U18 record but also broke the championship record of 53.02 seconds, which had stood for nearly a decade—long before the 17-year-old was even born.

In the 400 metres, without hurdles in his way, Jeggo posted a time of 48.33 seconds to finish second. This marked his second national silver medal of the summer, following a similar performance at the Canadian U20 Championships in June.

Beyond his individual success, Jeggo played a crucial role in two medal-winning relay teams.

Teaming up with Ammiel Williams, Kyle London, and Ange-Mathis Kramo, the U18 Boys 4×400-metre relay team delivered one of the standout performances of the championships, crossing the finish line in 3 minutes and 19.07 seconds. Their performance shattered the club’s U18 record, set at last year’s championships.

The 4x100m relay team of Jimmy Lu Langley, Jesse Costanzo, Jeggo, and Kramo also etched their names into the relay record books. The quartet completed the race in 42.03 seconds, breaking the club’s U18 record that had stood since 2007 and securing the bronze medal.

A Dominant Display in Javelin

Mallea McMullin’s performance in the U16 Girls Javelin was nothing short of commanding. With an opening throw of 39.19 metres, McMullin won the event by a remarkable 6.5 metres. Her victory marks her as the latest in a line of Lions athletes to claim the national U16 javelin title, following in the footsteps of Sara Collins (2002), Sultana Frizell (1999), and Louise Perreault (1983).

Coughlin’s Resilient Comeback

After a disappointing run in Saturday’s 400-metre final, Quinn Coughlin demonstrated remarkable resilience as she rebounded the following day in the 400-metre hurdles to claim her first individual national title. Living up to her pre-event ranking, Coughlin was first across the line with a time of 1:01.34.

Kramo’s Sprint to Silver

Ange-Mathis Kramo continued to raise his national profile, adding to the Lions’ medal tally with a silver in the U18 Boys 200 metres. His time of 21.53 seconds places him second on the Lions’ all-time list, trailing Olympian Oluwasegun Makinde by just a tenth of a second.

Full results from the Championship can be found on our website.

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