HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Sheila Kealey wins Gatineau Loppet 100 km Challenge with impressive back-to-back marathon results

By Martin Cleary

Age is just a number and for exceptional Ottawa endurance athlete Sheila Kealey, it’s 61.

But at the two-day Gatineau Loppet, she produced numbers that totally defied her age, once again, and reflected her dedication to training, nutrition, cross-country ski coaching knowledge and her love of competition.

In order, Kealey’s loppet numbers from her two marathon cross-country ski races were six, 12 and one. Here’s the breakdown.

On Saturday, Kealey completed the 50-kilometre classic race in three hours, eight minutes, 41 seconds, which earned her sixth place in the overall women’s field.

Somewhat fatigued entering Sunday’s 50-kilometre freestyle race, the wide-open, flat course allowed her to post a faster time of 2:53:07 for a 12th-place result.

And when it was all finished and her times were added together, Kealey was named the women’s winner of the 100-Kilometre Challenge as she posted the fastest combined clocking of 6:01:48.

Kealey topped the field of 10 women, who accomplished the back-to-back 50 challenge, and was 28th in the overall field of 77 skiers, which included 67 males.

The men’s challenge winner was Petr Kolaja of Kvetna, Czechia, who won the men’s 50-kilometre freestyle in 2:12:10 and was second in the 50-kilometre classic in 2:25:21. His overall time was 4:37:31.

“I’m really happy,” Kealey said about her double marathon performance in a phone interview with High Achievers. “In Saturday’s classic, everything went well.

“On Sunday, it was a little tougher with fatigue and my nutrition froze up. I died a bit, but I came back and finished relatively strong.”

Kealey has raced in more than half of the 48 editions of Canada’s most successful cross-country ski race. And her strong results came six months after she made a smashing debut in the Ironman Canada Ottawa race.

“One thing that is important is feeding and I eat a lot,” she added. “Another is pacing. On Saturday, the classic ski wax was important for good grip on the uphills and gliding on the downhills. You want a good balance.”

As the University of Ottawa nordic ski coach, Kealey knows all about ski waxing.

At the Ironman Canada Ottawa race, Kealey finished 27th overall in the women’s field with a time of 11:07:30. After race organizers multiplied the times of every Ironman finisher by a specific factor to produce an age- and gender-balancing time, Kealey won the Age-Graded Time award with an adjusted reading of 8:01:48.

The loppet attracted about 2,400 racers and there were a number of top-three finishes from local skiers in the eight races over two days:

· 50-kilometre classic, women – 3. Tove Halvorsen, Chelsea, 3:02:14

· 27-kilometre classic, men – 1. Louis Picton, Ottawa, 1:31:32; Rylan Frank, Ottawa, 1:31:33; Tyler Allan, Ottawa, 1:33:22

· 27-kilometre classic, women – 2. Emily Mellor, Chelsea, 1:50:54

· 15-kilometre classic, women – 1. Maude Molgat, Ottawa, 53:12; 2. Anais Finstad, Gatineau, 58:46

· 5-kilometre classic, men – 2. Leonard Kittridge, Chelsea, 18:40

· 27-kilometre freestyle, men – 2. Rylan Frank, Ottawa, 1:19:49

· 27-kilometre freestyle, women – Veronique Fortin, Gatineau, 1:24:52; 3. Jennifer Wilbraham, Ottawa, 1:31:25

· 10-kilometre freestyle, men – 1. Victor Lafontaine, Ottawa, 26:09; 2. Erich Schreiner, Ottawa, 26:18

· 10-kilometre freestyle, women – 1. Tessa Quinn-Crook, 30:22; Mikayla Kennedy, Chelsea, 31:15; Marieve Galbraith, Nepean, 32:32

· 5-kilometre freestyle, men – 1. Drake Brooks, Renfrew, 13:46; 3. Percy Jodoin, Ottawa, 15:16

· 5-kilometre freestyle, women – 1. Maxence Lafontaine, Gatineau, 14:38; 3 – Avery Brooks, Renfrew, 16:24

RIDEAU RINK TAKES SILVER AT U18 CURLING NATIONALS

The Rideau Curling Club rink of Charlotte Wilson, Amelia Benning, Abigail Rushton and Sydney Anderson won the silver medal at the Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships in Timmins, ON.

Team Wilson went 4-2 in the round robin and then beat Northern Ontario #2 8-5 in the playoffs, overcame a 4-0 deficit to top Nova Scotia #1 7-6 in an extra end and charged out to a 5-0 lead over Manitoba #2 en route to a 7-3 win to advance to the championship final where they fell 8-3 to Saskatchewan.

Wilson’s rink, which is coached by Iain Wilson, earlier won the sixth consecutive women’s provincial championship for an Ottawa rink.

HUNTLEY CURLING CLUB’S TEAM FRLAN EARNS SWISS CUP SILVER

Huntley Curling Club’s Katrina Frlan (skip), Erica Wainwright (third) Samantha Wall (second), Lauren Norman (lead) and Byron Scott (coach) won the silver medal at the Swiss Cup girls’ junior championship in Basel, Switzerland.

Sophie Heinimann of Basel-Aarau scored a decisive three points in the seventh end to win the gold medal 6-3 over the undefeated Frlan rink and conclude the final one end early.

Team Frlan was always in chase mode as Heinimann scored two in the second before the 2025 Ontario women’s U18 champions marked two in the third end. When Heinimann put up one in the fourth end, Frlan tied it in the sixth with a single point.

Frlan, who won all three round-robin matches, defeated Zoe Schwaller of Limmattal-Wetzikon 5-4 in the semifinals, and Jara Lengweller of Schaffhausen-St. Gallen 8-2 (seven ends) in the quarterfinals.

LIONS’ WENDY ALEXIS SPRINTS TO ANOTHER WORLD RECORD

Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club’s Wendy Alexis has tracked down another world record in the masters women’s 70 category.

At the Ottawa Lions Winter Mini Meet inside the St. Lawrence University fieldhouse in Canton, New York, Alexis posted a world-record run of 9.11 seconds for the women’s 60 metres. (The Lions are unable to use the Louis-Riel Dome this indoor season and its athletes are training in various locations.)

Her time bettered the world record of friend and fellow Canadian Karla del Grande, who ran 9.17 seconds one year ago.

Last July, Alexis set a world record in the women’s 70 age class 100 metres with a time of 14.44 seconds. She also holds the World Masters Athletics 100-metre records in women’s 60 at 13.20 seconds and women’s 65 at 13.73 seconds.

OUA BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS TAKE FLIGHT ON WEDNESDAY

The OUA men’s and women’s basketball and hockey regular seasons are complete. Bring on the playoffs.

Both Carleton University Ravens basketball teams have earned a bye through the opening round and into the quarterfinals. By winning the East Division, the Ravens men’s team received an automatic berth in the quarters, while the women’s squad skipped the first round by having the best non-pennant-winning record.

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees will waste no time and will play their women’s opening-round basketball match Wednesday at the Western University Mustangs at 6 p.m. At the same time, the Gee-Gees men’s team will play host to the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks at Montpetit Hall. Game time is to be determined.

In hockey, the Gee-Gees are playoff bound for both the men’s and women’s tournaments, while the two Ravens teams will look ahead to the 2026-27 season.

Ottawa will play the Ontario Tech University Ridgebacks in a best-of-three opening round of playoffs. The first game is Wednesday in Oshawa. The Gee-Gees will stage Game 2 on Friday at 7 p.m. and the third game, if necessary, will go Saturday at 3 p.m.

On the women’s side, Ottawa will visit the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in a quarterfinal on Feb. 25.

The Ravens and Gee-Gees basketball teams travelled to North Ontario to finish their regular seasons and they encountered the determined Laurentian University Voyageurs.

Isamel Konate scored his team’s final two baskets in the last 56 seconds to give Laurentian a 73-71 upset win over the Carleton men’s basketball team. Konate’s winning basket came with four seconds remaining.

Aubrey Dorey-Havens and Tyler Brown scored 25 and 11 points respectively and they each had five rebounds. The Ravens led 63-62 after three quarters, but the Voyageurs won the defensive fourth quarter 11-8.

Carleton shot 50 percent from the field to complete its northern swing, outscoring Nipissing University Lakers 99-60. Dorey-Havens paced the Ravens with 18 points, six assists and three rebounds. Cedric Mbiaba had similar numbers at 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

In the OUA season-ending stats, Carleton’s Marjok Okado was third in free-throw percentage at 83.9, while Dorey-Havens was fifth in assists at 88 in 21 games.

A less than productive first half hindered the Carleton women’s basketball team as it lost 76-66 to Laurentian, which won each of the first three quarters and led 63-47.

Kyana-Jade Poulin was the Ravens’ best all-around player with a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds as well as three assists. Abany Deng chipped in with her own double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Poulin was even more productive in the game against Nipissing as she counted 35 points and added nine rebounds. Jacqueline Urban registered 14 points and 15 rebounds to go with five steals, three blocks and one assist.

After the uOttawa women’s basketball team rolled past Nipissing 76-49, the Gee-Gees were stymied by the Voyageurs 73-54.

Allie McCarthy scored 24 points for Ottawa against Nipissing and added nine rebounds, while Bailey Russell had 23 points, seven rebounds, five steals and two assists. Ivany Rheault-Langue also contributed 17 points.

In the game against the Voyageurs, which outscored the Gee-Gees in every quarter, McCarthy notched 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Rheault-Langue had 14 points, four steals and three rebounds.

McCarthy finished the OUA regular season as the No. 2 points-per-game player with a 21.6 average. She was followed by Poulin in fourth at 19.8 points a game and Russell in fifth at 18.8. McCarthy also was fifth in field-goal percentage at 49.3.

Poulin and Russell were third and fourth respectively in the assists category with 70 and 66. Russell also was fifth in three-point-shooting percentage at 37.5. Deng was fourth in blocks at 41.

The uOttawa men were the only local basketball team to win both of its weekend games, defeating Nipissing 104-93 and Laurentian 70-56.

Brock Newton had a big game against the Lakers, scoring 27 points and adding eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Owen Kenney scored 14 points and recorded 13 rebounds for a double-double against Nipissing, while Louis Daoust had 20 points and four rebounds.

Newton was again the offensive leader against Laurentian with a double-double performance of 18 points and 12 rebounds. He was supported by Alec Phaneuf and Isaac Pierre-Louis with 10 points apiece.

uOTTAWA HOCKEY TEAMS QUALIFY FOR OUA PLAYOFFS

uOttawa women’s hockey squad split its final two OUA regular-season games, losing 3-1 to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, but outscoring the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold 6-4.

Emery Twardochleb had the Gee-Gees’ third-period goal against the Varsity Blues. Gillian Warren sparked the Gee-Gees against the Bold with two goals and one assist, while single goals came from Molly Heighington, Alexa Pongo, Madison Desmarais and Rebecca Morissette.

Warren finished tied for second in the OUA goals scoring race at 16 in 26 games and was third in total points at 30. Teammate Maelle Laplante was second in assists at 17.

The Gee-Gees men’s hockey team dropped both its games, losing 4-1 to Concordia University Stingers and 4-0 to McGill University Redbirds. Maxime Seguin had Ottawa’s only goal.

The Carleton women’s hockey team edged Toronto Metropolitan 2-1, but lost in overtime to Brock University Badgers 3-2.

Avery Krawchuk and Erica Buckley had the Carleton goals in the win. Hayden Serniuk and Lanie Guimond were the second-period goal scorers for the Ravens against the Badgers.

The Carleton men’s hockey team was involved in a pair of 5-4 decisions. After a surprising win over McGill on Wednesday, the Ravens fell in overtime to Nipissing University Lakers.

Felix Bedard had one goal and two assists, while Tomasz Szczerba, Nick McCarry and Peter Amanatidi were single-goal scorers against Nipissing. McCarry had the game-winning marker against McGill with 3:22 left in the game. The other Carleton goal scorers were Brady Egan, Connor Toms, Alex Johnston and Blake Allen.

GEE-GEES WOMEN FACING FIRST-PLACE BADGERS IN VOLLEYBALL QUARTERFINALS

The uOttawa Gee-Gees will need to be at their sharpest as they will play the OUA pennant-winning Brock University Badgers in their road quarterfinal on Friday at 6 p.m.

Ottawa didn’t play Brock, 17-3, in the regular season of the 15-team league.

The Gee-Gees finished their regular season in eighth place at 10-10, after splitting a back-to-back weekend series with the Queen’s University Gaels. Ottawa won on Friday 25-19, 20-25, 19-25, 27-25, 15-7, but lost on Saturday 19-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-14.