Minneapolis/St. Paul - Aug. 28, 2010 - Team USA Minnesota's Antonio Vega finished second at the USA Men's 10 Mile Championship, held today in conjunction with the Crim Festival of Races in Flint, Mich.  His time was 47:43.  His place at this event keeps him on top of the USA Running Circuit standings.

So far in 2010, Vega has won the USA Half Marathon Championships, placed third at the USA 15k Championships and came in fourth at the USA 7 Mile Championships.  In addition, he ran 2:13:47 at the Boston Marathon in April, was eighth at the Falmouth 7 Mile Road Race, and eighth at the USA Cross Country Championships.

"I wouldn't say it (today's race) was my best race in the world but I hung on pretty good," said Vega in a finish-line interview.  "You can't be disappointed with a second place finish.  This year has just been phenomenal so far.  I accomplished some goals that I thought were four or five years away and that is pretty solid in itself."

Next up for Vega will be the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships which will be held in China on Oct. 16, followed by the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 7.

"I'm not running the 20k Championships (on Sept. 6) because it's time to do some training now," said Vega.  "I've done a lot of races through July and August so I need to scale back on that, get the mileage up and get after it again.  I have a fall marathon coming up at New York and I'm hoping for big things there."

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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