A very slippery track caused some chaos in the relays at the very tail end of the 2025 SDSSAA Track & Field Championships, wiping out the gold medal hopes of a pair of Lo-Ellen Park quartets - but that was just about all that did not go right for the Knights over the course of the two-day meet as the local track powerhouse not only captured their eighth straight team title (18th of 19; 35th of 38) but established a new standard for the combined team scores, amassing 1,178.50 points (Lasalle was second at 413).
That total would been slightly higher if not for the misadventures that both the novice and junior 4 X 100m relay teams encountered on the far corner of the track, with neither team able to replicate their first place finish from the SDSSAA Relay Meet one week earlier.
Finding other reasons to cheer as a Lo-Ellen faithful, however, was not all that difficult.
Grade nine sensation Julien Luoma was one of six athletes, all from Lo-Ellen, to capture gold in three separate individual events and register a perfect aggregate score of thirty. After capturing the 800m and 3000m on Wednesday (Luoma would take 19 seconds off the old record in the latter, covering 3km in a time of 9:31.20), the 15 year-old who lives for training added the 1500m to his first place collection, establishing another record in the process.
“In the 3000m, I took a lot off my PB from the Black Flies (meet),” said Luoma, who was joined at the 30-point plateau by Jacob Paille, Francis Mallory, Nadia MacDonald, Megan Pineau and Levi Blouin. “I think I held my splits pretty good. I just needed to decide and calculate them before the race.”
“I will know what I want to run each lap before so that I can do it when I get up there.”
While all three victories were comfortable given the respective distances, Luoma seems to be leaning towards the longer distances as his preference – sort of. “Right now, I’m enjoying the 3000m, mainly because I’ve just gotten into that – and also the 1500m,” he said. “The 1500m has a lot more power behind it and is less about preserving your body during the race.”
Preparing to join the Laurentian Voyageurs XC an Indoor Track team in the fall, Sacré-Coeur senior Valérie Vaillancourt was equally excited about her final SDSSAA performance. A time of 5:06.33 (1500m) entered the former martial arts competitor in the record books while an 11:08.33 showing in the 3km ranks among the best her division has seen in the past two decades.
“My goal was to leave the track with nothing left,” said the 17 year-old who has enjoyed a very impressive rise over the course of her high-school career. “It didn’t matter how everyone else did – and I ended up running a PR (personal record) in both.”
Considering the conditions, posting the fastest time in a decade in her grouping is more than a little encouraging – and a testament to her positive mindset. “The weather bothered me a little but then I also think that we are all going through the same thing, so it kind of cancels out,” said Vaillancourt.
Grounded in reality and blessed with perspective, the star of the Griffons’ squad looks forward to her final two steps in her high-school track and field journey. “At NOSSA (next week in Sault Ste Marie), my goal is just to qualify for OFSAA – so top two and I would be happy with that,” she said.
“At OFSAA, the competition is a lot tougher so my goal is to stick with the pack. I am hoping to use it to run faster with faster people.”
Another freshman at Lo-Ellen, sprinter Annabelle Richardson would be hard pressed to find anyone faster in these parts – ever. On Wednesday, she shaved more than half a second off the record that had stood for more than two decades in the novice girls 200m dash. Rebecca Johnston not only set the mark that year (26.25 vs 25.61 for Richardson) but went on to capture a silver medal in that same event at OFSAA in 2004.
“I definitely like the 200m more,” said Richardson, who went on to take gold in the 100m on Thursday and is one of several impressive sprinters under the tutelage of Olympian Robert Esmie (Air Blastoff). “I feel like I can build up my speed and execute the race a lot better.”
Coming straight off an impressive indoor season, Richardson was thrilled to get the chance to ply her trade in the great outdoors – at least on most days. “It’s honestly more fun to come outside because it’s usually more hot – although obviously not today,” she said with a laugh.
A grand total of 20 new records were established, with Levin Blouin accounting for a pair (novice boys 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles) – much to the chagrin of teammate Mikko Leinala, who also broke both records only to slide in right on the heels of Blouin.
The Lo-Ellen troika of Rowan Frood, Janssen Fransen and Nadia MacDonald also established new standards, joined there by Lasalle novice thrower Blair Rickard (novice girls shot put and discus) as well as Dante Ricketts and Sophia Carlson in the special needs category.
Remaining aggregate individual champions included Mackenzie Roy from St Charles (novice girls) and the trio of Sarah Guignard (Lo-Ellen), Misaki Diavolitsis (Lockerby) and Kayiesha Thomas (Marymount), all of whom finished with 26 points in the senior girls division.
Following is a complete listing of the day two event winners:
Novice Girls100m - Annabelle Richardson (LEP) - 12.79
400m - Sadie Frantz (LEP) - 1:03.93
1500m - Mackenzie Roy (STC) - 5:17.10
300m hurdles - Rowan Frood (LEP) - 48.88
Long Jump - Ryan Snow (LEP) - 4.34m
Triple Jump - Lia Gallo (LEP) - 9.61m
Shot Put - Blair Rickard (LAS) - 11.60m
4 X 100m relay - Lo-Ellen Park - 52.83
Novice Boys
100m - Levi Blouin (LEP) - 12.17
400m - Kingston Pitawanakwat (STC) - 57.67
1500m - Julien Luoma (LEP) - 4:30.60
300m hurdles - Levin Blouin (LEP) - 42.67
Triple Jump - Xavier Aubertin (ESMC) - 11.19m
Shot Put - Max King (LIV) - 13.09m
Discus - Dexter Mailloux (STC) - 34.97m
4 X 100m relay - St Charles College - 50.45
Junior Girls
100m - Ariana Tonkovic (ESMC) - 13.66
400m - Nadia MacDonald (LEP) - 1:00.86
1500m - Megan Pineau (LEP) - 5:50.26
300m hurdles - Nadia MacDonald (LEP) - 49.80m
High Jump - Chloe Carrier (HOR) - 1.43m
Triple Jump - Elizabeth Lynds (CFD) - 9.31m
Discus - Vanessa Julien (Sacré Coeur) - 24.72m
4 X 100m relay - Lo-Ellen Park - 53.98
Junior Boys
100m - Francis Mallory (LEP) - 11.66
400m - Ty Dubreuil (LEP) - 53.11
1500m - Carson Jewitt (LEP) - 4:42.91
300m hurdles - Carson Jewitt (LEP) - 43.55
High Jump - Noah Skrobot (LEP) - 1.71m
Discus - Mikahel Ibrahim (ESMC) - 39.39m
Javelin - Connor Monahan (LEP) - 35.54m
4 X 100m relay - St Charles College - 47.57
Senior Girls
100m - Melina Doiron (LEP) - 12.22
400m - Milena Kulik (LEP) - 1:01.15
1500m - Valérie Vaillancourt - 5:06.33
400m hurdles - Gracie Dale (LEP) - 1:12.02
High Jump - Sarah Guignard (LEP) - 1.40m
Long Jump - Grace Beange (SSS) - 4.60m
Javelin - Kayiesha Thomas (MMT) - 29.09m
2000m steeplechase - Megan Pineau (LEP) - 8:44.60
4 X 100m relay - Lo-Ellen Park - 51.74
Senior Boys
100m - Kyle Navarro (STC) - 11.68
400m - Jacob Paille (LEP) - 51.55
1500m - Shiloh Sauve (LEP) - 4:34.58
400m hurdles - Jacob Paille (LEP) - 58.58
Long Jump - Gabe Gauvreau (LAS) - 5.79m
Shot Put - Evan Maksymchuk (LIV) - 12.46m
Javelin - Brody Mabbott (STC) - 45.15m
2000 steeplechase - Max Portelance (CND) - 7:03.52
4 X 100m relay - Lo-Ellen Park - 45.66
Ambulatory - Girls
100m dash - Sophia Carlson (MMT) - 16.48
Intellectual - Blys
100m dash - Dante Ricketts (LAS) - 13.79
Shot Put - Dante Ricketts (LAS) - 5.53m
