Posted: January 16, 2004

Athletics: Luke Watson, Jenelle Deatherage Join Team USA Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS - (Jan. 14, 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.

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 1600m and 3200m. 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 5000m 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 minutes 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 1600m. At the University of Wisconsin in 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 1500m. In 2003, she placed third at the U.S. Indoor Championships in the 1500 and finished 8th at the U.S. Outdoor Championships in the 1500. She has a personal best in the 1500 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.

About Team USA Minnesota
Team USA Minnesota, part of the Team USA Distance Running program, 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 its website at www.teamusaminnesota.org