Minneapolis/St. Paul - Feb. 7, 2012 - Four Team USA Minnesota distance runners will compete on Feb. 11 at a variety of events, with Heather Kampf and Meghan Peyton on the indoor track and Jamie Cheever and Chris Rombough running cross country.

Kampf will travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to run in the women's elite 1500 meters at the USA Track & Field Classic.  The 1500 is scheduled for 6:12 p.m. on Feb. 11.  The meet, held in conjunction with the Tyson Invitational on the campus of the University of Arkansas, is the third stop on the USATF's 2012 Indoor Visa Championship Series.  It will be televised on Sunday, Feb. 12, from 12-2 p.m. on ESPN2 (check local listings).

Kampf has a best in the 1500 of 4:12.09, which she set last summer while competing in Europe.  She opened her 2012 track season on Jan. 21 when she ran the mile in 4:41.5 at the Jack Johnson Minnesota Classic.

Peyton will head to Ames, Iowa, to compete in the Iowa State Classic on Saturday.  She will run in the women's mile race which will be contested at 12:45 p.m.  The former University of Iowa standout, who graduated in 2008 and competed as Meghan Armstrong, has a best in the distance of 4:40.5.

At the USA Cross Country Championships in St. Louis, Missouri, Cheever will be among the competitors in the open women's 8 km race, while Rombough will run in the open men's 12 km event.  Both races will be held at Forest Park with the 8 km set for 1:15 p.m. and the 12 km scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (Central time).

While there is no World Cross Country Championships this year, the USA Cross Country Championships will serve as a selection race for the U.S. squad that will compete at the 2012 NACAC (North America, Central American and Caribbean) Cross Country Championships.  This event will be held on March 17 in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Both Cheever and Rombough ran cross country at the University of Minnesota, where Cheever set a record in the women's 6 km and Rombough was a three-time All American in cross country and a Big Ten Cross Country Champion.  Most recently, Cheever was a member of the U.S. team that competed at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country International Challenge in Scotland on Jan. 7.  Rombough opened his 2012 season with a 3000 meter race on Jan. 21.

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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