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By Dan Plouffe
Veteran Ottawa speed skater Ivanie Blondin led the way with three titles on the first three days of the Oct. 17-20 Canadian Long Track Championships in Quebec City, and she earned an uncustomary bronze medal in a less-practiced discipline as well.
Renowned for keeping up one of the busiest schedules out of all athletes on the World Cup tour, Blondin stayed true to form by kicking off the Canadians with the event that she’s traditionally competed in the least.
The 34-year-old three-time Olympian snuck onto the podium in the final pairing of the women’s 500 metres, posting a time of 39.051 seconds. Later the same day, she won her first gold medal with a 3,000m victory in 4:10.038.
“[The 3,000] was a little bit slower than I wanted it to be,” Blondin said through Speed Skating Canada on the opening day. “I made one little mistake of wanting to take a draft and it slowed my speed down a bit.
“I was in a bit of a lazy mindset because I have so many races to do this week. But all in all, I am happy with the end results and accomplished what I set out to do. This was my first full 3000m race of the year and I’m looking to build off of that going forward.”
The Gloucester Concordes athlete then went on to win the 1,000 m by a comfortable margin on the second day of the event.
“It was a great 1000m today and I was really happy with the end result,” indicated Blondin. “I had a great pair and Carolina [Hiller] really pushed me.
“I was a little worried that we were going to have a cross-over problem because she’s more of a sprinter than I am. I was very aware of that possibility, so I decided to go as hard as I could off the start and that’s really what got me going. I was able to maintain that into the second lap thanks to my long-distance experience.”
Blondin, who won a women’s team sprint gold medal and silvers in the team pursuit and mass start at last season’s World Championships, gave a so-so review to her final win of the nationals in the 1,500 m.
“I was missing that top end speed at the beginning of the race,” she noted. “It wasn’t a terrible race, but it wasn’t my best one either. Definitely something to build off of.”
Blondin didn’t race her signature mass start on the final day and also skipped the 5,000 m the day after securing her long-distances World Cup position with the 3,000 m.
Absent from the Canadian Championships was three-time Ottawa Olympic medallist Isabelle Weidemann, who had pre-qualified to represent Canada at fall World Cup events thanks to her past results.
Last season, Weidemann returned home after disappointing early-season World Cup results before emerging to win silver medals in the women’s 3,000 m and team pursuit at the World Championships in Calgary.
Her younger brother Jake, who’s also competed for Canada on the World Cup circuit in the past, didn’t race at the nationals either.
Fellow Gloucester Concordes product Vincent De Haître earned a top finish of fifth place in the men’s 1,500 m, and he was also sixth and eighth in men’s 1,000 m races, 13th in the mass start and 15th in the 500 m.
Ottawa Pacers product Claire Mallard made her mark with a pair of fourth-place finishes at the nationals. The 22-year-old took fourth in the women’s mass start as well as the 5,000 m, and she was also seventh in the 3,000 m, just ahead of her 20-year-old sister Rachel in 10th.
GEE-GEES WOMEN’S RUGBY TEAM TAKES QUEBEC SILVER, HEADED TO NATIONALS
The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees women’s rugby team lost their first game of the season on Saturday in the Quebec conference championship game on their home field.
Ottawa fell 32-26 to the reigning national-champion Laval Rouge et Or but will still advance to the Oct. 31-Nov. 3 Canadian university championships in Charlottetown, PEI.
The Gee-Gees held a 19-5 lead at halftime on the strength of a try by Tylo Borsboom and a pair from Leigha Stiles, who added another in the second half before Laval pulled ahead with a try on the last action of the match.
The Gee-Gees played without flyhalf Aurora Bowie, who was named RSEQ player of the year.
“It was a tough game for the team [Saturday], but it’s not over yet,” Bowie said via Gee-Gees sports information. “With nationals, we still have a lot to look forward to. We built a lot over the season, and we have lot more to show in the next three games.”
Duncan McNaughton was chosen as the Quebec conference’s top coach, while five more uOttawa players were named first-team all-stars alongside Bowie, with another five on the second team.
The Gee-Gees won the perennial Quebec rivals’ earlier meeting 31-26 over Laval in their second game of their perfect 7-0 regular season.
The quarter-final round of the U Sports women’s rugby championships takes place on Oct. 30, followed by semis and consolation matches on Nov. 1 and final placement games on Nov. 3 at UPEI.
The Gee-Gees men’s rugby team closed their regular season with a 59-28 home-field victory over the Montréal Carabins to finish in a three-way tie for first at 5-1. They’ll host McGill, the only team to beat them this year, in the Quebec conference playoffs on Saturday. The men’s university nationals will be hosted by uOttawa from Nov. 13-17.
RAVENS MEN ADVANCE, WOMEN OUT IN STRANGE SOCCER PLAYOFFS FINISH
Ousman Maheshe scored a hat trick as the Carleton University Ravens men’s soccer team eliminated the Laurentian Voyageurs 4-1 in the first round of the Ontario University Athletics playoffs on Saturday at TAAG Park.
Moses Kafeero had the other goal as the Ravens earned a quarter-final trip to Toronto Metropolitan Wednesday when they’ll meet a team that tied and beat them during their 8-2-2 regular season.
The Ravens women’s soccer team’s season came to an end under unusual circumstances following a 2-0 playoff defeat to the Queen’s Gaels.
On the road in Kingston on Friday night, the lights turned off after the first 57 minutes of the match at Richardson Stadium. When the technical failure couldn’t be resolved, the Ravens had to travel home before returning Sunday to finish the game.
Ottawa native Mattson Strickler scored the winning goal for Queen’s during the first leg of the interrupted contest.
After receiving a first-round bye, the OUA regular season-champion Gee-Gees women’s soccer team hosts Toronto on Wednesday in the quarter-finals.
GEE-GEES FOOTBALL WINS BIG EN ROUTE TO PLAYOFF BERTH
The uOttawa football team plowed over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 49-7 on Saturday at Gee-Gees Field, accumulating 546 yards of total offence to finish their regular season 4-4.
Gee-Gees quarterbacks Josh Janssen (with 17 of 19 pass completions) and Ben Maracle (6 of 8) combined for 370 yards through the air, while Robin Collioud had 124 receiving yards and Charles Asselin gained 104 yards on the ground.
Fifth-year player Matt Mahler scored three rushing touchdowns on seniors’ day in the team’s final home game of the year.
“It’s unreal honestly that feeling, it goes straight to your core,” Mahler said via the Gee-Gees. “It is poetic, but ultimately, I’m just here doing my job and following my guys up front. We’ve been growing every game and we’re dangerous, so we’ll see what happens next week.”
Sixth-seeded uOttawa will visit #3 Guelph next Saturday for the quarter-final round of the OUA playoffs. Carleton finished the season 2-6 with a 44-24 loss to unbeaten Laurier.
CYCLIST BONHOMME RISES TO 4TH AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AFTER TOUGH OLYMPICS
Ariane Bonhomme enjoyed a bit of a rejuvenation ride at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Denmark as she and the Canadian women’s pursuit team earned a fourth-place finish.
Canada beat Belgium in the first elimination round with a time of 4 minutes 21.095 seconds to advance to the bronze medal final, where they lost to Italy.
“We gave it our all against the Belgians, and made a few changes compared to qualifying,” Bonhomme said via Cycling Canada. “I rode a few more laps to allow the girls to relax longer in my wheel and it’s a strategy that worked.”
The 29-year-old Ottawa Bicycle Club product from Gatineau also placed 11th in the individual pursuit event.
The lone returning Olympian on the pursuit team, Bonhomme battled stomach illness during the Paris Olympics earlier this year and was disappointed to finish eighth.
ALL-OTTAWA FINAL WILL HIGHLIGHT BIG OPDL SOCCER FINALS WEEKEND
Six local soccer teams will be competing in the eight division finals on the Ontario Player Development League Charity Shield post-season championship weekend Oct. 26-27 in Vaughan following semi-final victories this past weekend.
It will be an all-Ottawa final in the under-17 girls’ division as Ottawa TFC takes on the Ottawa South United Force after both sides scored upset wins on the road in Markham and Waterloo respectively.
After losing both their earlier meetings, Ottawa TFC shocked the unbeaten league champions from Markham City 7-1 as Tahlia Aird-Greaves (with two goals), Mia Cleroux, Liana Farrell, Avery Herage, Brooklyn Maheu and Rowyn Serne powered the offensive outburst.
Felicia Hanisch and Naomi Lofthouse scored as the Force beat Waterloo 2-1 to setup the championship game with Ottawa TFC, with whom they tied both their OPDL league games earlier this season.
Four more OSU teams reached the playoff finals, with the Force U14 girls topping North Toronto 2-0, the U15 boys beating Rush Canada 2-1, the U16 girls overcoming Hamilton United Elite 3-1 and the U17 boys smacking Woodbridge 5-1.
OSU’s U14 boys and U15 girls lost in the semi-final round, as did Ottawa TFC’s U14 girls and boys.
LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST
• The Louis-Riel Rebelles boys’ golf team of Ryan Seymour, Felix Levesque, Xavier Griffin and William Belanger placed sixth at the OFSAA provincial high school golf championship last week in Timmins. Levesque posted the national capital association’s best score of +18 for the two-round competition to finish in a tie for 13th in the open event, while Earl of March’s Tyson Lum-Wah was sixth in the boys’ high school division and South Carleton’s Tylar Switzer was 33rd in the girls’ event.
• Eight Ottawa and area athletes have made it into the top-100 of the 2024 RBC Training Ground talent identification initiative and will compete in the National Final on Nov. 2 in Halifax. Ottawa’s Thomas Beauregard, Peter Bradley, Henrik Neuspiel, Cole Norman, ShonDreya Smardon and Zoe Wojtyk, along with Carleton Place’s Lachlan Faraday and Simon Salisbury, will go through physical testing under the watch of representatives from national sports organizations for the opportunity to earn funding and access to top coaches/mentorship opportunities as one of up to 30 RBC Future Olympians.
• The Ottawa Sooners’ junior football season came to an end one game short of the provincial final with a 34-6 loss to the unbeaten St. Clair Saints in Windsor. The Sooners finish their season with a .500 record following a 4-4 regular season and a quarter-final win and semi-final defeat in the playoffs. The Ottawa Jr. Riders finished their Quebec Major Junior Football League 3-5 following a 35-12 road loss to the North Shore Broncos.
• Kemptville veterinarian Lee Wesselius was the second Canadian and ninth overall at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, finishing in a personal-best time of 2:13:52. Surrey’s Justin Kent won the Canadian men’s crown in 2:12:17, while Ethiopia’s Mulugeta Asefa Uma broke the tape in 2:07:16.