The Rise of Adirondack Champions
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 this. 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) 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 smooth. 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 fights to stake a claim to being the best. Bernadette Gaffney (Pictured Above), from the Kingston Tigers, came prepared to leave her mark, as she set a new record in the Young Women’s 200m (shown above) with a time of 27.36. She also set a new Young Women’s Triple Jump standard with a leap of 10.25m.
The Adirondack Junior Olympic Championships are open to youth athletes from the ages of 6 – 18. Anyone that places in the top six (6) 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 begin at 1:15 pm. If you have not yet been to a Liberty Tour meet, be sure to register for this event, or you will have to wait until 2009! For more exciting photos (courtesy of Capital District Sports Photography) and a brief overview of some of the records broken, 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.
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- Devon Willis shows perfect “Lead Leg” form in this record breaking Midget Boy’s 80m Hurdle race with a time of 14.45 seconds which shattered his previous record by more than two (2) seconds. Devon also set an Adirondack JO record in the Long Jump with a leap of 4.52m.
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- Kyla Kenyon, from Olympic Region Track Club, sets a new Intermediate Girl’s 400m record with a time of 1:02.70, but also set a new Liberty Tour record in the 800m with a run of 2:24.56.
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- With a heave of 12.27m, Zak Luzinas sets a new Shot Put record for the Adirondack JO’s, but better yet, set a new Liberty Tour record in the Discus with a toss of 40.76m.
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- Devon Crain was the fastest “cat” on the track in the Youth Boy’s 100m, as this Kingston Tiger shows great focus and form with an Adirondack JO record of 12.37 seconds.
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- Rising star, Kaylee Scott, sets a new Liberty Tour record in the Midget Girl’s 800m with a time of 2:38.39, and a new 1500m record with a time of 5:20.60.
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- Long Time Youth Athlete Morgan Wheeler, showcases just a part of her mutiple athletic talents by setting a new Young Women’s High Jump record for the Liberty Tour with a jump of 1.57m. And, to show that jumping is not all that she does, she also set a Liberty Tour record in the Javelin with a throw of 36.87m.
