Posts tagged: USports

It’s all in the title. The Ravens Last Chance Meet Saturday at the Dome @ Louis-Riel was a final opportunity for university athletes to improve their position ahead of next weekend’s conference championships. For a number of our varsity athletes it was an opportunity well used as 41 new personal bests were achieved – including a new high jump record for the Gee-Gee’s Thomas Senechal-Becker. 

Coming off a new school record the week before, Senechal-Becker was looking for a couple more centimetres ahead of the Ontario University Athletics Championship heading into Saturday’s competition and he did not disappoint. The second year health sciences student had already upped the record with a third attempt clearance at 2.10 metres when he upped the ante by raising the bar to 2.15. 

Following a narrow miss on his first attempt, Senechal-Becker could be seen seeking out Head Coach Richard Johnston. While the rationale wasn’t clear at the moment, as soon as he stepped back onto the apron to attempt his second jump it was all quite evident. The Canada Games silver medalist removed his Gee-Gee split shorts to jump only in his half length tights. 

The shorts were all the drag that appeared to be holding him back as he sprung up over the bar that stood more than seven feet in height and returned to the mat with cheers of exuberance ringing throughout the south end of the facility. With his new school record, Thomas now sits second in the USports rankings, one centimetre behind the University of Toronto’s Aidan Grout. 

A trio of Gee-Gee relay teams also showed they were rounding in to form ahead of the championship season – recording seasonal bests on Saturday. The biggest changes came in the 4×400 metre relays with both the men and women dropping well over three seconds off their previous bests. 

The men’s team of Fabrice Nonez, Thomas Kukla-Colby, Lucas Zanetti, and David Moulongou dropped four and a half seconds off their season’s best as they took second spot in a time of 3:19.15. The mark was the fastest by a Gee-Gees team since the 2014 USports Championship. 

On the women’s side, Katie Manor, Doyin Ogunremi, Brooklyn McCormik, and Kennedy Banton-Lindsay set a new meet record with their winning time of 3 minutes and 54.50 seconds. The quartet’s time should be fast enough to put them in the fastest section for the OUA championships. 

On the Ravens side, a pair of records were set by Laura Cross and Adam Nuradeen. A first year Biochemistry student, Cross broke the school record in the women’s 600 metres with her time of 1 minute and 39.61 seconds. The previous record of 1:40.48 had been set by Miryam Yakub Aga in 2018. For Mr. Nuradeen, it was his second record in as many weeks as the triple jumper added 19 centimetres to his previous best to land at 13.61 metres on Saturday. 

Both varsity programs return to action on Friday in their respective OUA and RSEQ Championships. 

For updated rankings, please visit the following links:

Lions Rankings – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings

Gee Gee Rankings – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/uottawatf_rankings

Ravens Rankings – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings

Thirteen hundredths of a second. That’s how close Stephen Evans was to setting a new Club record Friday night at the McGill Team Challenge in Montreal. A two lap specialist, Evans recorded a personal best time of 2 minutes and 22.59 seconds as he was narrowly edged at the line by Queen’s University’s Jude Wheeler-Dee in the 1000 metre contest. Evans now ranks second in Club history for both the 800 and 1000 metre events and third in the 600. 

Evans’ performance was just one of 13 medals and 36 personal bests set by Club athletes in Montreal. Among the medalists was his training partner, Sydney Smith who took top spot in Friday’s 1000 metres (2:48.59) and followed up with a silver at 600 (1:31.87) the following day.

Also reaching the top of the podium was the University of Ottawa’s Thomas Senechal-Becker. The second year student took top place in the high jump with a clearance of 2.06 metres. The mark surpassed the USports qualifying standard and also moved him into third on the Gee-Gees’ all-time list. 

Staying in the field, Elizabeth Moreland picked up a pair of medals in the high jump and triple jump. The second year University of Ottawa student set a new lifetime best Friday in the triple jump as she bounded out to a distance of 10.99 metres to place second in the competition. She followed that up Saturday with a clearance of 1.55 metres and a share of the bronze medal. 

Over at the women’s shot put, Brianna Asiamah and Jessica Gyamfi placed second and third respectively. Asiamah pushed the four kilogram ball out to 11.96 metres while Gyamfi was a metre back at 10.90.

For Vienna Courteau, Friday’s pentathlon was the first of her career, but that didn’t stop the second year Gee-Gee from putting forward a podium performance. Vie, as she is affectionately known, produced lifetime bests in both the high jump and shot put enroute to a score of 3021 points and a bronze medal finish. 

Back on the track, Lizzie Vroom produced the fastest 1500 metres of her life as she ran her way to bronze. The first year Queen’s University student was visibly excited as she crossed the line in 4 minutes and 36.18 seconds – trimming nearly four seconds off her previous best. 

Other medals in Montreal came from Alexandra Telford (300m silver), Fabrice Nonez (60m Hurdle bronze), and the quartet of Fabrice Nonez, David Moulongou, Lucas Zanetti, and Andre Alie Lamarche (4x400m bronze).

To see full results and photos from McGill, visit https://ottawalions.com/results/2023-results

To view updated all-time lists and athlete profiles, please visit:

Ottawa Lions – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/

Ottawa Gee-Gees – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/uottawatf_rankings/

Carleton Ravens – https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ravenstf_rankings/

The varsity programs at both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University kicked off the 2023 calendar this past weekend – competing at l‘Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or Invitation. While most athletes had only just completed their first full week of training following the holidays, that did not stop the 43 athletes competing from setting 29 new personal bests during the competition. 

A pair of Gee-Gee athletes took home gold medals from Saturday’s trip to Quebec. On the track, Nina Gunther broke the three minute barrier for the first time in the 1000 metres, winning in 2 minutes and 57.39 seconds. The graduate student in Sport Management has had a strong season for the Gee-Gees after previously competing for the Carabins de l‘Université de Montréal as an undergraduate. Gunther had also opened the season with a victory in the mile at the Saints Holiday Relays before Christmas. 

Brianna Asiamah was the other Gee-Gee to ascend to podium Saturday, taking top spot in her speciality – the shot put. The third-year social work student pushed the 4 kilogram shot out to a distance of 12.53 metres to leave herself 22 centimetres clear of silver. The Holy Trinity graduate’s winning throw also surpassed her previous best of 12.51 metres set in December. 

Also picking up a medal in the shot put ring was first year Carleton student Connor Fraser. The Immaculate graduate who is more known for his success in the discus ring heaved the shot out to an impressive 13.73 metres. Fraser’s throw is a massive personal best in his first season with the senior implement and moves him to number two on the Raven’s all-time list. 

Staying with the field events, a trio of triple jumpers hopped, skipped and jumped their way on to the podium. Heather Grandy and Jackson Colquhoun took silver in the women’s and men’s competitions respectively. Grandy, who is currently pursuing a masters degree in biomedical engineering, leapt to a personal best distance of 11.14 metres, while Colquhoun’s leap of 13.39 metres was the third best of his career. Elizabeth Moreland also added a bronze in the women’s triple jump with a best of 10.47 metres.

Back on the track, Fabrice Nonez set a personal best for the second meet row enroute to a silver in the 60 metre hurdles. Nonez lowered his best to 8.64 seconds in Saturday’s heats before crossing the line in 8.65 seconds in the final.

Gee-Gee’s Sia Mahajan, Katie Manor, Courtney Cenac, and Doyin Oguremi teammed up for bronze in the 4×400 metre relay. The quartet finished in a time of 4 minutes and 9.45 seconds.

Saturday’s competition also featured a masters section to complement the University/Open races. Michael Conway took top spot in the 600 metres with a winning time of 1:31.13. Teammate Gilles Frenette finished 10 seconds back in second. Mike McInerney was the top finisher in the 1000 metres with a time of 3:14.97

For full results from Saturday’s competition, please visit ottawalions.com/results/2023-results

With the new year just nine days old, the first competition of the season is already in the rear view mirror. Saturday’s Sharon Anderson Memorial at the University of Toronto was an opportunity to bust some rust after the holidays for a small contingent of Lions athletes attending university in the GTA. 

Hurdler David Adeleye continued the strong running we saw from him before the holidays as he topped the 60 metre hurdles in a speedy 8.00 seconds. The third year kinesiology student was the class of the field winning by more than three tenths over University of Toronto teammate Adam Exley. 

Without the hurdles in his way Adeleye put up a personal best performance in the flat 60. David was first across the line in the “B” final in a time of 7.06 seconds as he placed ninth overall. His previous best of 7.10 seconds was set in January 2020. 

Paulina Procyk, also running in the blue and white of Toronto, had two of the speediest performances of her life Saturday. Coming off a personal best of 7.78 seconds in the flat 60 at the Greg Page Relays in December, Procyk laid down a 7.82 second clocking in the heats before finishing ninth in the final with a time of 7.89. 

Over the 60 metre hurdles, Procyk placed third in a time of 9.07 seconds – just shy of her lifetime best of 9.00. Millie Cameron, who attends York University, finished 12th overall in a time of 10.93. 

The return to competition will be back in full swing this coming weekend as the both varsity programs and the Lions head to Sherbrooke for the Vert et Or Invitational.