Aaron Brown wins his 10th Canadian sprint title

On a national championship weekend missing many of its stars due to injury, Aaron Brown put on a season’s best performance to win the men’s 200m in 20.03 seconds on Sunday afternoon in Langley, B.C. The win marked Brown’s 10th national title in the last nine years.

Despite winning the men’s 100m in 10.16 (-0.1 m/s) the night before, Brown came out on Sunday afternoon in tip-top form to win the men’s 200m over Jerome Blake in 20.03 seconds (+1.8 m/s). Blake finished second in a time of 20.32, while Red Deer, Alta.’s, Jeremiah Lauzon was third in 20.71.

This marks the fourth time Brown has won both the 100m and 200m titles at the Canadian Track and Field Championships. He won his first Canadian title in 2013 and has since won five titles each in the 100m and 200m.

AARON BROWN FOR THE WIN@KingsleySC wins the 200m national championship in a time of 20.03. It’s the fourth time in his career he’s won both the 100m and 200m titles at nationals. 10th overall national title.

Jerome Blake second in a time of 20.32 @CBCOlympics @AthleticsCanada pic.twitter.com/hj1OyI7UBi

— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) June 26, 2022

The 30-year-old sprinter has now won four straight national championships in the 100m and 200m (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022; nationals were cancelled due to COVID in 2020). Brown had some motivation heading into the weekend, as his biggest fan was in attendance: his one-and-a-half-year-old son, Kingsley.

In the women’s 200m, Natassha McDonald ran a personal best time of 22.67 seconds to win her first national title. Her time was under the world standard of 22.80 but was not wind-legal (+2.1 m/s).

Lucia Stafford wins her first senior 1,500m title

The women’s 1,500m got off to a pedestrian start, with the women coming through 800m around 4:25 pace. Stafford led for the first few laps with Natalia Hawthorn sitting on her heels. Vancouver’s Glynis Sim was one of the first to make a move with 600m to go, while Stafford countered. The three women ended up in a sprint to the line with 200m to go, with Stafford taking the win in 4:17.22. Hawthorn was second in 4:17.39, while Sim landed on her first national podium for third place in 4:17.74.

ATHLETICS: The women's 1500m Canadian Championship podium was dominated by Canadian university talents yesterday.

?Lucia Stafford (Toronto)
?Natalia Hawthorne (UBC)
?Glynis Sim (UBC)

Stafford a certain one to watch at the upcoming World Championships and Commonwealth Games. pic.twitter.com/kXlZ1wGhHQ

— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) June 27, 2022

Rob Heppenstall unleashes mid-distance kick to take the men’s 1,500m

In the first 800m of the men’s 1,500m championship, it did not seem like anyone wanted it. The race came down to a one-lap sprint among 12 contenders. 800m specialist Rob Heppenstall came out on top in the final lap to beat Kieran Lumb, Cameron Proceviat and William Paulson in 3:56.42.

How about that ?? men’s 1,500m… what a final lap!!

Rob Heppenstall takes it in 3:56.42#ACTF2022 #ACNationals

— Canadian Running (@CanadianRunning) June 26, 2022

If you missed the 2022 Canadian Track and Field Championships the full results can be found here.