It was the final day of June, just four days away from July 4th, the anniversary of the Birth of America, when our forefathers declared "Independence" from England!  Now it is 230 years later, and the desire for Independence is still alive!  Well, there is no desire to break from the Union, but this "Invitational" Track & Field Meet certainly broke from the norm of all other Empire State Liberty Tour meets.

    In its debut (the Independence Invitational was flooded out in 2005), it was the host for the very first "Combined Events" , the "Adirondack Masters Championships", and the host for the USATF Eastern Regional Open "Combined Events" competitors.  As you can imagine, there were many records set!  In fact, every first place finisher in each event set a record for the Independence Invitational!  However, some records were Empire State Liberty Tour records.

    Pictured above is Arman Dixon, who set an Empire State Liberty Tour record in the Open Men's 100m dash, posting a time of 10.74 seconds.  He also set an Open Men's record in the 200m dash with a time of 22.19 seconds!  Not to be shunned, Shondelle McCray from the Country Mills Eagles also shattered the Bantam Boys record in the 100m dash with a time of 14.51.  Also getting into the spirit of setting records was USATF President Chris Rush, who set an Empire State Liberty Tour record in the Masters Men 800m run with a smoking time of 2:45.12.  I am not going to disclose his age in this report, but I will tell you that he is the most "physically matured" athlete to compete in the 2006 Empire State Liberty Tour! 

    To get all of the results and to see all of the records that have been set for each meet, visit our website at www.EmpireLibertytour.com!  We hope you will visit us regularly throughout the off-season, as we will be posting a new series of articles, "Faces Of The Tour".  these articles will highlight some of the best performers, performances, and leaders of the Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Series.  Also, be sure to check back to get all of the latest updates for the 2007 season!  It is expected to have many new and wonderful changes!