45th Annual Nike Rowland Track and Field Games this weekend

This Saturday April 28th is the 45th annual Nike Rowland Games at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke. The meet includes an invitational 3,000m men’s and women’s race. The competitors in the race are invited based on last year’s track results and results from OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association) cross country, which takes place in November.

Former winners of this race are Kevin Sullivan, Canadian record holder at the 1,500m, mile and 3,000m distances as well as Nate Brennan, Canadian record holder at 1,000m and 2,000m distances. Both men are considered to be two of the greatest Canadian distance athletes ever produced.

On the women’s side, Kathy Butler won this race in 1992. Butler had an impressive NCAA career and went on to qualify for two Olympics, representing Canada in 1996 and Great Britain in 2004.

This year’s line up includes high school standout and Toronto native Jocelyn Chau, who has won the event two years in a row. Chau currently attends De La Salle College and will attend Yale in the fall.

On the men’s side Joshua DeSouza is a favourite to win, he competed at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the 3,000m this past summer. His twin brother, Jonathan will also be running. Johnathan is a very talented runner, who was ranked #2 in Canada last summer for youth boys in the 1,500m.

#ofsaa silver & bronze 3000m #twins @dytweets @dYathletics #midget boys champions @besc28 @_joshuadesouza pic.twitter.com/HHRzMnHvoA

— d'Youville SHSM (@dYouvilleSHSM) June 7, 2015

Entries in the invitational 3,000m:

Girls
EJ Boston – St. Maximilian Kolbe
Zoe Burke – London South CI
Jocelyn Chau – De La Salle
Haley Davis – JF Ross
Maxine Dupuis – ESC Theriault
Sam Ford – UTS
Emma Gosselin – Jean Vanier
Claire Hales – Uxbridge SS
Maya Hannagan – Vincent Massey SS
Amanda Lewis – Uxbridge SS
Lauren Miller – Perth DCI
Cameron Ormond – Aurora HS
Petal Palmer – St. Mother Teresa
Hannah Russell – Port Perry
Lily Tuck – Port Perry
Charlotte Wood – Bracebridge & Muskoka Lakes SS
Anna Workman – Kingston CVI
Laura Yantha – Madawaska Valley DHS

Boys
Scott Arndt – Waterloo
Marcel Aubrey – Toronto Ouest
Nick Bannon – Centre Dufferin DHS
Evan Burke – London South CI
Chase Canty – Vincent Massey
Noah Costa – Vincent Massey
Andrew Davies – Sarnia Northern
Jonathan DeSouza – St. Marguerite D’Youville
Joshua DeSouza – St. Marguerite D’Youville
Carter Free – Napanee District SS
Dakota Goguen – Sir William Mulock SS
Jake Hollinger – East Northumberland SS
Aidan Jean – Sacred Heart
Tristen Jones – St. Peter CSS
Ibrahim Kedir – Neil McNeil HS
Matthew Lampard – Crescent
Campbell Lee – Holy Cross
Owen Lockyer – Eden HS
Ethan Loucks – Eastview
Peter Minbashian – Michael Power/St. Joseph
Roman Mironov – Father Redmond
Nicholas Mota – Newmarket HS
Andrew O’Reilly – Upper Canada College
Brandon Raftis – St. Michael’s College
Alanzo Ryan – Dunbarton
Gaitan Santiago – Notre Dame CHS
Marcel Scheele – St. Mary’s
Jonathan Stoppa – Madawaska Valley DHS
Joshua Zelek – Stratford Central