2023…What a year! We had so much to celebrate at our Year End Awards Banquet, held at Bellamere Winery.
To start, our fourth consecutive AO overall Outdoor Club championship title, while claiming the U8/U16/U20 titles as well, and the overall Indoor Club championship!
LWTFC member and coach, Caroline Ehrhardt, gave an inspiring speech, sharing her story about her “fake news” article about breaking the 14m barrier in triple jump to set a new Canadian record, and how it motivated her to never lose sight of her goals.
We added two new inductees to our Hall of Fame…Paralympian Kevin Strybosch and 2015 Pan Am Games team member Alicia Raphael (Smith).
Fifteen new club records were broken this past year, including the club’s first sub-4 minute mile, set by Jack Sheffar. Incidentally, did you know that more people have reached the summit of Mount Everest, than those who can claim membership to this monumental feat?
Awards were presented to the outstanding female/male age group winners, Athletes Council special awards, and the coveted Art Obokata was presented to Dave Mills by Connor Black, who gave a heart felt speech about Dave in his presentation.
Thank you to our sponsors for providing the awards for the winners: New Balance London, Skye Health, Rexall, and PKG. Many thanks to Re-Charge Health & Wellness, Fleetway, North Centre Contracting Inc., Get Enhanced Inc., Garlic’s of London, and Yasmine’s for the donation of door prizes. And to London Lightning Basketball for two sets of 2 tickets to a season home game for the early bird draw.
Many thanks to the members of our Athletes Council, lead by Liv Sands, and to our banquet committee of Elysa Mascotto, Patricia Corcoran, and Kathy Roberts for putting together a fabulous evening of food, fun, and recognition. Thank you to all who attended…without you, it just wouldn’t have been the same!
The following is a full list of award winners and record breakers. Additional photos can be found in our Gallery…with much gratitude to coach Trevor Hall for providing us with lasting memories.
See you in 2024!
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Outstanding Age Group Winners
JD Male— Brayden Wells
JD Female— Siena Naisbitt and Bellamy Lee
JD Most Improved—Julianne Eddy
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U16 Track Male— Sam McClelland
U16 Track Female— Isabella Mills
U16 Field Male— Noah Mitoraj
U16 Field Female— Jenna Tunks
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U18 Track Male— Alex Leinweber
U18 Track Female— Erika Lealess
U18 Field Male— Jackson MacKay
U18 Field Female— Julia Tunks
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U20 Track Male— Heath McAllister
U20 Track Female— Paige Marchant
U20 Field Male—Jeremy Vandenboorn
U20 Field Female— Brianna Rand
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Open Track Male—Jeremy Coughler
Open Track Female— Kate Current
Open Field Male— Mark Bujnowski
Open Field Female— Caroline Ehrhardt
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Masters—Joanne Miklos Den Iseger
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XC Male— Ian McAllister
XC Female—Kaitlyn Koyanagi
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Most Improved Male— Jared Hendricks-Polack
Most Improved Female—Erika Lealess
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Overall Male—Damian Warner
Overall Female— Julia Tunks
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Art Obokata— Dave Mills
Athletes Council—Special Awards
Spirit—Sophia Bryenton and Jack Kusiar
Adversity—Lila Corby, Helena Roth, and Brendan McIntyre
Leadership—Maielle Diamantouros
2023 Club Records
Kate Current—Open Women 1500m, 4:07.23, Budapest HN, August 19
Kaylyn Hall—Open Women 100m Hurdles, 13.12, Des Moines IA, April 29
Open Women 60m Hurdles (indoor), 8.19, Lubbock TX, February 24
Julia Tunks—U18/U20 Women Discus**, 59.11m, Ramona OK, April 15
U20 Women Shot Put**, 14.02m, Ottawa ON, June 11
Phil Parrot-Migas—Open Men Half-Marathon, 1:03.48, Congers NY, March 25
Erika Lealess—U18 400m, 54.34, Toronto ON, July 4
U18 400m Hurdles, 1:00.62, Ottawa ON, June 11
Caroline Ehrhardt—Open Women Triple Jump*, 14.03m, London ON, May 28
Jeremy Coughler—Open Men 5000m (indoor), 13:33.09, Boston MA, February 11
Open Men 10 000m, 28:46.96, Langley BC, June 23
Mark Bujnowski—Open Men Shot Put (indoor), 19.56m, Clemson SC, February 11
Open Men Shot Put, 19.82m, Windsor ON, June 24
Jack Sheffar—Open Men Mile (indoor), 3:59.78, Boston MA, January 28
Evan Burke—Open Men 3000m (indoor), 7:54.56, Fayetteville NC, January 28
*Canadian Record
**pending Can. Record