Minneapolis/St. Paul – Dec. 7, 2011 – Team USA Minnesota’s Jon Grey and Matt Llano will compete as individuals at the 2011 National Club Cross Country Championships in Seattle on Dec. 10. Both athletes will run in the open men’s 10 km event.
The championships will be held at the Jefferson Park Golf Course with more than 100 clubs and 1,100 competitors participating. The open men’s 10 km will be the last event of the day at 1:45 p.m. (Pacific time). The USATF Club Cross Championships is also a selection race for the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country International Challenge, which will be contested in Scotland on Jan. 7, 2012.
Both Grey and Llano joined Team USA Minnesota in September. Grey is a graduate of William and Mary College where he posted 13:46 in the 5000 meters and 28:40 in the 10,000 meters. The three-time All American was also 17th at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Since becoming a professional runner, he placed 13th at the USA 10 Mile Championships in October with a time of 47:59 and he won the Life Time Fitness Turkey Day 5k on Thanksgiving Day in 14:18.
Llano graduated from the University of Richmond where he was a two-time qualifier for the NCAA Cross Country Championships and last spring posted 28:43 in the 10,000 meters at the end of his collegiate career. The All-American was also ninth at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 10,000 meters. His first professional competition was at the Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day where he finished 12th.
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.tcmevents.org). It is also supported by the New York Road Runners and the USA Distance Project. For more information, visit the team’s web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org.