April 23, 2010 2010 Louisiana Elementary Fitness Meet Championships this Saturday

BATON ROUGE, Apr 23, 2010 - The Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports will welcome some of the top elementary school athletes in Louisiana to the Carl Maddox Field House at LSU this weekend. The Elementary Fitness Meet program includes students from 25 parishes across Louisiana, and the council has seen a significant increase in the physical fitness levels of elementary school children in the last three years from these parishes.

Thousands of students train as part of the program throughout the school year, with preliminary meets starting in the spring. The top two boys and girls from each parish participate in this weekend’s championship, which will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, April 24 at the Carl Maddox Field House on the campus of LSU. Students will perform the identical fitness tests acquired from the President’s Challenge. Tests will consist of the 50-yard dash, sit and reach, pull-ups, the shuttle run, curl-ups (sit-ups), standing long jump, and the 600-yard run.

More than twenty parishes compete each year in the Championship Fitness Meet, which also will air on Cox Cable Channel 4 in 14 parishes across the state. The defending champs from Rapides Parish will put their championship on the line against rival parishes such as East Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Caddo. Twenty-two parishes are scheduled to compete for the state crown. The individual top boy and girl will be crowned Mr. and Miss Fitness, and Miss Louisiana Katherine Putnam will be the guest speaker for the event.

For more information contact the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports at 225-342-4886 or visit www.lagovernorsgames.org. The event is free to the public.

The Louisiana Department of Health strives to protect and promote health statewide and to ensure access to medical, preventive and rehabilitative services for all state citizens. To learn more about LDH, visit http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov.

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