SB20220219GuelpOpen100

Telford leads Lions in Guelph Open

by linkinbioUniversity

Saturday’s Guelph Open was not your typical track and field meet. In fact, given the event offerenings, it was more likely to be referred to as a field and some track meet with the flat 60 metres and hurdles being the only events contested on the track. However, the abbreviated event line up didn’t stop the Lions sweeping the two sprint races and taking one of the hurdles titles as part of a four medal haul.

Running off a victory over 300 metres the night before in Toronto, Alexandra Telford continued her winning ways Saturday with the rare 60 metre/60 metre hurdle double. The Ravens runner sped her way to new lifetime bests in each of the events, posting times of 7.70 and 9.15 seconds in the flat 60 and hurdle events respectively. The 60 metre hurdles time is also another school record for Telford.

The other victory came from David Moulongou, who took top spot in the 60 metre event with a time of 7.26 seconds. Saturday’s performance was a personal best for the first year University of Ottawa student, who has run successive best’s in each competition of his three competitions this season.

The final podium performance came in the men’s shot put where Alec Jeffrey heaved the 16 pound ball out to a new personal best distance of 13.04 metres. Saturday’s performance also bested Stephen James’ Carleton University record of 12.64 metres set in 2017.

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Lions athletes win 11 medals at Hal Brown Last Chance

by linkinbioUniversity

Back on track in Toronto last night, the Gee-Gee and Ravens athletes had a fruitful visit to the provincial capital, capturing 11 medals including 3 gold.

André Alie-Lamarche was one of the three victors, taking top spot in the 1500 metres in a time of 3:59.54. Alie-Lamarche, who only ran his first metric mile since before the onset of the pandemic last week, admitted to feeling kind of nervous in returning to the event that is synonymous with tactical running. “However, under the coaching of Helen [Cooper] and great training partners, I feel like I’m getting back in the groove,” explains Alie-Lamarche who is now victorious in back-to-back races.

Another back-to-back winner was Alexandra Telford, taking the women’s 300 metres in a time of 39.67 seconds. Coming off a new Carleton University record last weekend, Telford was aiming for the USports standard of 39.23 seconds on the flat track at the University of Toronto, but was happy she’ll get a bump in the rankings due to the conversion.

The final gold medal performance came in the women’s 4×800 metres, where veteran Sydney Smith anchored the Gee Gee women to a run of nine minutes and 43.22 seconds. Smith also posted a top three finish in the 600 metres, where she ran a personal best time of 1:32.01 – her second PB in as many weeks. The graduate student’s performance will be converted to 1:30.91 based on running on the flat track, which will place her sixth in the current USports rankings.

Other medalists from Friday’s competition include:

SILVER

Men’s 300m – David Moulongou 36.79 (Gee-Gees)
Men’s 3000m- Jackson Roy 9:02.41 (Gee-Gees)
Women’s 4x200m – Emma Martins, Doyin Ogunremi, Coralie Ostertag, Kelly Brennan 1:52.27 (Gee-Gees)

BRONZE

Women’s 60m – Emma Martins 8.04 (Gee-Gees)
Women’s 300m – Doyin Ogunremi 42.31 (Gee-Gees)
Women’s 1000m – Hannah Frazer 3:04.88 (Gee-Gees)
Men’s 4x800m – André Alie-Lamarche, Jackson Roy, David Moulongou, Fabrice Nonez 8:37.86 (Gee-Gees)

For full results, click here.

Copyright Sean Burges/Mundo Sport Images

Gale sets Canadian record at 200m

by linkinbioUniversity

There is a new name in the Canadian record books this week and she goes by the name of Lauren Gale. However, it’s just not in the event you’re thinking it is. 

The 22 year old Gale sped to a third place finish in Friday night’s Don Kirby 200 metre event with blistering 23.08 second clocking. The previous standard of 23.32 by Angela Bailey was the second oldest mark on the Canadian record books – set 16 years before Gale’s birth in January 1984. Gale’s time has also moved her to 11th on the NCAA ranking list where the top-16 receive an invitation to the national meet scheduled for early March.

Originally, Gale had envisioned it would be Jillian Richardson’s national indoor 400 metre record of 51.69 she would be trying to better heading into the competition in New Mexico. The Colorado State senior had dipped under Richardson’s mark the week prior, but was not eligible for the record due to her performance taking place on an oversized 300 metre track. However, the morning after the 200, Gale and her coach made the decision to sit out the 400 due to some tightness in her hamstring. 

Gale will have this weekend off as she prepares for next weekend’s Mountain West Conference Championships back in Albuquerque. She will be looking for her third successive 400 metre conference title.

Staying south of the border, Stephen Evans may just move to Boston after he set his third straight indoor personal best at 800 metres at the Boston University Valentine Invite. Evans placed fourth among the field of more than two hundred runners with his 1:48.65 clocking. Prior to 2022, Evan’s best 800 metre performance indoors was a run of one minute and 49.24 seconds back in 2020 – also set at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center. 

Evans wasn’t the only Lion dropping PB’s in the Massachusetts’ capital. Syracuse junior Kevin Robertson may have finished 44th in the 3000 metres Saturday night, but his time of 8:08.97 was nearly 23 seconds faster than he had ever covered the distance before. It was Robertson’s third personal best in successive weeks, which also saw the 20-year-old trim more than nine seconds off his mile best across two efforts. 

The third year student explains the improvement has been part of continual progression since recovering from Lyme disease contracted during the summer of 2020, but acknowledged he’s made some changes away from the track as well. “In contrast to my freshman year, I’ve been handling my life outside of running better to help me be less stressed and more confident which I feel has made a difference for me,” explained Robertson. 

Closer to home the varsity programs at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University returned to action for the first time in 2022 at the York Open. Combined, athletes representing the two schools took home five victories over the two day competition.

Among the victors was Alexandra Telford, who topped the women’s 300 metre field with a personal best and Carleton record  time of 39.25 seconds. The architecture graduate student had set the previous record of 41.58 back in 2018 while she was completing her undergraduate degree. With the record breaking performance, Telford currently sits sixth in the national USports rankings. 

Telford, who also set a personal best in the 60 metres over the weekend, was pleased to see the progress she’s noticed in practice translate into some early season success in competition. “It’s good motivation to see how much faster we can get in the next few meets,” said Telford of her preparation for the RSEQ and Usports Championships coming up in the next two months. 

University of Ottawa first year student Katie Manor also found herself in the USports top ten after the first weekend of competition. The École secondaire catholique Paul-Desmarais graduate laid down a personal best time of 7.66 seconds in the 60 metre preliminaries last Friday, which currently ranks her tenth nationally. She would place fifth, just behind Telford, in the final with a time of 7.75 seconds. 

Other winners from the York Open included Sydney Smith, who topped the women’s 600m field with a 1:32.58 clocking. Yasser Riad won the men’s 1000 metres in 2:35.36 while Gee-Gees teammate Andre Alie-Lamarche finished three seconds ahead of the men’s 1500 metre field in 4:06.11. The final victory came from the field, where third year University of Ottawa student Jackson Colquhoun hopped, skipped, and jumped his way to 13.22 metres in the triple jump. 



Brampton, Ontario ---2017-07-30--- Katie Newlove of Ottawa Lions T.F.C. and Jordyn Bartolomucci of Timmins Porcupine Track & Field compete at the AO BMY Championships in Brampton, Ontario, July 30, 2017. GEOFF ROBINS/ Mundo Sport Images

Cox and Newlove produce top finishes at USports XC Championship

by linkinbioNationalUniversity

The university cross country season concluded Saturday at the 2021 USports Championships hosted by the Laval Rouge et Or in Quebec City. Running on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. The field of nearly 260 athletes included six Lions’ runners.

Will Cox was the top placing Lion, finishing 30th in the men’s race. The Atlantic University Sport bronze medalist completed the eight kilometre course in 25 minutes and 43.7 seconds. His performance helped his Dalhousie Tigers to a seventh place finish and he was named Dalhousie Male Athlete of the Week for his efforts.

Finishing five seconds back of Cox was Robbie Mitchell in 37th. The University of Calgary graduate student helped the Dinos to a ninth place finish.

Adrian Fournier of the University of Ottawa placed 61st overall in a time of 26 minutes and 27.1 seconds. His performance was the highest finish by Gee-Gee male since Alex Berhe’s 58th place finish at the 2016 championships on the same course. Cameron Bruce of Carleton placed 126th.

Second year University of British Columbia student, Katie Newlove produced the top finish on the women’s side, placing 43rd in a time 30 minutes and 49.2 seconds. Newlove and her Thunderbird teammates just missed the podium, finishing five points behind Guelph’s 119 points to place fourth.

Fellow second year runner, Skye Pellerin finished 110th in her first USports Championship. The University of Ottawa Gee-Gee runner crossed the line in 33 minutes and 13.0 seconds.

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.