RunnersWeb Athletics: Saucony® Athlete And American 5,000-Meter Record Holder Molly Huddle Secures Spot On Team USA

"Team Saucony" Continues to Achieve Record Number of Olympic berths for Performance Running Brand at 2012 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials

LEXINGTON, MA (June 29, 2012) -- Global performance running footwear and apparel brand Saucony, Inc. today announced that American 5,000-meter record holder and "Team Saucony" athlete Molly Huddle locked up her first Olympic appearance by finishing second in the women's 5,000-meter final at the U.S. Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon on Thursday night. With a time of 15:14.40, Huddle added to a distinguished career that saw her set the still-standing American record in the 5,000 two years ago with a time of 14:44.76 in Brussels, Belgium. She won the 5,000 last year at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field.

"Molly has been a member of the Saucony family since graduating from Notre Dame five years ago," said Mark Bossardet, vice president of sports marketing for Saucony. "Since then, we've had the opportunity to be a part of her outstanding journey to becoming an Olympian. Her perseverance, hard work and quiet confidence are an inspiration to not only all of us here at Saucony, but to runners everywhere. We're incredibly proud of Molly and each of our ‘Team Saucony' athletes who continue to impress the track and field community. We couldn't be more ecstatic with our brand's presence here in Eugene and look forward to London next month."

In addition to Huddle, 27, who now resides in Providence, Rhode Island, other "Team Saucony" athletes that have earned Team USA berths are: Duane Solomon, Jr. (800-meter); Tianna Madison (100-meter); DeeDee Trotter (400-meter); Lauryn Williams (4X100-meter relay team); and Keisha Baker (4X400-meter relay team).

"Team Saucony" athletes that have advanced from preliminary rounds to final and semifinal events scheduled for today, Friday, June 29, include:

Ashley Higginson and Mason Cathey--women's 3,000-meter steeplechase finals
Garrett Heath and Jeff See--men's 1,500-meter semifinals

Queen Harrison--women's 400-meter hurdles semifinals >Tianna Madison, Porscha Lucas, Lauryn Williams--women's 200-meter semifinals

The U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials run from June 21 to July 1 at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Follow "Team Saucony" at Saucony.com.

Team Saucony competing at the 2012 U.S. Track and Field Trials is as follows:

ATHLETE EVENT HOMETOWN

WOMEN

KESHIA BAKER 400M Los Angeles, CA

MOLLY BECKWITH 800M S. Bloomington, IN

MASON CATHEY STEEPLE Indianapolis, IN

AMANDA DUNNE 5000M Columbia, Missouri

QUEEN HARRISON 100Mh/400Mh Blacksburg, VA

ASHLEY HIGGINSON STEEPLE Annandale, NJ

MOLLY HUDDLE 5000M Providence, RI

MAGDA LEWY-BOULET 5000M/10,000M Oakland, CA

PORSCHA LUCAS 200M College Station, TX

TIANNA MADISON 100M/200M/LJ Orlando, FL

AMY MORTIMER 1500M Manhattan, KS

DEEDEE TROTTER 400M Knoxville, TN

LAURYN WILLIAMS 100M Miami, FL

JESSICA YOUNG 100M Columbia, SC

MEN

GARRETT HEATH 1500M Palo Alto, CA

ADAM NELSON SHOT PUT Watkinsville, GA

WILLIE PERRY 100M Raleigh, NC

JEFF SEE 1500M Columbus, OH

DUANE SOLOMON 800M Rosemead, CA

WALLACE SPEARMON 200M Bryan, TX

BEN TRUE 10,000M Hanover, NH

RYAN WILSON 110Mh Los Angeles, CA

About Saucony, Inc.: Saucony, Inc., a subsidiary of Collective Brands, Inc., is a leading global running lifestyle brand that fuses performance, innovation and style to create compelling footwear and apparel with its widely recognized brands Saucony and Saucony Originals. Founded in 1898, Saucony continues to inspire runners everywhere with its award winning innovations, including ProGrid(TM), PowerGrid(TM) and ViZiPRO(TM) apparel. For more information, go to Saucony.com.

Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS) is a leader in bringing compelling lifestyle, fashion and performance brands for footwear and related accessories to consumers worldwide. The company operates three strategic units covering a powerful brand portfolio, as well as multiple price points and selling channels including retail, wholesale, ecommerce and licensing. Collective Brands, Inc. includes Payless ShoeSource, focused on democratizing fashion and design in footwear and accessories through its nearly 4,500-store retail chain, with its brands Airwalk®, Dexter® and Champion® and designer collections by fashion designers Christian Siriano, Lela Rose, Isabel Toledo and Silvia Tcherassi; Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group, focused on lifestyle and performance branded footwear and high-quality children's footwear sold primarily through wholesaling, with its brands including Stride Rite®, Keds®, Sperry Top-Sider® Robeez®, and Saucony®, among others; and Collective Licensing International, the brand development, management and global licensing unit, with such youth lifestyle brands as Airwalk®, Above The Rim®, Vision Street Wear®, STRIKEFORCE(TM), Clinch Gear(TM), Sims®, Lamar® and LTD®, World Snowboarding Championships(TM) and Hind®. Information about, and links for shopping on, each of the Collective Brand's units can be found at CollectiveBrands.com.