Minneapolis/St. Paul - June 9, 2010 - Six Team USA Minnesota distance runners will compete the weekend of June 12-13 with four of the athletes using their races as tune-ups for the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships that will be held June 24-27 in Des Moines.  Heather Dorniden will run the 800 meters at the adidas Grand Prix in New York City; Josh Moen, Kristen Nicolini and Michelle Frey will race in the Back in Shape 5k in Minneapolis; and Katie McGregor and Meghan Armstrong are entered in the 5000 meters at the USATF North Region Open Outdoor Track & Field Championships to be held in St. Paul.

adidas Grand Prix - June 12

Heather Dorniden will be back on the track to run the 800 meters after setting a personal best in the 1500 meters of 4:15.74 at the American Milers Club meet on May 22.  Dorniden will be among the competitors in the women's 800 at the adidas Grand Prix which will be held at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island.  The sixth edition of the New York City meet is part of the international IAAF Diamond League circuit and will be shown on NBC from 4-6 p.m. (Eastern) on Saturday.

Dorniden has a season best of 2:02.33 which she set at the USA Indoor Championships in February and a best in the distance of 2:01.05.  She plans to compete in the 800 meters at the USA Outdoor Championships.

Back Shape 5k - June 12

Josh Moen will return to the CDI Back in Shape 5k in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington to defend his win in 2009.  Last year his time was 14:09 with nine runners posting times under 15 minutes.  The road race, presented by Northwestern Health Sciences University, starts at 8 a.m. and is on an out-and-back course.  Moen is preparing to run the 10,000 meters at the USA Outdoor Championships and will use the road race as a final tune-up before competing in his home state of Iowa on June 24.

Kristen Nicolini will also run the Back in Shape 5k as she starts her season on the roads after placing third in the USA Women's Marathon Championship last fall at Twin Cities with a time of 2:35:06.  She has a best in the 5k of 15:51.  Michelle Frey is getting back on the roads after running the Boston Marathon in April.  She has run 16:33 in the 5k distance. 

USATF North Region Open Outdoor Track & Field Championships - June 13

Katie McGregor and Meghan Armstrong will run the 5000 meters at the USATF North Region Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Sunday.  The event, held in conjunction with the USATF Minnesota Open & Masters Outdoor Championships and the Mid-America Masters Outdoor Championships, will be conducted at Hamline University's Klas Field in St. Paul.  The running events start at 9:00 a.m.

Both McGregor and Armstrong will run the 10,000 meters at the USA Outdoor Championships on June 24.  McGregor has a best of 15:22 in the 5000 and Armstrong has posted 15:41.

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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