The Texas Heat Track Club in Austin, TX hosted their 2007 Annual Invitational Track & Field Meet on Saturday. There were over 20 track clubs present with athletes ranging from 6-18 years old. Although this was just a practice meet the athletes were surrounded by great competition and saw a preview of what the rest of the summer meets will entail.

Texas Heat Track Club is a non-profit organization and a member of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).  The Texas Heat Track Club has been hosting the track and field meet annually on the the first Saturday in June for 17 years.  The organization usually rents Nelson Field, at Hwy 290E and Berkman Drive, to hold the annual meet, but due to that venue being under renovation, Tony Burger Center was rented for the 2007 meet.  The annual meets are sanctioned by the AAU and all participants must be members of the AAU.

The athletes are working their way to the AAU Junior Olympic Games, being held this year in Knoxville, Tennessee.  The top 10 from each district will advance to the regional meet.  The Austin District Championship meet will be held by the AAU at Round Rock high school stadium on June 22 & 23, 2007 and the South Texas Regional Championship meet will be held at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio on June 12 - 14, 2007.

The athletes were separated into nine groups based on age and gender. The field events started at 8:00 a.m. and the shot gun started the running events at 11:00 a.m. With the youngest, Primary girls and boys leading the other groups in all the events, the fans and the athletes saw the progression of a track & field athlete.

They saw the younger athletes beginning their journey into the track world and the older athletes honing their skills for their present track careers. With the age groups coming together on the track and in their clubs this 17 year old meet continues to bring and foreshadow the up and coming track stars.

The participating clubs, Texas Heat, Central Texas Elite, Five Hills, Prime Time Rollers, Austin Hawks, Cedar Park Classic, Killeen Stars, Velocity, Texas Thunder, and the South Austin Steel to name a few will be competing the rest of the summer with one goal in mind; a qualifying spot in the Junior Olympic games.

Stay tuned to the Athlete’s Connection for video highlights from the meet and future track & field news.

Pictures taken by Tiffany Smith

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