HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Sprinter Luca Nicoletti wins Martlet Open 300-metre race, breaks 39-year-old record

By Martin Cleary

One day, Luca Nicoletti has his feet cut out from underneath him.

Nine days later, he picks himself up off the floor and uses those feet to break a 39-year-old McGill University track and field record.

Such is life for the Ottawa sprinter, who’s striving to do the best he can to chase and achieve goals like qualifying for world-class meets on the Diamond League, the world championships and the Summer Olympic Games.

On Nov. 30, the McGill Athletics and Recreation Sports Program Review chopped 15 varsity and club sports from its agenda because the Montreal-based university was facing ongoing challenges related to venue space, budget constraints and human resources capacity.

Track and field was one of the sports being eliminated. Nicoletti was one of the McGill athletes, including seven others from Ottawa, losing an important part of his university, personal and athletic life.

Nicoletti, a fourth-year materials engineering student, was disheartened by McGill’s announcement.

“The removal of funding and competitive eligibility, delivered with minimal explanation by McGill University Athletics and Recreation, has come as a shock to the entire varsity community,” the Paul-Desmarais high school grad posted on his LinkedIn account last week.

“If this decision goes through, I will be barred from competing at the university level. These meets are critical in the development of Canadian Olympic athletes and eliminating them undermines opportunities for current teammates and future students.”

With that discouraging news in the back of his mind, Nicoletti made the most of the Martlet Open, the opening indoor track and field meet of the season, on his home Richard Tomlinson Fieldhouse track on Saturday.

Nicoletti not only won the men’s 300-metre sprint, but also his time of 34.11 seconds broke the McGill record of 34.14 seconds, which was set by Orlando Haughton at a meet in Sherbrooke and stood for 39 years.

His time also bettered the qualifying standard for the U Sports national track and field championships in March.

“Breaking the school record was a mini goal for me, so that’s great, but there’s more to come this season,” the five-foot, seven-inch Nicoletti said via McGill Athletics.

Immediately after the official time was posted, he was mobbed by his teammates.

His previous best 300-metre time was 34.35 seconds at the 2024 Martlet Open. His practice sessions leading up to this year’s Martlet Open indicated he was ready for a quick time.

“In practice, I was hitting good times, so this was kind of expected, but it’s still a happy surprise,” added Nicoletti, who also competes for the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club. “Our fieldhouse record is not impossible, so keep an eye out for that. I’ve got to thank Tyrone Edge, our sprints coach, who has been (working with) me.”

The McGill fieldhouse record was set in 2014 at 32.95 seconds by Shane Niemi of York University. The RSEQ conference record is 33.40 seconds and is owned by Sherbrooke’s Alexandre Marchand from 1999.

“We’re happy to get the record, but slightly disappointed with the time because he was in there with a guy who was close to him and they wasted a lot of energy down the back stretch, making moves back and forth,” Edge said.

“If they both ran their own race, I think Luca would have had a faster time. His time will go down again as the season progresses. The goal is to go below 34 seconds. He ran a hand-timed 32.87 seconds in practice, which is probably in the 33.6-second range with electronic timing. So, if he runs a disciplined race, we expect his time to be much faster.”

William Sanders of Ottawa also recorded a victory for the McGill men’s team, when he won the 600 metres with a wire-to-wire time of 1:20.33.

Ottawa’s Jay Yetman posted a bronze-medal performance for the Redbirds in the men’s 60 metres with a time of 7.06 seconds.

TWO TEAM SILVERS, ONE WORLD TEAM BERTH FOR OTTAWA LIONS AT CANADIAN XC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ottawa’s Saul Taler earned a trip to Florida in January thanks to his performance at the Canadian Cross Country Running Championships in London, ON.

The Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club athlete was named as one of Canada’s six under-20 men’s runners for the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, FL on Jan. 10.

The Queen’s University Gaels runner was 11th in the U20 Canadian race, but fifth among athletes eligible for selection to the 2026 worlds U20 team, covering the eight-kilometre course in 25:30.1.

Taler’s Lions team also placed fifth at the nationals, with Charlie Mortimer placing 21st, Daniel Cova 22nd and Dean Kontogiannis 70th.

The Lions earned silver medal performances with both their U16 teams.

The U16 women’s team of Isla Kittmer (10th), Charlotte Eccles (34th), Charlie Fee (38th) and Tessa Rea (56th) scored 138 points, not far behind Etobicoke’s winning total of 114 in the 15-team field.

The U16 men’s team of Oscar Lorrain (10th), Graeme Siderius (35th), Jaiden Taft (37th), and Theo Hurst (56th) were well back of Durham’s 65 points for second-best among 16 teams.

Jacob Gauthier of the Lions was third in the para four-kilometre race. The Lions also were ninth in the 4×2-km mixed relay.

TEAM EINARSON REPLACES TEAM HOMAN AS TEAM CANADA FOR NATIONALS

Skip Rachel Homan will bypass the 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts national women’s curling championship Jan. 23 to Feb. 1 in Mississauga to focus on the Winter Olympic Games, which start for her team on Feb. 12.

Homan qualified for her second Olympic women’s four-person curling competition last week in Halifax at the Canadian trials, when she defeated Christina Black of Halifax 2-0 in the best-of-three final.

Read More: All systems go’ as unstoppable Team Homan returns to Winter Olympics

Team Homan earned the right to be Team Canada at the 2026 nationals, after winning the 2025 Canadian championship, but recently declined that honour because of a date conflict with the Olympics.

Curling Canada announced on Tuesday that Kerri Einarson of Gimli, MB, will compete at the 2026 nationals as Team Canada. She lost to Homan 6-1 in the 2025 Canadian championship final.

Einarson was already headed for nationals as one of the three pre-qualified teams based on the 2024-25 Canadian Team Ranking System standings. Curling Canada will name one more CTRS team next month for nationals.

FOUR OTTAWA PLAYERS ON CANADA’S WOMEN’S RIVALRY ROSTER

Three Ottawa Charge players and one Ottawa goalie have been named to the national team roster for the final two games of the Canada-United States Rivalry Series, which are Dec. 10 and 13 at Edmonton’s Rogers Place.

Named to the 25-player Canadian roster were Charge forwards Brianne Jenner of Oakville, the team captain, and Emily Clark of Saskatoon, and defender Jocelyn Larocque of Ste Anne, MB, as well as New York Sirens goaltender Kayle Osborne of Ottawa.

Clark will make her Rivalry Series debut following rehabilitation last month for an injury. Larocque has been one of the captains for Team Canada in the past.

The United States leads the Rivalry Series 2-0, having outscored Canada by a combined 10-2 from games in Buffalo and Cleveland. More Charge players will likely be named to Team USA’s roster at a later time.

At Hockey Canada’s 2025 Para Cup in Dawson Creek, B.C., Sledge Hockey of Eastern Ontario players Rob Armstrong, Tyrone Henry and Anton Jacobs-Webb beat China 7-0 and Czechia 3-1 to open the Nov. 30-Dec. 6 tournament.

Armstrong had an assist in each game. Canada will face USA to conclude the preliminary round Wednesday.

CARLETON RAVENS MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM LEADS OUA EAST AT 9-1

The OUA East Division-leading Carleton University Ravens men’s basketball team stretched its win streak to seven games in the OUA, after posting double-digit victories over the University of Windsor Lancers 89-46 and the Western University Mustangs 82-71. The Ravens head into the exam and Christmas break at 9-1.

Marjok Okado and Aubrey Dorey-Havens had matching 16-point efforts for the Ravens against the Lancers. Okado also had four rebounds, three steals and two assists, while Dorey-Havens contributed a pair of rebounds, assists and steals each. Louth-Mohamed Coulibaly just missed a double-double with 11 rebounds and eight points.

Dorey-Havens exploded for 27 points, four rebounds and three assists against the Mustangs and Emanuel Milon chipped in 17 points and two rebounds.

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees dropped to 5-5, after a 73-70 loss to Western and a 65-60 defeat by Windsor extended their losing streak to three games.

Alex Phaneuf paced the Gee-Gees in both games with a combined 27 points, six rebounds and four assists.

The weekend to southwestern Ontario also met with losses for the Ravens and the Gee-Gees women’s basketball teams.

Carleton fell 77-58 to Windsor and 75-66 to Western, while the Gee-Gees lost 75-73 to Western despite a top-10 all-time scoring performance by Allie McCarthy and 77-64 to Windsor.

Jacqueline Urban and Kyana-Jade Poulin notched 16 and 14 points respectively and nine rebounds each against Windsor. Poulin sparked the Carleton offence against Western with 24 points and six assists, while Urban pulled down 15 rebounds and Nathalie Francis came off the bench for 12 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes.

McCarthy and Bailey Russell continued to lead the Gee-Gees. McCarthy managed a career-best 34 points (tied for seventh all-time in Gee-Gees women’s basketball single-game performances), plus 14 rebounds and four steals against Western, while Russell had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

In the loss to Windsor, McCarthy had 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and Russell tossed in 20 points as well as adding eight rebounds and two assists.

MARC-ANTOINE SEGUIN RECORDS TWO TWO-GOAL GAMES AS uOTTAWA SWEEPS COLONEL BY CLASSIC

The second-place University of Ottawa Gee-Gees outscored Ontario Tech University Ridgebacks 5-1 and shaded the Carleton University Ravens 6-4 in OUA East Division men’s hockey action.

Marc-Antoine Seguin counted two goals for the Gee-Gees against the Ridgebacks, while single markers went to Mitch Martin, Andrew Belchamber and Elliot Dutil. Zach Giroux added three assists.

Seguin and Max Grondin were two-goal scorers apiece in the win over Carleton in the 2025 Colonel By Classic at TD Place, while Martin and Ethan Montroy had one goal each. Giroux again had a three-assist game and Grondin added two assists.

Alex Johnston, Reese Belton, Felix Bedard and Nick McCarry were the goal scorers for Carleton, which trailed 4-0 in the second period before reducing the deficit to 5-4 in the third period.

Carleton also lost 4-2 to the Concordia University Stingers as Majid Kaddoura and McCarry scored in a losing cause.

After losing 4-2 to the Queen’s University Gaels, the Gee-Gees women’s hockey team downed the Ravens 4-1 at TD Place.

The Gee-Gees scored four straight goals by Gillian Warren, Ella Humphrey, Alex Ferguson and T.J. Flores before Carleton hit the scoreboard on a goal by Erica Buckley. Warren also had two assists, which was matched by Maelle Laplante.

Carleton, however, rallied for a 4-3 shootout victory over the York University Lions as Hayden Serniuk counted the only goal in the three rounds of penalty shots.

York led 3-0 after two periods before Victoria Kay, Buckley and Kennedy Vickers scored to tie the game and force extra time.

GEE-GEES WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM TIED FOR SECOND PLACE

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees women’s volleyball team heads into the exam and Christmas break in a five-way tie for second place in the OUA standings at 7-3.

The Gee-Gees finished the 2025 portion of their regular season losing to the University of Waterloo Warriors 25-21, 14-25, 25-17, 23-25 and 15-10 in the opening match of their weekend doubleheader, but winning the second game 25-19, 25-12, 25-15.

Audrey Odigie paced the Gee-Gees with 16 points and 13 points in the respective games, while Christine Hachokake had 15.5 points and 10.5 points.

TOP-10 RESULTS FOR TWO GLOUCESTER SENIOR SINGLES SKATERS

Two Gloucester Skating Club athletes earned top-10 results in their first year at the senior singles level during the Skate Canada Challenge competition in Calgary.

Reese Rose won the senior women’s singles short program with 62.49 points, but was ninth in the free skate at 101.68 points and finished eighth overall at 164.17 points.

Fee Ann Landry of Gatineau was fifth at 170.18 points and former Gloucester skater Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary was sixth at 165.89 points. Gabrielle Daleman of Toronto was first at 177.27 points.

David Shteyngart competed in his first Skate Canada Challenge in men’s senior singles and was 10th overall at 190.63 points, which was based on being 11th in the short program at 63.74 points and eighth in the free skate at 126.89 points.

ATLÉTICO OTTAWA SELECTS TWO LOCAL U SPORTS SOCCER PLAYERS

Canadian Premier League champion Atlético Ottawa selected two players from the nation’s capital during the annual draft of U Sports players.

Brock University Badgers’ Gabriel Tardif of Ottawa was picked in the first round by Atlético in the first round. The central midfielder is an explosive attacker and a creative playermaker from the Ottawa South United system.

Carleton University Ravens’ central midfielder Joseph Daher went in the second round to Atlético. Also an OSU product, Daher has a dynamic attacking style and an ambidextrous striking ability.

STEWART-JONES PLACES 20TH IN WORLD CUP SKI MASS START

Katherine Stewart-Jones of Chelsea flirted with a top-15 finish in the World Cup women’s 20-kilometre skate mass start race in Ruka, Finland before dropping three spots in the final kilometre to place 18th overall.

In the 10-kilometre classic, Canada’s only skier on the World Cup circuit was 33rd.

At the season-opening Biathlon World Cup event in Oestersund, Sweden, Shilo Rousseau of Chelsea Nordiq and the University of Ottawa placed 56th in thewomen’s 15 km individual race, 16th in the mixed relay and 20th in the 4×6 km relay.

At the Sovereign, B.C., Invitational cross-country skiing meet, Laila Lebel of Nakkertok Nordic won the girls’ U18 five-kilometre race, was third over 10 kilometres using the classic style and was fourth in the sprint.

Luke Allan of Nakkertok posted third-place results in the men’s five-kilometre race as well as the sprint and was fourth in the 10-kilometre classic.

Alice Leblanc of Skinouk won the girls’ U16 sprint.

Kanata Nordic’s Helen McCulligh was third in the women’s sprint and 10-kilometre classic and was fourth in the 7.5-kilometre race.

THOMAS SCRUBB HELPS CANADA TO FIBA QUALIFIER WIN OVER BAHAMAS

Canada defeated the Bahamas 111-75 (away) and 94-88 (home) to win its first two games in the FIBA 2027 World Cup men’s qualifying tournament.

Thomas Scrubb, a former standout player for the Carleton University Ravens, scored 16 points for Canada in the second game. Carleton alumnus Kaza Kajami-Keane also was on the Canada roster.

This is the first window of six in the 15-month qualification period across four FIBA regions.

Canada will resume play in the Americas bracket with home-and-away games against Puerto Rico (Feb. 26 and July 3) and Jamaica (March 1 and July 6).

PAM BUISA SIXTH WITH CANADA IN SVNS SEASON OPENER

Pam Buisa and the Canadian women’s rugby team opened their HSBC SVNS series season with a sixth-place performance in Dubai, UAE.

In the opener, the Ottawa Irish product from Gatineau scored Canada’s third try of a dominant 26-0 first half as the Canadian women’s rugby team earned a measure of revenge over Great Britain following England’s victory in the 15s World Cup final in the fall.

Canada then lost to Australia 24-17 and Japan 21-19 to miss the top tier playoffs, but downed France 19-12 before falling to USA 19-14 to place sixth. Buisa was on the field for roughly half of all of Canada’s action.