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Lions Win 20 Medals at Conference Championships

by linkinbioUniversity

Several record-breaking performances highlighted a thrilling weekend of track and field action as athletes from the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club made their mark at the OUA, RSEQ, and AUS Championships, winning an impressive 20 medals and recording 29 personal best performances.

At the RSEQ Championships, Luca Nicoletti delivered a stellar performance, earning three medals, including a gold in the men’s 300 metres. Nicoletti upgraded his bronze from last year to claim victory in 34.89 seconds, while rookie teammate William Sanders joined him on the podium with a bronze-medal finish in 35.68 seconds. The duo later combined efforts in the men’s 4×400-metre relay, helping McGill to silver with a time of 3:21.59. Nicoletti and Jay Yetman also teamed up in the men’s 4x200m relay, contributing to McGill’s silver-medal performance with a time of 1:30.13. On the women’s side, Audrey Gilmour led off for McGill’s 4x400m team, which secured bronze in 3:58.15.

In the field events, Joshua Foster captured a pair of medals at the RSEQ Championships. After victory in Friday’s triple jump (14.41 metres), Foster added a silver in Saturday’s long jump competition as his final round effort of 7.06 metres left him just one centimetre shy of double gold. Foster’s victory in the triple jump earned him a ticket to the U SPORTS Championships. He had already attained the long jump standard earlier in the season.

Brianna Asiamah successfully defended her RSEQ shot put title with a Ravens-record throw of 13.43 metres. She will enter her fourth U SPORTS Championship ranked sixth in the nation as she battles for that elusive podium finish. Teammate Connor Fraser also stood on the podium in Sherbrooke, taking home RSEQ silver in the men’s shot put for the second consecutive year with a season-best throw of 15.11 metres.

In other jumps, Ella-Grace Gilbert secured RSEQ bronze in the women’s triple jump with an 11.52-metre effort, the second-best jump of her career. Meanwhile, former two-time RSEQ pole vault champion Rosalie Lupien earned silver at this year’s edition, clearing 3.20 metres.

Carleton’s women’s 4x200m relay team of Rose Basu, Michaella Appiah-Kubi, Olajiire Fowler, and Kaylyne Kabongo ran their second-fastest time of the season, finishing in 1:48.84 to claim RSEQ bronze. The women’s 4x400m squad also made history, as Appiah-Kubi, Laura Cross, Fowler, and Aria MacDonald set a new Carleton record in 4:14.08, placing fourth and breaking the previous program mark of 4:14.38 set in 2018.

At the OUA Championships, the Gee-Gees men’s 4x400m team of Joel Gurnsey, Safwan El Mansari, William Harris, and David Moulongou defied expectations. Entering the meet ranked fourth in the province, the quartet produced one of the performances of the weekend, running a blistering 3:19.99 to secure OUA silver, marking the best-ever finish for the program in the event.

In the throwing events, University of Ottawa record holder Jessica Gyamfi earned OUA silver in the women’s shot put with a best throw of 13.01 metres, securing her first OUA Championship medal. On the men’s side, Guelph’s Liam Davis captured OUA bronze in the weight throw with a mark of 15.98 metres, earning his first championship medal in his debut appearance at the event. Davis narrowly missed out on a second medal as his best effort of 14.63 metres in the shot put left him a mere four centimetres off the podium.

While not competing in any individual events, Cora McQuinn impressed in both the women’s 4x200m and 4x400m relays for the Western Mustangs. She ran a strong anchor leg in the 4x200m, propelling the team from third to second to clinch OUA silver. Just hours later, she led off for the 4x400m relay, earning her second relay silver of the night. McQuinn also earned a gold medal as the Mustangs took home the women’s team title in Windsor.

Elizabeth Vroom played a key role in Queen’s University’s success in the women’s 4×800-metre relay, leading the team to its third consecutive OUA bronze medal. Vroom produced the fastest split of the squad, clocking 2:14.85, as they posted a seasonal best of 9:11.06. The time should be enough to secure them a berth at the U SPORTS Championships.

Elizabeth Moreland etched her name into the University of Ottawa record books, breaking the school’s triple jump mark on Saturday. The fourth-year student exceeded or equalled the previous record five times, culminating in an 11.82-metre effort to finish fifth—her best placement at an OUA Championship.

The combined events produced a number of noteworthy performances. Kathryn Moreland and Vienna Courteau of the Gee-Gees shined in the women’s pentathlon finishing fourth and fifth respectively with lifetime best scores. Moreland reached 3531 points with personal bests in the 60-metre hurdles, long jump, and 800 metres, while Courteau’s score of 3495 points was fuelled by lifetime bests in every event except the high jump. Both performances have secured the women a spot at the U SPORTS Championship in two weeks time – the first time since 2011 the Gee-Gees have had multiple entries in the national event.

First year student Kyle Waldrum had an outstanding performance of his own in the men’s heptathlon. The University of Guelph student set four individual event bests on his way to a sixth place finish with 4764 points. Waldrum’s point total now ranks him eighth in Club history.

At the AUS Championships, University of New Brunswick’s Allison Dewar reached the podium, taking home bronze in the women’s 60-metre hurdles with a personal best time of 9.51 seconds. Dewar also picked up a gold medal as part of the Reds’ 4×200-metre team.

With conference championships concluded, many of these athletes now turn their focus to the upcoming U SPORTS Championships, where they will look to build on their success at the national level.

For updated Club and School Rankings:
Ottawa Lions
Ottawa Gee-Gees
Carleton Ravens

For photos from the Championships
OUA Championships
RSEQ Championships

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Championship Weekend Results Roundup

by linkinbioUniversity

Championship season kicked off for Canadian cross-country runners with university conference championships unfolding nationwide this past weekend.

At the OUA Championships in North Bay, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees battled to a pair of 12th-place finishes in both the men’s and women’s team races. On the men’s side, the Gee-Gees finished just 11 points behind Laurentian for 11th place, led by second-year computer science student Zachary Sikka, who completed the demanding 8-kilometre course in 26:36.3 to place 44th overall. 

Nic Abanto Enns and Will McLeish supported the team effort with 56th and 63rd-place finishes, each finishing within a minute of Sikka. Adriano Padoin-Castillo and Fred Parent rounded out the scoring for Ottawa in 69th and 85th place, respectively.

On the women’s side, Melina Hamel continued her standout season, leading Ottawa with a 34th-place finish in 31:03.8, one of her strongest races of the year. Teammate Kylee Fowler followed closely in 54th place, with Elliot Tyman, Grace Farrington, and Katerina Culhane rounding out the scoring spots in 88th, 89th, and 90th, respectively.

Queen’s standout Lizzy Vroom, a former USport Rookie of the Year, captured a 12th-place individual finish in 29:31.6, earning her Second Team OUA All-Star honours and helping the Gaels to silver in the overall standings. 

First-year Guelph Gryphon Jocelyn Giannotti, making her OUA Championships debut, placed 48th, crossing in 31:46.3 as the fourth-fastest rookie in the championship.

At the RSEQ Championships in Saint-Lazare, Quebec, the Carleton Ravens were represented by Sara Gross and Sydney Nielsen, with Gross clocking 34:33.2 for 71st place while Nielsen was 95th. Racing for McGill, Zoe Gardiner contributed to a team bronze for the Martlets with a 27th-place finish in 31:32.4. 

The RSEQ Championship also featured a high school section, where brothers Noah and Zachary Mansouri swept the podium’s top two spots. Noah claimed gold on the 5-kilometre course in 15:58.9 with Zachary finishing 7.5 seconds back.

Out west, UBC Okanagan’s Kyle Porter competed at the Can-West Championships in Camrose, AB, placing 50th in 27:49.6 over the 8-kilometre course. 

Next up for Canada’s top university athletes will be the USports Championships on November 9th in Kelowna, BC.

Full results from the OUA Championship can be found here: OUA

RSEQ Championships results can be found here: Men Women

Can-West Championship results can be found here: Can West

(Quebec City, Canada---23 February 2024) Brianna Asiamah competes in the shot put at the 2024 RSEQ University Championships held at the University of Laval. Photograph Copyright 2024 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Shot putters lead Ravens at RSEQ Championship

by linkinbioProvincialUniversity

While Canadians associate winter with ice, the slippery surface is not something typically associated with indoor track and field. However, the Carleton University throwers may beg to differ after their slippery experience at the RSEQ Championships in Quebec City last weekend.

Competing on a well-worn portable circle at the PEPS (Pavillon de l’éducation physique et des sports de l’Université Laval), Carleton’s two nationally ranked shot putters had to adjust to their environment when they discovered they could nearly skate across the shot put ring. 

Graduate student Brianna Asiamah shifted her entire approach to the event because of the circle’s slippery feeling. Despite Asiamah scaling back her full rotation throw down to a half turn, she still emerged victorious with a winning throw of 12.48 metres on her first attempt. While the distance was nearly a metre off her school record, Asiamah finished more than a metre and a half ahead of her nearest competitor. With her victory, Brianna also secured her third straight ticket at the USports Championship.

In the men’s shot put, second year student Connor Fraser may have benefitted from his years of experience playing competitive hockey as he seemed unfettered by the slippery conditions. Fraser pushed the 16 pound ball out to a distance of 15.05 metres, less than a foot off his school record, to claim the silver medal. 

On the track, McGill University sophomore Luca Nicoletti had a very productive first RSEQ Championship after missing last season to an injury. Nicoletti opened the weekend of competition on Friday night by helping the Red Birds to victory in the 4×200 metre relay. He would follow up on day two with an individual medal of his own. The engineering student was clocked in a time of 35.71 seconds as he took home the bronze over 300 metres. 

To close out the RSEQ Championships,Audrey Gilmour picked up a bronze medal of her own in the 4×400 metre. Also running for McGill, Gilmour ran the third leg for the Martlets as they finished in 4:00.55, just seven tenths of a second behind Sherbrooke’s silver medal run.

For complete results and photos from the RSEQ Championships, please visit our results page.

For updated Carleton Ravens all-time rankings, please visit https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings/

(Ottawa, Canada---30 September 2023) Elizabeth Vroom (623 W) of the Queen's University Golden Gaels races at the 2023 Capital XC Challenge at Mooney’s Bay Park in Ottawa. Photograph Copyright 2023 Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images. If posting to social media please tag @mundosportimages

Alie-Lamarche and Vroom named OUA All-Stars; Baggley wins AUS Rookie of the Year

by linkinbioUniversity

While the final weekend in October usually has most people consumed with Halloween preparations, we were busy with cross country championships. It was conference championship season for universities on both sides of the border this weekend with some very notable performances by some Lions runners.

Leading the list of performances this weekend, André Alie-Lamarche and Elizabeth Vroom were each recognized as Second Team All-Stars for their finish at the OUA Cross Country Championships in Waterloo. On the East Coast, Olivia Baggley was named women’s Rookie of the Year at the Atlantic University Sport Championships.

As he has done all year, Alie-Lamarche was the top men’s runner for the Gee-Gee’s, placing eighth over the eight-kilometre race. The fourth year student pushed hard to maintain his season long run of podium performances, sitting fourth heading into the final two-kilometres. Despite dropping back in the final standings, his finish was the best of his OUA career. The Gee-Gee men placed 11th overall as a team, amassing 298 points.

For Vroom, her 14th place finish was a solid improvement on her 25th place finish in 2022. The reigning USports Rookie of the Year was the top finisher for a Queen’s women’s team that placed fourth overall – the first time she’s led the team all season. 

The top runner for the Gee-Gee women was rookie Melina Hamel, who placed 46th overall in a time of 32 minutes and 9.5 seconds.

At the AUS Championships in Halifax, Olivia Baggley placed 10th overall for the University of New Brunswick Reds in a time of 32 minutes and 11 seconds to finish as the highest ranked rookie. Baggley was the third scorer for the Reds, helping them to a second place finish overall. 

Racing at the RSEQ Championships in Rawdon, Quebec, Aria MacDonald was the top finisher for the Carleton Raven women. The third year student was 35th overall in a time of 33:33.9. For the Raven men, David Birinberg was 59th across the line in a time of 28:25.9.

South of the border, Louise Stonham and Maddie Seaby each scored for their respective schools at their conference championship. At the Big West Championship in Nipomo, CA Stonham was the fourth scorer for Long Beach State, finishing the six-kilometre course in 22:12.0 to place 34th. At the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship in Tallahassee, FL Seaby was the fifth scorer for the University of Louisville with her 21:49.2 clocking for 95th. 

For full results, please consult the following websites:

OUA Cross Country Championship

RSEQ Cross Country Championship

AUS Cross Country Championship

Big West Cross Country Championship

ACC Cross Country Championship

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Nuraddeen’s gold leads five medal haul for Ravens at RSEQ Championship

by linkinbioUniversity

Eight years. That was the length of time between competitions in a Lions uniform for Adam Nuraddeen. The fourth year psychology student at Carleton University returned to the sport in earnest last summer, competing in the annual Twilight Series of meets before donning the black singlet of the Ravens this past fall. In the time since, he has re-written the school record book in the triple jump and last Friday, he jumped his way to an RSEQ Conference championship and a spot in the national university championships. 

In Friday’s competition, Nuraddeen led the Ravens to a 1-3 finish in the triple jump – the first time it’s happened in school history. Although falling short of his one week old school record, the Glebe Collegiate graduate’s leap of 13.31 metres was good enough to best the rest of the field by more than a metre and earn himself an automatic bid into the USports Championship next week as the conference champion. 

Joining Nuraddeen on the podium Friday was teammate Samuel Chilima, who placed third. The first year student extended his personal best by more than a quarter of a metre to land out at 12.06 metres.

The men’s triple jump medals were part of a four medal haul for the Ravens on day one of the Championship.

Getting it done in the field was another first year student, Connor Fraser, in the men’s shot put. Fraser, heaved the 16 pound shot put out to a personal best 14.43 metres to take home the bronze. Fraser’s effort fell just short of the Raven’s record of 14.55 set by last year’sRSEQ silver medalist Alec Jeffrey.

Rounding out day one was a bronze medal effort in the 4×200 metres by the team of Michael Pinnock, Samuel Chilima, Kanique Thomas, and Lachlan Mahan. The quartet got the stick around to finish in a time of 1 minute and 36.10 seconds, just ahead of the University of Sherbrooke. 

The only medal on day two for the Ravens came in the very first event as first year student Kendal Williams took home the bronze in the women’s weight throw on her birthday. Williams’ best throw of the day measured 10.58 metres.

In addition to the Ravens’ medal haul, Lion Vanessa Lu Langley picked up a silver and bronze. Running on the McGill 4×200 metre relay team on Friday, Lu Langley helped the Martlets to a bronze medal before running a personal best of 9.09 seconds the next morning in the 60 metre hurdles to claim silver. It was Lu Langley’s second straight RSEQ silver in the hurdles.

For complete results from the RSEQ Championship: https://ottawalions.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023_RSEQ_Track_Results.pdf

For updated Ravens rankings, visit: https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings

(Ottawa, Canada---02 October 2021) Pippa Norman (Carleton Ravens) competing in the University/Open Women's race at the 2021 Capital Cross Country Challenge held at Mooney’s Bay Park in Ottawa. Photograph 2021 Copyright Miles Ryan Rowat / Mundo Sport Images

Norman and MacDonald lead Ravens at RSEQ XC Championship

by linkinbioProvincialUniversity

It was a challenging setting for Saturday’s Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) Cross Country Championships at the Centre de plein air Kinadapt. Located about 75 minutes north of Montreal in the small town of Rawdon, the course which is more routinely used for dog sledding, brought a unique set of challenges to the Carleton Ravens runners.

Undeterred by the challenging course, veterans Pippa Norman and Aria MacDonald both improved upon their placing from last year’s championship as they crossed the line back-to-back in 43rd and 44th place. Norman completed the eight kilometre course in a time of 33 minutes and 43.7 seconds with MacDonald finishing just 6.8 seconds later. 

Following shortly behind was Saorise Kealy, who finished in 33:57.7 to place 48th overall. Bryn Reynolds rounded out the Ravens quartet in 72nd. 

The Raven men were represented by the duo of David Birinberg and Nic Hawrysh. Finishing in a time of 29:12.4, Birinberg was the top Raven as he placed 88th overall. Hawrysh finished in 130th.
For full results from the RSEQ Championships, please visit our results page.

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Smith and Telford golden at conference championships

by linkinbioProvincialUniversity

We expect there was a good amount celebrating at the Smith/Telford residence Sunday night following a golden weekend at their respective university conference championships for the two Lions varsity athletes.Roommates Sydney Smith and Alexandra Telford combined for a trio of gold medals this past weekend at the OUA and RSEQ Championships and did so in rather impressive fashion.

First to the podium was Smith who executed her 600m race strategy to absolute perfection. Biding her time for the first two laps, Smith surged past Guelph’s Sadie-Jane Hickson on the bell lap to capture her first OUA title in a personal best time of 1:30.37. The performance ranks as the sixth fastest in Club history.

The human kinetics graduate student nearly picked up a second medal in the 4×400 metre relay as her speedy anchor leg of 54.64 seconds took the Gee-Gees to within half a second of bronze. However, with their time of 3:51.66, the team of Doyin Ogunremi, Hannah Frazer, Frédérique Bell, and Smith will qualify for the USports Championship in two weeks time.

For Telford, her victories came fast and furious on day two of the Quebec conference championship. The Carleton graduate student began with a personal best effort to take the 60 metre hurdle title in 8.97 seconds. It was part of an Ottawa sweep of the podium, as silver went to fellow Lion Vanessa Lu Langley who is studying at McGill, while bronze went to recent University of Ottawa graduate Stéphanie Lapolice, who is completing graduate work in health promotion at Université Laval.

Less than an hour after her hurdles triumph, Telford was back on the track for the final of the 300 metres and another personal best performance. Her winning time of 38.74 seconds was more than a full second clear of the second place runner. Telford’s time moves her into fifth on the Club’s all-time list as she jumps ahead of two-time Olympian Alicia Brown.

Carleton’s Alec Jeffrey also found his way onto the podium at the RSEQ Championship. The school record holder in the shot put, Jeffrey heaved the shot out to 13.33 metres to claim the silver medal.

Picking up a silver medal at the OUA Championships was the University of Ottawa’s Thomas Senechal-Becker. The first year student cleared 2.02 metres in the high jump.

Another noteworthy performance included Emma Martins’ fifth place finish in the 60 metre final with a personal best time of 7.77 seconds. As well, David Adeleye, running for the University of Toronto, was just off his lifetime best, placing 6th in the 60 metre hurdles in 8.22 seconds, while Jenna Gervais (Western) set a personal best of 9.02 to qualify for the final of the women’s hurdles event, where she would place seventh overall. Finally, Brianna Asiamah just missed her lifetime best by three centimetres in the shot put with a 12.45 metre heave to place seventh.

Copyright Brian Rouble/Shuttered Moments

Cassidy fifth at Boston Marathon; XC competes in Sherbrooke

by InternationallinkinbioUniversity

The world’s oldest marathon race returned to the streets of Boston Monday morning with a familiar face near the top of the leader board. Canadian record holder Joshua Cassidy placed fifth with a time of 1:28:56 – his fastest marathon since the 2017 edition of Boston.

Traditionally held on Patriots Day, the third Monday in April, the 125th edition of the BAA Boston Marathon was pushed to the October date as a result of COVID restrictions following its cancellation in 2020.

Monday’s event almost didn’t happen for Cassidy, who almost pulled out of the event in September after losing two and a half weeks of training due to a sinus infection. Despite the break, the three time Paralympian held tight to the front of the pack throughout the race. Cassidy battled for third with South African Ernst Van Dyk all the way up Heartbreak Hill, a 600 metre ascent between the 32 and 34 kilometre marks. Continuing the battle towards the finish, Van Dyk narrowly pulled away, while Cassidy nipped at the line by American Aaron Pike, who finish one second ahead.

Cassidy, who is also awaiting the birth of his first child with partner Laiken appeared content with the result, writing on Instagram “not bad, needed a bit more quality training, but so happy to be out there, happy to be home again, and grateful for everyone with the Boston Marathon team.”

Back in Canada, a small collection of Lion, Gee-Gees, and Ravens took part in the the Vert et Or Invitation cross country race on the campus of the University of Sherbrooke on Sunday. Nico Pedersen was the winner of the open men’s eight kilometre race with a time of 25 minutes and 49.4 seconds. Nathan Meraw of the Gee-Gees was the top male in the university section, placing 43rd in 27:58.8. The top female honour went to Kylee Fowler, a first year student with the Gee-Gees, who placed 42nd in 34:02.3. Carleton’s Sophy Wood was the top Raven in 46th.

Complete results from the Vert et Or Invitation can be found on the FQA website.