HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Sprinter Jacqueline Madogo, thrower Connor Fraser win 2 provincial gold medals each

By Martin Cleary

Ottawa sprinter Jacqueline Madogo of the Royal City Athletics Club and Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club’s thrower Connor Fraser shared something in common after the Athletics Ontario U20 and Open Championships in Toronto – a pair of individual titles each.

Madogo was the women’s open division sprint champion, winning the 100 metres in 11.32 seconds and followed with a 200-metre victory in 23.16 seconds.

In the 100-metre final, Madogo defeated Audrey Leduc of Gatineau, who ran a time of 11.38 seconds for second place. While Madogo was the best in the 200-metre final, the Lions’ Lauren Gale took third spot in 23.61 seconds.

Far from the straightaway and curves of the track, Fraser was the men’s U20 shot put and discus champion.

On his third throw, Fraser tossed the six-kilogram ball 16.58 metres and won the competition by 0.48 metres. In the discus, he registered a winning distance of 50.00 metres on his sixth and final throw of the 1.75-kilogram disc.

Ottawa and area athletes also produced another six golden moments during the three-day provincial championships.

Sydney Smith of the Lions defeated Sonia Gaskin of the York University Track and Field Club by 0.04 seconds to win the women’s open 800 metres in 2:03.76.

In hurdling events involving Lions’ athletes, Elizabeth Vroom was a decisive first in the women’s open 2,000-metre steeplechase in 7:05.05, David Adeleye won the men’s 110-metre final in 14:01, and Alexandra Telford claimed top spot in the women’s open 400-metre final by 4.47 seconds in 1:00.19.

Joshua Foster of C.A.N.I. Athletics produced a six-millimetre win in the men’s open long jump with a best jump of 7.32 metres.

Unattached Ontario thrower Spencer Lewis of Carleton Place won the men’s open discus by 3.30 metres with an unbeatable toss of 49.34 metres using the 2.0-kilogram implement. Earlier, he was second in the shot put at 16.16 metres.

Running against sprinters four and five years older, Jorai Oppong-Nketiah of the Lions finished an impressive second in the women’s U20 100 metres in 11.92 seconds. Oppong-Nketiah graduated Grade 9 in June.

Eliezer Adjibi of C.A.N.I. was second in the men’s open 100 metres in 10.42 seconds.

Saj Al Haddad of the Lions ran 53.04 seconds to take second in the men’s open 400-metre hurdles.

Bronze medals were won by Zachary Jeggo of the Lions in the men’s U20 400-metre hurdles in 58.12, Adam Nuraddeen of the Lions in the men’s open triple jump at 14.03 metres, and Ottawa’s Madison McLean of the University of Windsor in the women’s open javelin at 43.60 metres.

WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS LEARNING LESSON FOR MILLER

Competing in her first World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Kate Miller flirted with a medal, but finished with a learning experience in the women’s 10-metre platform diving synchronized event with partner Caeli McKay of Calgary.

After an encouraging fourth-place showing in the preliminary round with 292.50 points, Miller, 18, and McKay, 24, struggled with their third- and fourth-round dives and slipped to eighth place overall at 279.93 points.

Chinese teenagers Yuxi Chen, 17, and Hongchan Quan, 16, posted the top marks on every dive, collected 11 marks of 10.0 and finished with a superior 369.84 points. By winning, China has qualified a berth in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

The other medals went to Great Britain at 311.76 points and the United States at 294.42 points.

In the opening round of the final, Miller and McKay maintained their fourth-place standing as the judging panels ranked their dive fourth overall. But their next three dives were judged sixth, seventh and ninth, which pulled them down to eighth.

Miller and McKay finished strong in their fifth and final dive as it was marked fourth best.

“Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn. Today was full of learning for both Kate and I,” McKay said on the Diving Canada Facebook page.

Miller opened her first world women’s diving championships on Friday by placing fifth with Nathan Zsombor-Murray of Pointe-Claire, PQ., in the mixed 10-metre synchronized event with 290.43 points in the straight final.

They had two impressive moments as their third dive was the second best in the round and their fourth dive was judged third best, which left them fourth overall entering the final dive.

In water polo, Aleksa Gardijan of Gatineau scored three goals and Bogdan Djerkovic of Ottawa added a pair as Canada defeated China 13-10 in its men’s Group-B opener. The Canadian defence held China scoreless in the first and fourth quarters.

The Canadian women lost their first game 11-10 to Hungary. Goalkeeper Jessica Gaudreault of Ottawa played the full 32 minutes and stopped nine of 20 shots. Canada had 23 shots on the Hungary net.

At the July 10-16 Junior National Diving Festival in Montreal, Owen Dansereau earned the top local results with a pair of silver medals in the men’s Group D category. The Nepean-Ottawa athlete placed second in both the 1 m and 3 m springboard events and was also fourth on the platform.

Nepean-Ottawa’s Ella Lindsay and Emilie Kelly and Audree Brazeau-Howes of the Ottawa National Diving Club all reached the finals in their classes to record top-10 finishes at the event as well.

MERISSAH RUSSELL WINS BASKETBALL GOLD … FOR U.S.A.

Ottawa’s Merissah Russell played basketball at the Globl Jam in Toronto, but she wasn’t wearing a Canadian uniform.

Instead, the Capital Courts Academy grad was on the familiar roster of the University of Louisville Cardinals, which was representing the United States in the U23 tournament and won the gold medal with a 68-66 victory over Canada.

Russell, who will play her senior year for the Cardinals in 2023-24, played 19 minutes and 22 seconds in the championship game and recorded six points, seven rebounds and one steal. Her overall Globl Jam averages were 17:21 minutes, 4.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists.

In the men’s championship game, the University of Kentucky Wildcats gave the U.S. a gold-medal sweep, after defeating Canada 89-72.

Ottawa’s Aiden Warnholtz scored 10 points, three assists, two rebounds and one steal in almost 32 minutes of floor time in the final. Overall, he averaged 20:17 minutes, 8.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.

The Carleton University star recently signed to play his 2023-24 season with Fraport Skyliners of Frankfurt, Germany, and will follow in the footsteps of Ravens great Phil Scrubb. Warnholtz is experiencing his first taste of pro ball this summer with the Niagara River Lions of the Canadian Elite Basketball League.

CANADA UNDEFEATED AFTER TWO U19 WORLD CUP BASKETBALL GAMES

Canada is scheduled to conclude its preliminary round at the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Madrid on Tuesday and is aiming to remain undefeated after its game against Egypt.

In its first two group games, Canada defeated China 83-62 and the Czech Republic 66-61.

Cassandre Prosper, a grad of the Capital Courts Academy, sparked Canada against Czech Republic with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots in 28 minutes and 42 seconds of playing time. In the opener against China, she had 12 points and six rebounds.

Ottawa’s Achol Akot, who will shift next month on an athletic scholarship to the University of Central Florida from Capital Courts Academy, has a combined 24 minutes and 59 seconds of floor time, 14 rebounds, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot in two games.

EIGHTS CREWS POWER OTTAWA ROWING CLUB TO E.R.A. TITLE

The Ottawa Rowing Club dominated the Eastern Rowing Association regatta in the Montreal Olympic basin, winning 12 races and scoring 160 points to win the Comstock Trophy.

Montreal Rowing Club was a distant second at 81.8 points.

The ORC concluded the two-day regatta in impressive fashion, sweeping the top three places in the women’s eight final and the first two spots in the men’s eight.

Leona Smith, Kendra Hurtubise, Jasmine Foreman, Rhiannon Crichton, Angelica Hadjis, Madelaine Thiel, Abby Dyer, Vienna Scholten and coxswain Mary-Beth Foley posted the fastest time in the women’s eight of seven minutes, 16 seconds over 2,000 metres. The ORC boats of Madeleine Forcese and Perrine Allaire were second and third respectively in 7:28 and 7:41.1.

The ORC men’s crew of Connor MacMillan, Aidan Millar, Aiden Mallany-Stanley, Sam Hurtubise, Phillip Mitchell-Brule, Alexandre Disselkamp, Vincent O’Shaughnessey, Benjamin Koskowich and coxswain Caitlin McMann completed the 2,000-metre course in 6:05.0.

The Alexander Ladage crew from ORC was second at 6:28.0.

AMY MILLAR MAKES HISTORY AT OTTAWA SUMMER TOURNAMENTS

Olympian Amy Millar of Perth wrapped up the two-week Ottawa Summer Tournaments for equestrian jumping in record-breaking fashion at Wesley Clover Park.

For the second week in a row, Millar placed first in not only the $15,000 Open Welcome, but also the $50,000 Grand Prix.

After winning the $50,000 RBC Grand Prix on July 8 while riding GCS Athena, she scored a clear run and the fastest time with Christiano in the seven-horse jump-off to finish on top of the standings in the $50,000 Brookstreet Grand Prix.

Millar made Ottawa Summer Tournaments history by being the first rider to win both Grand Prix events as well as both Open Welcome competitions.

“It has been a pretty special two weeks,” Millar told Jump Media. “My horses have been super and it’s always fun to win at home. Each of my horses won something. So that’s very special and makes me feel good about my string and the management of them. It has been great.”

Millar also qualified Don’t Worry Farmer, which she rode to win the Open Welcome last week, and finished seventh.

CLAIRE STONEY DOES IT ALL FOR HUNT CLUB AT INTERSECTIONALS

Claire Stoney played a remarkable round of golf Sunday during the Ottawa Valley Golf Association’s Women’s A Division Intersectionals at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club.

Stoney scored a hole-in-one on the sixth hole, earned the maximum six points by defeating her three opponents and helped her Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club team win the A championship with 32 points from its seven golfers.

Host Royal Ottawa was second at 25, while Rivermead took third at 14 points and Rideau finished fourth at 13 points.

The other six-point golfers were Janna Collins, Alison McGuire and Haley Yerxa, all of the Hunt; and Sophie Foulds and Sheila McKeen, both Royal Ottawa.

Playing in the final group, Lise Jubinville scored six points to vault host Hylands into first place in the B division with 25 points, while runner-up Carleton and third-place finisher Camelot each counted 24 points. Sand Point was fourth at 11 points.

Here are the other inter-club results:

Division C – Hautes Plaines (host) 35; Eagle Creek 22, Brockville 21, Greyhawk 6;

Division D – Cornwall (host) 34, Smiths Falls 26, Mississippi 15, Greensmere 9;

Division E – Kanata 25, Rockland 22, Metcalfe (host) 19, Buckingham 18;

Division F – Pembroke (host) 33, Algonquin 26, Renfrew 18, Cedarhill 7;

Division G – Hammond 33, eQuinelle (host) 30, Lombard Glen 15, Deep River 6;

Division H – Prescott (host) 29, Canadian 22 (wins tie-breaker), Pakenham 22, Kingsway 11;

Division I – The Meadows (host) 27, Morrisburg 22, Lac Ste-Marie 18, Mountain Creek 17;

Division J – Calabogie (host) 29, Heritage 24, Roanoke 21, Whitetail 4;

Division K – Oakes of Cobden (host) 35, Petawawa 33, Rideau Glen 12, Dragonfly 4;

Division L – Larrimac (host) 42, Manderley 19, Madawaska 15, Cedar Glen 8.