Minneapolis/St. Paul - Jan. 17, 2012 - Three Team USA Minnesota athletes - Heather Kampf, Jamie Cheever and Chris Rombough - will compete at the 2012 Jack Johnson Minnesota Classic on Jan. 21.  The indoor track meet will be held at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse in Minneapolis.

Kampf will run the mile, while Cheever and Rombough are entered in the women's and men's 3000 meter races, respectively.  The running events at the meet start at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday with the mile scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and the 3000 meter events set for mid-afternoon.

All three Team USA Minnesota runners - who competed collegiately at the University of Minnesota - are using the meet as the start of their 2012 track season.  Kampf last raced at the Pan American Games in October, where she ran the 800 meters.  She has a mile best - set on the roads - of 4:30.95.

Cheever opened her year by competing at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country Challenge in Scotland on Jan. 7.  She finished 15th in the 6k and is preparing for the USA Cross Country Championships that will be held in St. Louis on Feb. 11.  Cheever has a best in the 3000 meters of 9:20.2.

Rombough will also compete at the USA Cross Country Championships on Feb. 11 and is using the Jack Johnson meet as a tune-up for the event.  He has run 7:54.57 in the 3000 meters.

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 Run (www.lifetimerun.com) and its silver sponsor is Twin Cities In Motion (www.tcmevents.org).  It is also supported by the New York Road Runners and the USA Distance Project.  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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