| Team USA Minnesota Results from USA Outdoor |
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Minneapolis/St. Paul - June 27, 2010 - Five Team USA Minnesota distance runners competed at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships led by Patrick Smyth and his third place finish in the men's 10,000 meters on Thursday evening, June 24. The Championships were held in Des Moines from June 24-27 at Drake Stadium.
Smyth's time was 29:18.13 in the slow and tactical race during which he was up front most of the way, faded to fifth place toward the end, and then during the final lap passed two runners to secure the bronze. "The race had a lot of surges and a lot of tactics, with a lot of craziness going on," said Smyth in a Runnerspace.com interview. "With 25 laps in the 10k, you have to be cognizant of what is going on."
Also competing in the men's 10,000 was Josh Moen, who finished in 14th place with a time of 29:52.56. Next up for both Smyth and Moen will be the USA Men's 10k Championships at Peachtree in Atlanta on July 4th.
In the women's 10,000 meters, held the same evening, Katie McGregor was seventh with a time of 32:58.62 and Meghan Armstrong placed 11th with a time of 33:54.05. "I was hoping my road performances would carry over to the track but it didn't work out that way," said McGregor who won the 2010 USA 15k and 25k Championships earlier this year. "I would have liked to have stayed in that third or fourth place spot throughout the race but it wasn't to be."
McGregor plans to take a break and then start preparations for a fall marathon. Armstrong leaves this week for Europe to compete in the 1500 and 5000 meter distances.
Heather Dorniden ran in the first heat of the women's 800 meters on Thursday afternoon. With 200 meters to go, she was tripped from behind and fell hard to the track, eventually finishing in 2:11.11 and out of contention. Team USA Minnesota immediately filed a protest in an effort to advance Dorniden to the semifinal on Friday, but the protest was denied by USATF officials.
Dorniden leaves for Europe on June 30 and will compete on the track circuit there in the 800 and 1500 meters until mid-July.
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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