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FIVE TEAM USA MINNESOTA RUNNERS TO COMPETE APRIL 5 AT CHERRY BLOSSOM 10 MILER OR AT CARLSBAD 5000 Team USA Minnesota Press Release Minneapolis/St. Paul - Five Team USA Minnesota
distance runners will be in competitions at opposite ends of the country on
April 5 when they race at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run in
Washington, D.C. or at the Carlsbad 5000 on the southern coast of
California.
Competing at the 37th running of the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler will be
Jason Lehmkuhle, Kristen Nicolini Lehmkuhle
and Michelle Lilienthal. The event features a $40,000
prize purse with first place male and female each winning $7,500. There is
a 10-minute advance start for the women's elite field beginning at 7:30
a.m. The race, with some 12,000 participants, is part of the National
Cherry Blossom Festival in the nation's capital.
Lehmkuhle most recently placed seventh at the USA 15k Championships in Jacksonville on March 14, was second in the 2008 USA Half Marathon Championships, second in the 2007 USA 10 Mile Championships and fifth at the USA Men's Olympic Marathon Trials. He has a best in the 10 mile of 47:48. So far in 2009, Nicolini Lehmkuhle has placed seventh at the USA Half
Marathon Championships in January, and 14th at the USA 15k Championships in
March. She has also been a three-time champion of the Cow Harbor 10k and
in 2007, she won the Medtronic TC 10 Mile. She has a best of 56:17 in the
distance.
Lilienthal will be making her debut at the 10 mile distance although she
has previously run 1:12:42 for the half marathon, 1:29:53 for the 25k and has a
personal best of 2:35:51 in the marathon. Her credentials include third
place in 2007 at both the USA Half Marathon and 25k Championships, and fourth
place at the 2006 USA Marathon Championships.
Carlsbad 5000
Representing Team USA Minnesota at the Carlsbad 5000 will be four-time
national champion Katie McGregor and 2009 IAAF World Marathon
Championships qualifer Matt Gabrielson. Billed as the
world's fastest 5 km road race with 16 world records, the race features 2 miles
along the Pacific Ocean with a start and finish in downtown Carlsbad (located 40
miles north of San Diego). The men's invitational race at the 24th running
of the event starts at 12:15 p.m. and the women's invitational race is at
12:17. A $67,600 prize purse features $5,000 for both the first place
male and female.
McGregor most recently finished second at the USA 15k Championships on
March 14. She is a national champion in the 25k, 10k road (twice) and
10,000 meters. She has also been a five-time qualifier for the U.S. World
Cross Country team, has been a five-time champion of the Medtronic TC 10
Mile, and has run a best of 15:22 in the 5000m.
Gabrielson has a best in the 5000 meters of 13:30.68 and was the eighth
place finisher in the 5000 at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track Trials. Last
fall he was second at the USA Men's Marathon Championship, qualifying him to be
a member of the U.S. team that will compete in the marathon at the IAAF World
Outdoor Championships in Berlin in August.
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) and its
silver sponsor is the Twin Cities Marathon, Inc. (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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