Minneapolis/St. Paul - Aug. 11, 2010 - Two Team USA Minnesota athletes will travel to Falmouth, Massachusetts, this weekend to compete, with Gabriele Anderson running the CIGNA Falmouth Mile on Aug. 14, and Antonio Vega among the competitors in the CIGNA Falmouth Road Race on Aug. 15.

The annual Falmouth Mile is an invitation-only race held on a fast Mondo track at Falmouth High School on Saturday evening.  The women's elite mile starts at 6:15 p.m.  Anderson is in her first summer as a professional athlete after completing her eligibility at the University of Minnesota.  In June she placed seventh in the 1500 meters at the USA Outdoor Championships, and in July she posted a personal best of 4:12.06 in the 1500 at a meet in Belgium.

Anderson completed her collegiate career in the spring with a second place finish in the 1500m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, along with second place finishes in both the 800 and 1500 meters at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

Vega will take his place at the starting line of the 38th Falmouth Road Race on Sunday.  The 7-mile race, which starts at 10:00 a.m. and is held on a scenic course along the coast, attracts a deep field of international and American competitors as well as 10,000 other participants.  The prize purse for the event is $90,300 with an additional $29,600 going to top U.S. runners.

Most recently, Vega finished fourth at the USA 7 Mile Championship in July with a personal best time of 33:08.  In addition, this year he won the USA Half Marathon Championship in a personal best of 1:01:54, was third at the USA 15k Championship in a best of 43:55, and ran a personal best 2:13:47 at the Boston Marathon.

About Team USA Minnesota

Team USA Minnesota is based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St Paul.  Formed in 2001, the purpose of the training center is to improve the competitiveness of post-collegiate American distance running and to develop Olympians.  The athletes are coached by Dennis Barker, head cross country and track coach at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.  Team USA Minnesota's major sponsor is Life Time Fitness (www.lifetimefitness.com) and its silver sponsor is Twin Cities In Motion (www.mtcmarathon.org).  It is also supported by the New York Road Runners and the USA Distance Project along with a grant from Running USA.  For more information, visit the team's web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org.

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Contact:

Pat Goodwin

952-924-1081

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