Minneapolis/St. Paul - Jan. 12, 2010 - Six Team USA Minnesota distance runners will be among the competitors at the 2010 USA Half Marathon Championships on Jan. 17.  Hosted by the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, the race features a deep field of American men and women.

The Team USA Minnesota men include Antonio Vega, Matt Gabrielson, Josh Moen and Patrick Smyth.  The women from the team are Meghan Armstrong and Michelle Frey.  Vega, Gabrielson, Armstrong and Frey have previously run at the Half Marathon Championships in Houston.  Moen will make his first appearance at the championships in Houston and Smyth will make his debut in the distance.

At the 2009 Half Marathon Championships, Vega posted a personal best time of 1:02:55 to finish seventh.  Gabrielson has a best in the half marathon of 1:04:06 and will make his fourth appearance at the championships having previously placed second in 2005, sixth in 2006 and ninth in 2008.

Moen has run 1:04:37 in the half marathon and more recently posted a breakout time of 46:38 in the USA Men's 10 Mile Championship at Twin Cities in October where he placed second.  Smyth, who was third at the Men's 10 Mile Championship in 47:09 and ran 1:00:43 in the 20k in September, will move up to the half marathon distance at Houston.

Armstrong ran 1:14:57 in Houston in 2009 to finish in 16th plsce in her debut at the distance.  Frey (formerly Lilienthal) ran 1:15:46 to place 19th last year.  Frey has a best of 1:12:43 in the half marathon which she set at the championships in Houston in 2007 to place third.

This is the sixth consecutive year that the Aramco Houston Half Marathon has hosted the USA Men's Half Marathon Championship and the fourth year for the Women's Half Marathon Championship.  The prize purse totals $59,500 with $12,000 each for the first place male and female.

Indoor Track Meets

Both Heather Dorniden and Katie McGregor will begin their 2010 seasons with indoor track competitions on Jan. 16.  Dorniden will run the mile at the Minnesota Open, held at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse in Minneapolis; McGregor will do the 3000 meters at the PSU (Penn State University) Northeast Challenge, held at the Ashenfelter Track in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Dorniden, who has a best of 4:38.80 in the mile, starts a series of track competitions to prepare for the USA Indoor Championships, which are set for Feb. 27-28 in Albuquerque.  McGregor is using the indoor meet to begin her preparations for the USA Cross Country Championships, which will be held in Spokane on Feb. 13.  She has a best of 8:59.64 in the 3000m

At the Northwest Open held on Jan. 9 at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse, Antonio Vega was first in the 3000 meters in a personalb est time of 8:06.73 (previous best was 8:09) and Matt Gabrielson placed second in 8:06.78.  Also running the 3000 was Meghan Armstrong who won the women's race in 9:30.59.

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 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) anad 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.  For more information, visit the web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org.

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Contact:

Pat Goodwin

952-924-1081

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