"It's been three (3) long years, but it'll be worth the wait!", said Anthony Mills (above right), Executive Producer of the Empire State Liberty Tour.  At 9:00 pm, Monday, June 12, 2006, it was officially signed.  The USATF agreed to place the Adirondack Junior Olympics Championship meet as a part of the Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Series! 

    The skeleton of this proposal was made in February of 2003, but amid much concern over the direction that Track & Field was taking in the Adirondack Association, it struggled getting to the table in 2004.  With a desire to see competitive Track & Field emerge as one of the largest sport arenas in the State Of New York, the Liberty Group decided to move forward with the Liberty Tour Series with little support.

    In 2005, the inaugural season of the Empire State Liberty Tour, a proposal was made by the USATF to join the Adirondack Master's Championships with the Independence Invitational, the final stop on the Tour, but timing did not allow for that to take shape.  However, from the Summer of 2005 to the Spring of 2006 a series of events took place that built the foundation for this agreement to come to fruition.  First, there was a successful series of meets produced by the Liberty Group that caused many to take notice of their potential.  Second there was a shift in power at the USATF.  Former USATF President George Regan resigned, which paved the way for current USATF President Chris Rush (above left) to step aboard.  "I don't think this had anything to do with George Regan stepping down.  George stated his support for the Liberty Tour in most every Board Meeting.", said Anthony Mills.  He continues, "George has a rich history in the way he has devloped the Run for Women over the past 25 years as USATF Board President.  I am quite impressed with what he has accomplished with road racing and that event.  To follow in that pattern, we want the Empire State Liberty Tour to be the Track & Field version of that great race!  Our goal is to have 1,000 athletes attend each meet!  Ultimately, we would like to host the National Junior Olympics Championships in the near future, and I suspect that this joint agreement will go a very long way in nurturing that possibility."

    President Chris Rush agrees, "We are truly excited about this new partnership.  It is a partnership which will serve the youth of the Adirondack Association for years to come."

    With the addition of the Adirondack Association Junior Olympics Championships, the Empire State Liberty Tour is now a five meet series with the Championships the sole qualifying meet for all Adirondack Association youth to move on to the Region 1 JO meet in Kingston this year.  You can catch all of the excitement of the Adirondack JO Championships on Saturday, June 24th, at Ichabod Crane High School, which is located just a few minutes South on Route 9 off Exit 12 of Route 90 East.  The fun and competition are slated to begin at 8:30 am, and they are expected to finish around 2:00 pm.  There are some wonderfully talented athletes that are expected to appear at this meet, and perhaps qualify eventually for the National JO's.

    If you can not make it to the meet in person, you will be able to get all of the post meet results by visiting www.EmpireLibertyTour.com.  There is still time to register for the final leg of the Liberty Tour, the Independence Invitational, which is also host to the Adirondack Master's Championships.  The Independence Invitational is the only evening meet in the series. 

    Have you been missing all of the fun?  If so, join the Tour!  The USATF Adirondack Association did!  What are you waiting for?