It has long been believed that Lightning never strikes the same place twice. I shall submit to you that those who hold to such a belief did not attend the Independence Invitational on July 3rd at the Ichabod Crane High School Sports Complex. It is certain that the first strike of Lightning was not invited at all, as it brought with it Thunder and Heavy Rains, which suspended the 5th stop of the Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Series for more than 30 minutes. But the second strike of Lightning came when Justin Bishop (Pictured Above) from Team Utopia set the standard for the inaugural running of the 1500m Rush with a time of 4:08.69. Not only did this set the standard for this new Signature Event in honor of USATF Adirondack President Chris Rush, but it also set a new 1500m Record in the Open Men’s division for the Independence Invitational, and the Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Series. “This performance by Justin is not only a testament to his individual talent, but provides an excellent standard for which many more competitors in the coming years of this event will strive to improve”, says Liberty Tour Executive Producer Anthony Mills. He adds, “It will be the pleasure of the Track & Field and Running communities to look forward to this event each year to find out who will break this time, and set the standard higher.”
Is it possible that Lightning could strike 99 times in the same place? Maybe not, but on this day in July there were 99 Records broken, and that is the largest number ever for any Liberty Tour meet. It would be nice to have pictures for every record breaking performance, but that would take quite a few photographers to capture each of those moments. Nonetheless, several were caught in the act of breaking records, and if you scroll down the page you will be able to witness a few of the exciting performances from the 2009 Independence Invitational.
To view the Results from the Independence Invitational, click “Results” from the navigation bar. For all of the current Records for the Independence Invitational, or the Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Series, click “Records”. Remember to join us on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.
Connor Ten Eyck sets a new Independence Invitational record for the Intermediate Boys Pole Vault by clearing a height of 3.63m (11' 10.75").
Liberty Tour record breaking regular, Bob Matteson, sets a new Independence Invitational and Liberty Tour record in both the 200m (47.72) and the 800m (6:03.02) at the age of 93 for the 90 - 94 Master's Division.
Keeping an eye on the "Official Time", perhaps USATF Official Pete Sheridan is informing his USATF Official partner, Nicole DePasquale, that the length of this meet may set a new Liberty Tour record.
Shea Foley (pictured above far right) from the Delmar Whippets sets a new Liberty Tour record in the 1500m Run for the Midget Girls with a time of 5:45.81. And, her teammate, Cassidy Keppler (pictured just to Shea's right) also set a new 1500m record for the Bantam Girls with a time of 6:38.92.
Newcomer to the Empire State Liberty Tour Track & Field Series, Dominique Beltrez arrived from downstate with her family on vacation, just in time to set a new Youth Girl's High Jump record for the Indpependence Invitational with a jump of 1.3m (4' 3.25").
In his first year as a Country Mills Eagles athlete, Ethan Berberich sets a new Young Men's Discus record for the Independence Invitational with a toss of 37.86m.
With a toss of 15.66m (51" 4") Judy Roehr sets a new Liberty Tour record in the Master's Women (45-49) Javelin Throw. She also set Liberty Tour records in the Discus and Shot.
Katie Pelcher sets a new standard in the Young Women's High Jump with a Liberty Tour record setting leap of 1.6m (5' 3").
The Official start of the Inaugural running of the 1500m Rush in honor of USATF Adirondack President, Chris Rush.
