Katie
McGregor Wins USA 15k Championship on March 13;
Antonio Vega, Jason Lehmkuhle, Patrick Smyth Place
3rd,
4th and 7th in Men's 15k Championship Field in
Jacksonville
Minneapolis/St. Paul -
March 14, 2010 - Team USA Minnesota's Katie
McGregor won the women's race at the USA 15k
Championship in Jacksonville, Fla., today after having
placed second at the race the last two years. In
her fifth appearance at the Gate River Run, which
hosts the national 15k championship, McGregor easily
took the title from a deep field of elite women that
included three previous 15k champions and five
Olympians. Her time of 49:51 was a personal best
by 5 seconds as well as 36 seconds ahead of the
second place finisher.
In the men's 15k
championship, three Team USA Minnesota men were in the
top 10 including Antonio Vega, who
was third in 43:55 (previous best was 44:45); Jason
Lehmkuhle who crossed the line in fourth
place with a time of 43:58 (previous best was 44:09);
and Patrick Smyth who was seventh in
44:42 and running his debut in the distance. The
men's team, which included Josh Moen in 20th
place with a time of 46:00, also won the team
competition known as the TenBroeck Team Cup.
The Team USA Minnesota
women were second in the women's TenBroeck competition
with McGregor, Meghan Armstrong and Michelle
Frey scoring for the team. Armstrong
placed 16th with a time of 53:39 and Frey was
22nd in 54:33. Although the elite women started
5 minutes before the men's elite field and the rest of
the 13,000 participants, the race's Equalizer bonus
went to the winning male who crossed the line in 42:58
and ahead of the women.
McGregor is now a
five-time national champion (10,000 meters, 10k road
twice, 25k and the 15k). "Last year the
women went out at a lot easier pace than this
year," said McGregor, who along with eight other
competitors went through the first mile in 5:12.
"There were so many people together and I didn't
know how long that would last. There was a much
deeper field this year with at least 10 women who on
any given day could go for the win."
By mile 3, McGregor and
another competitor (three-time Olympian Jen Rhines who
ended up finishing second) had broken away from the
pack and at mile 6, McGregor made her move and pulled
away, going through the 10k mark by herself at 33:07.
By the time McGregor reached the mile long Hart Bridge
(miles 8 to 9), she had extended her lead by half a
minute.
"I never did look
back although I was tempted to do so," McGregor
said. "I only wanted to run as hard as I
could. I wasn't aware of when people dropped
back although I was watching for shadows, listening to
hear anyone breathing and waiting when the next
clapping would start after I passed by the spectators.
I never did feel super confident that I had the race
won until a spectator yelled on the bridge that I
had a 200 meter lead.
"I felt really
comfortable the whole time and had one of those days
where everything came together. I was excited to
be able to win today. Even though I had two
second place finishes the past two years, I have been
happy every time I have come here no matter what
because I have raced against good people. This
is a fun race and it's great to be part of the team
challenge as well."
(Note: Emily
Brown and Kristen Nicolini did
not travel with the team to Jacksonville for the race
as previously announced and Matt Gabrielson did
not finish).
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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