Luke Watson, Jenelle Deatherage join Team USA Minnesota; January road race competitions announced

Jenelle Deatherage (Photo: Alison Wade/New York Road Runners)

Minneapolis - January 7, 2003 - Team USA Minnesota has selected two more athletes — Luke Watson and Jenelle Deatherage — to join the post collegiate distance training center based in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The team also announced that three of its athletes will compete in national road races during January.

Watson is a native of Minnesota where he was a star athlete in cross country, Nordic skiing and track at Stillwater High School. During his last two years in high school in 1997-98, he led the Stillwater cross country team to a #1 national ranking and claimed five individual state championships — in cross country, the 1,600m and 3,200m. At Notre Dame, he was an eight-time All-American, a six-time Big East Champion, and holder of five school records. During his collegiate career, which he completed last summer, he was the Junior National Cross Country Champion (1999), three-time Big East Steeplechase Champion, two-time Big East 5,000m Champion, Big East Mile Champion, Great Lakes Region Cross Country Champion, and two-time Notre Dame Invitational Cross Country Champion. While in graduate school at Notre Dame in early 2003, he broke 4:00 in the mile with a time of 3:57.83. Watson has a masters degree in accountancy and moved back to the Twin Cities in December.

Deatherage is from East Peoria, Illinois, where she went to East Peoria Community School and was a state champion in cross country and the 1,600m. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she was a four-time All-American in cross country, indoor and outdoor track as well as the University of Wisconsin Female Athlete of the Year in 1999. At the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2000, she placed 10th in the 1,500m. In 2003, she placed third at the U.S. Indoor Championships in the 1,500 and finished eighth at the U.S. Outdoor Championships in the 1,500. She has a personal best in the 1,500 of 4:12.75. Deatherage began training with Team USA Minnesota in the late summer of 2003 while completing an internship in physical therapy in St. Paul. After a final internship this fall in Florida and receiving her masters in physical therapy from the University of Wisconsin, she moved to the Twin Cities to join the team.

The Team USA Minnesota athletes now include females Carrie Tollefson, Katie McGregor, Sara Wells, Kristen Nicolini, Johanna Olson, Dana Coons and Jenelle Deatherage; male runners are Matt Gabrielson, Toby Henkels, Chris Lundstrom, Mike Wisniewski, Jason Lehmkuhle, Zachary Schendel, Lyle Weese and Luke Watson.

Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon - Jan. 11
Jason Lehmkuhle will be among the elite field for the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Half Marathon in Phoenix on Jan. 11. He is using the race as part of his preparation for the U.S. Men's Olympic Marathon Trials in Birmingham, Alabama, on Feb. 7. Lehmkuhle won the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth last June in 1:06:37; the Hennepin Lake Classic 10k and 5k in Minneapolis in August in 29:57 and 14:46 respectively; the Cow Harbor 10k in New York in September with a time of 29:53; and the Arizona Desert Classic 30k in December. Running in his first marathon at Chicago last fall, Lehmkuhle finished 20th overall in a time of 2:18:24 to achieve an "A" qualifier for the U.S. marathon trials.

California 10 Mile - Jan. 11
Chris Lundstrom returns to the California 10 Miler in Stockton on Jan. 11 where he placed fourth last year. The race will be his last long distance event before competing in the U.S. Men's Olympic Marathon Trials in Birmingham on Feb. 7. Lundstrom achieved his "A" qualifier time of 2:18:08 for the U.S. marathon trials with a third place finish in the National Marathon Championships at the New York City Marathon in 2001. He won the TC 10 Mile, part of the Twin Cities Marathon weekend, in October 2003.

Halliburton Int'l Half Marathon - Jan. 18
Johanna Olson will head to Houston on Jan. 18 for the Halliburton Int'l Half Marathon. This will be Olson's first race since placing 7th at the Oct. 5 Twin Cities Marathon, where she ran 2:43:27 in her debut marathon to qualify for the U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials in St. Louis on April 3. She has a best of 1:15:41 in the half marathon which she set at the U.S. Women's Half Marathon Championships in Duluth last June.

About Team USA Minnesota
Team USA Minnesota is based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, where the athletes live and work. It was formed in January 2001 and began selecting athletes in April of that year. The Team USA Minnesota Distance Training Center is a coordinated effort to bring local resources together to improve post-collegiate American distance running and develop future Olympians. The athletes are coached by Dennis Barker, head cross country and track coach at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

The Minnesota training center's major sponsor is Life Time Fitness; silver and bronze sponsors repsectively are the Twin Cities Marathon and the Minnesota Distance Running Association. For more information about Team USA Minnesota, visit the web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org.