He may be too small to defend his country, but he is big enough to help his team as he prepares to make his approach down the runway for an attempt in the Long Jump.  Meet Muhammed Banks, the youngest male competitor to participate in the Patriot's Invitational on May 27th at Shenendehowa High School.  By contrast the oldest male competitor was Daryl Decker, who at the age of 59 ran a stunning time of 13.34 in the 100m dash, and set a new Patriot's Invitational and Empire State Liberty Tour record at the Master's level in that event.

    It was the beginning of the Second Annual Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Series!  The return of the Patriot's Invitational was a carbon copy of last years sunny warm weather, but the competition was much hotter!  Many records were broken, and new standards set, which provided the participants and spectators with a real treat.  It began with the first event of the day when Emily Bryans posted a 10:52.91 in the 3000m run with her first appearance at the Empire State Liberty Tour.  When the 100m dash arrived, the track began to smoke when Tim Holzhauer set an Intermediate Boys record with a time of 12.39, and Vertis Cross set an Open Mens record with a time of 11.62.  The excitement continued when 8 year old Jesse Cutler set a Bantam Boys record in the 1500m with a time of 5:55.81 (Baltimore here we come).    

    Not to be out performed, John Letizia threw the Shot Put 13.81m to set a new record in the Open Mens division.  Coming all the way up from Rhode Island to stake a claim to a record in the Open Mens Javelin was Tom Conley with a throw of 54.89m.  And, not far behind was a record throw in the Young Mens division of 51.94m by Anthony Mills Jr..  But, to cap off the competition of the day was the performance of the Country Mills Eagles'  Open Mens 4 x 100m relay team which posted a record setting time of 49.06.  When asked about their record, Alex Gaylord, who runs the anchor leg, said, "It will do for our first competitive run."  With the goal of reaching the USATF Eastern Regional Open Championships in Albany on July 1st, the Empire State Liberty Tour series of meets provides an excellent opportunity for this team to improve that time and perhaps put themselves in a position to appear at the USATF National Championships in California in mid July.

    The next meet on the Liberty Tour is the Constitution Classic, which will be held at Queensbury High School in Queensbury, NY on June 10th.  If you would like to register for that meet or any other meet in the Empire State Liberty Tour series, just log onto www.EmpireLibertyTour.com and click "Registration".  With Summer just around the corner, the weather won't be the only thing heating up!