Friday, July 10, 2009

Junior Olympic championships coming to town


The state's track stars of tomorrow are coming to Bakersfield this week when the USA Track and Field brings its Region 14 Junior Olympic Outdoor Championships to town.

The event starts today at Cal State Bakersfield. Today will be mostly preliminaries and the schedule runs from 4 p.m. until about 8.

The competition then shifts to Liberty High School for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's action goes from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday -- all finals -- from 8 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m.

There are five age groups competing, from junior (born in 1991 or '92) to Bantam (born 1999 or later). The top three finishers in each event at each age class qualify for the USATF National Junior Olympic Outdoor Track & Field Championships, July 28-Aug. 2 in Greensboro, N.C.

Admission is free for all three days.