The Ottawa Sports Pages’ 2026 High School Best Series profiles some of the top local student-athletes graduating from high school this year and moving on to the next level in their sport or studies.
During late June and into July, we’ll post stories on OttawaSportsPages.ca to tip our caps to these great grads. You can also follow along and read each story on this webpage.
High School Best owes its roots to a supplement in the Ottawa Citizen spearheaded many years ago by High Achievers columnist Martin Cleary, who carries on that tradition with several features in the 2026 series.
Multi-sport athlete Naomi LeBlanc battles pain, but finds academic, athletic success
Naomi LeBlanc is scheduled to celebrate a major milestone in her young life Thursday at her St. Pius X High School Grade 12 graduation. Maybe the word major isn’t strong enough to describe everything she has had to experience to reach the finish line of her memorable and medically-mesmerizing journey. There certainly were plenty of uplifting moments. READ MORE…
Bruce Allen off to Dalhousie U, but chasing NCAA Division 1 field lacrosse scholarship
Bruce Allen walked away from box lacrosse with the Gloucester Griffins at 11 years old, following a few concussions. But that didn’t stop him from continuing to go to city arenas, as he diverted to Canada’s national winter sport, hockey, from Canada’s national summer sport, lacrosse. He played hockey for five seasons, reaching the AAA level. READ MORE…
Team Canada’s Vivier, Toivonen to play college/university flag football in Quebec
Good friends and flag football defensive players Charley Toivonen and Gabrielle Vivier had a bit of an unplanned reunion in the middle of June. They weren’t meeting in Ottawa, where they played in the Hawks Flag Football program for a year. Instead, they went to in Chula Vista, California for training with Football Canada’s 2026 national flag football team. READ MORE…