It was the perfect day for championship competition! It was not too hot, not too humid, and perfectly sunny,. It was one of those days you dream of for a competition such as the Adirondack Junior Olympic Championships. Even the temporary lack of power, didn't taint this wonderful day. It was a day filled with excitement, competition and fun, as 273 young athletes began a quest to qualify for the Region 1 Junior Olympics, set for July 11th - 13th at Icahn Stadium in NYC, where Usain Bolt (the Lightning Bolt) had set the 100m record at 9.72 seconds just a couple of weeks earlier. "We have been attending the Junior Olympics for the last six years and this one was the best yet. My children do the throwing and jumping events and everything ran very smoothly. We did not see any upset parents or athletes all day. The officials did a great job. Thank you for running such a big event so efficiently. You are doing a great job with these meets.", said Karen Luzinas from Averill Park, the host site for the 2008 Adirondack Junior Olympics.
As records are made to be broken, there was no exception again for this championship meet. Nearly 60 records fell as the next generation of athletes fought to stake a claim at being the best. After being set initially in 2003 by Timathy Holzhauer the Country Mills Eagles 200m Dash time of 32.36 (Midget Boys) had never been seriously challenged. Since 2005, the 100m Dash mark of 14.55 had not been seriously challenged either, until now! Jack Vite (Picturted Above) not only set a new mark in the 100m Dash with a time of 14.27, but at the same meet he shattered the long time 200m record by nearly 2 seconds, with a time of 30.82. Jack qualified for the Region 1 JO's in the 100m, 200m, Turbo Javelin, and the Pentathlon.
The Adirondack Junior Olympic Championships are open to youth athletes from the ages of 6 - 18. Anyone that places in the top four (4) finishers in each event is entitled to attend the Region 1 JO's. Those athletes that finish in the top three (3) spots at the Region 1 JO's, will advance to the National JO's in Omaha, NE, July 22nd - 27th.
The final stop of the Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Series will be the Independence Invitational, which will be held Sunday June 29th at the University @ Albany. Field Events kick off at 1:00 pm, with the track events beginning at 1:15 pm. For more exciting photos (courtesy of Capital District Sports Photography) click on the link above to purchase pictures from the Adirondack JO's, or any of the Empire State Liberty Tour meets. For a brief overview of some of the other Country Mills Eagles performances, scroll down to catch a glimpse. To view all of the results from any of the Liberty Tour meets, just click on "Results", then click the meet from the year you are interested in viewing. |
