The Armory Youth Championship Track and Field Meet is a USATF (USA Track & Field) Certified youth meet for unattached athletes and athletes representing their club teams. Babygirl K has fallen in love with Track & Field a couple of summers ago and we are glad to have found a local club team that she enjoys training with. Hubby’s love for Track and Field and for Babygirl K motivated him to be a USATF Certified coach and it’s a joy to see them both on the field.
The Armory Track Foundation oversees the premier indoor track and field center in America and hosts over 100 track meets annually with the goal of serving youth by promoting fitness, a love of sport and the pursuit of individual excellence. Additionally, it maintains the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, offers a variety of community support programs with a remarkable 220 members of the 2016 Olympic fields who have competed at The Armory, at such international competitions as the NYRR Millrose Games, Dr. Sander Invitational, New Balance Games and even at the Public School Athletic League championships.
Babygirl K has been competing in Track and Field meets around Connecticut and she loves every moment on the field. The Armory Youth Championship Track and Field Meet is the first one outside of Connecticut she was participating in and she couldn’t wait to be part of this meet. The order of events at the Armory Youth Championship Track and Field Meet was split so that the three youngest divisions (12 and under) competed between 9am-1pm and the three oldest division (13 and over) competed from 1:30-6pm.
We arrived the day before to give Babygirl K an opportunity to relax before the Armory Youth Championship Track and Field Meet since she was scheduled to compete first thing in the morning in the three youngest divisions of 12 and under. We stayed at the Edge hotel in the heart of Columbia University, to our girls’ delight, and enjoyed all that Manhattan had to offer with a yummy stop at Dallas BBQ. We headed to the Armory Track after dinner to know its location from the hotel and found out that the MAAC Conference Championships was taking place that evening so we stayed a little while to bask into all the excitement that was taking place on the field.
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 38th year of competition with 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.
Babygirl K couldn’t stop talking about how excited she was to get to the Armory Youth Championship Track and Field Meet to compete with her peers. Babygirl K and Coach Hubby/Daddy went ahead of us the next morning to sign in and warm up before her scheduled events of 200m and 400m. The youngest two and I arrived just in time to see her compete in the 200m.
Babygirl K finished the Armory Youth Championship Track and Field Meet with a time of 32.09 in the 200m and PR (personal record) the 400 with 1:15:11. Although she felt that she didn’t do her very best, we had to remind her that it’s her second time competing for the 200 and 400 and she has only been training with a club team since late Fall. We are so proud of her and can’t wait to see what opportunities open up for her in this Track and Field journey.
