Amending the Constitution

     The Education Amendment of 1972, most popularly known as Title IX, stated the following:

Section 1681. Sex

(a) Prohibition against discrimination; exceptions. No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance…,

    In short, this Amendment allowed the same support for athletic and exercise programs for girls, as was provided for boys in the educational environment. As you have seen history unfold, it has changed Women’s Sports forever! The Constitution Classic of 2009 saw this played out in grand fashion, and to start things off on the right foot, this meet had more Open & Master’s Women competing than any Liberty Tour event in its history. Some performances took a rather interesting twist of “revenge” such as Courtney Richardson (Pictured Above) beating her teammate Hezekiah Williamson in the 100m Dash.

     In addition to spriniting, there were separate flights of Master’s Women competition in the Shot, Discus, and Javelin. “This is the story of the day”, exclaims Liberty Tour Executive Producer, Anthony Mills. He continues, “This level of participation by the ladies is unprecedented in the Adirondack Association of USATF and the Empire State Liberty Tour. They have now set the standard for future generations of Young Women and Master’s Women in Track & Field participation.” USATF Adirondack President Chris Rush adds, “USATF has a slogan that ‘Track & Field is A Sport for Everyone…A Sport for Life’ and these ladies are proving that to be quite true. As a Masters athlete at the age of 73, it is encouraging to see such an increase in the number of Master’s competitors.”

     With the President’s Open (the host of the Empire State Track & Field Qualifying Trials for the Adirondack Association) coming up on Saturday & Sunday, June 13th & 14th, it appears that many athletes are taking advantage of the developmental meets as the precursor to their participation at the Qualifying Trials, as the Constitution Classic not only set a record for participation by Women at this meet, but also set a record for overall participation, with an increase of nearly 10% over it’s largest attendance back in 2007.

     The 3rd leg of the Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Series will be the President’s Open which begins on Saturday, June 13th with competition in all of the combined events, some Master’s Throwing and Jumping events, as well as some of the distance races on the track, including the 10,000m Run. The full slated meet, and the second day of competition for the Heptathlon and Decathlon, will be Sunday, June 14th. Please note that this is the Adirondack Qualifying Trials for the Empire State Track & Field Championships set for July 24th – 26th in Queensbury, NY. There is Day of Meet Registration, but it is best to pre-Register online.

To view the Results from the Constitution Classic, click “Results” from the navigation bar. For all of the current Records for the Constitution Classic, or the Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Series, click “Records”. For more exciting pictures of Country Mills Eagles Performances, just scroll down.