A NEW Empire State Championship
In 2009 a new State Championship will be born! Since the Summer of 2005, the Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Series was the first series of its kind in all of New York State and the Northeast. In addition, it is the first, and only, Track & Field Series to accommodate all Youth, Scholastic, Open, and Masters divisions. Scheduled to begin Memorial Day Weekend and culminate on Independence Day Weekend, the Liberty Tour is appropriately named. Meets are held in five (5) counties throughout the Capital District / Adirondack Region…until now.
In 2007, the President’s Open (the third stop of the Empire State Liberty Tour) was also the host for the Track & Field Qualifying Trials of the Empire State Games. With more than 500 athletes competing over the two (2) day event, it was the largest turnout for the Qualifying Trials in nearly 10 years according to Dave Herrington, the former Men’s Track & Field Coach for the Adirondack Region at the Empire State Games. “We received many compliments on the quality and efficiency of the meet, but more importantly it was the atmosphere that most of the athletes raved about”, states Executive Producer of the Liberty Tour, Anthony Mills. He continues, “I have been a competitive athlete since Little League Baseball when I was eight (8) years old. I have played competitive Football, Basketball, Volleyball and Track & Field, and there has always been one (1) common denominator, all athletes want a Stage on which to perform. That stage could be Mom and Dad or 10,000 cheering fans in the stadium seats. We just provided the stage.”
The Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Championships will be sanctioned by USATF, the National governing body for Track & Field selected by the USOC (United States Olympic Committee). Instead of six (6) Regions, the state will be broken into four (4) Associations (Long Island, Metropolitan, Adirondack and Niagara) which are the current boundaries used by USATF for New York State. “The selection of ‘teams’ through local competition by each NYS Association will ensure that each County in the State has the opportunity to participate”, says Dave Herrington, Former Adirondack Men’s Coach for the Empire State Games. He adds, “The 2009 Liberty Tour State Championships has the potential to develop and recognize some of the best athletes in New York State.”
Each Association will have its own Qualifying Trials in which athletes will need to compete in order to advance to the State Championship. To allow for more competitive opportunities, the top four (4) finishers in each event will earn the right to represent their Association at the State Championships, which will be held July 24th – 26th. The locations and dates for each Qualifying Trials will be posted on the Liberty Tour website no later than May 1st. The President’s Open, June 13th and 14th at Ichabod Crane High School, will once again serve as the host for the Qualifying Trials in the Adirondack Association. All of the events contested at the State Championships will also be contested at the President’s Open, including all Combined Events (Triathlon, Pentathlon, Heptathlon, and Decathlon).
The Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Championships will be open to all age divisions (Youth, Scholastic, Open and Masters). In addition to medals for the top three (3) finishers in each event, there will also be six (6) Signature Events, which will provide Prize Money for the top three (3) finishers. To wet your palette, the Executive Producer was willing to release two (2) of the events, and they are the 100m Dash (New York’s fastest Man and Woman), and the 1500m Run. According to USATF Adirondack President, Chris Rush, “We are both pleased and excited to support and sanction the Empire State Liberty Tour’s Qualifying Trials, and the three (3) day New York State Track & Field Championships. It will offer an opportunity for athletes of all ages to participate in a first class event.”
