Brownwood High School cross country athletes participated in the USA Track and Field Regional Qualifier for the Junior Olympics on Saturday in Rockwall.
Adam Tipton, a BHS junior placed 3rd in his age division with a time of 17:58. Julianne Hood, placed 7th and Ashley Strong placed 12th, both of whom are BHS freshmen. Tipton, Hood and Strong are all members of the BHS varsity cross country team.
Coached by Don Hood, the runners competed at Harry Meyers Park in Rockwall along other top athletes. By placing in the top twenty of their age divisions, Tipton, Hood and Strong each qualified to run in a national meet in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
About USATF: On January 30, 1878, rower and runner William B. Curtis founded what became the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in New York City. The name was formally adopted in 1887. The AAU governed the sport until 1979, when the first Amateur Sports Act decreed that the AAU could no longer hold international franchises for more than one sport.
The Athletics Congress/USA (TAC/USA) became fully operational in late 1979 with its first annual meeting, conducted in Las Vegas in conjunction with that year’s AAU Convention, and a constitutional convention held in Dallas/Fort Worth in 1980. The first stand-alone annual meeting occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, in the late fall of 1980.
In 1992, the name was changed to USA Track & Field (USATF) to increase recognition for the organization and the sport in the United States. Pictured above are Tipton and Coach Hood. Pictured below are Hood and Strong.
