Begley, Rupp Repeat as US 10K Champions

DES MOINES – Amy Begley and
Erica McLain each set stadium records Thursday at the
2010 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium on the
campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The championships will
run through Sunday.

The USA Outdoor Championships
are the third stop of the 2010 USATF Outdoor Visa Championship Series,
which concludes July 3 with the Nike Prefontaine Classic from historic
Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Begley wins second
national 10,000m title

2008 Olympian Amy Begley won
her second consecutive U.S. 10,000m women’s title this evening over
former Iowa State University standout and 2008 NCAA champion Lisa Koll
in a highly competitive race.

The sixth-place finisher at the
2009 World Outdoor Championships in Berlin, Germany, Begley broke away
from Koll in with one lap remaining before crossing the finish line
first in 32:06.45, which shattered the previous Drake Stadium record of
32:44.95 set by Koll in 2008.  Koll finished as
the runner-up in 32:11.72, with Desiree Davila third in 32:22.32 and
Blake Russell fourth in 32:46.73.

McLain sets stadium
record on second best jump

2008 Olympian Erica McLain won
her second USA Outdoor title and set a Drake Stadium record in
dominating the women’s triple jump competition.

McLain ended the suspense in
the first round with what would be the winning leap of 14.18 meters/46
feet 6.25 inches, which would have given her the stadium record.
However, McLain soared to the pit with a 2.1 meters per second wind at
her back, which is slightly over the allowable for record purposes.  On her final attempt she sailed to 14.15m/46-5.25
(+0.4 mps), which bettered the previous stadium record of 13.79m/45-3
set by Shani Marks in 2003.

McLain has been knocking on
the door of her second U.S. Outdoor title since her first triumph in
2005. She finished second at the 2009 USA Outdoor Championships in
Eugene, and placed third in 2007 and 2008.

Two-time Olympic Trials
runner-up and 2009 national outdoor champion Shakeema Welsch was the
runner-up and first competitor to break the stadium record this evening
with a best of 14.07m/46-2. Former University of Oklahoma standout Toni
Smith finished third for the second year in a row with her third round
leap of 13.69m/44-11.

Rupp wins again in
men’s 10,000m

Former University of Oregon
great Galen Rupp won his second consecutive U.S. national men’s 10,000m
title in a spirited battle with 2007 Pan Am Games 1,500m gold medalist
Ed Moran.

Moran, who finished fourth in
the 10,000m at the 2008 Olympic Trials and fifth last year at Nationals,
held a slight lead over Rupp over the final three miles until Rupp
turned on the afterburners with 600 meters to go before crossing the
finish line first in 28:59.29 in adding to an expanding resume that
includes an eighth-place finish at the 2009 World Outdoor Championships
in Berlin. Rupp posted the fourth-fastest time in the world this year
with his 27:10.74 clocking in Palo Alto, Calif., on May 1.

Moran finished as the
runner-up in 29:03.07, with Patrick Smyth third in 29:18.13 and Ryan
Sheehan fourth in 29:18.55.

Speed to burn in 100m
qualifying

2007 World Outdoor
Championships 200m finalist LaShaunte’a Moore won the third heat of
women’s 100m qualifying in 11.26 seconds, which was  the
fastest time of the day. Three-time World Outdoor 200m champion Allyson
Felix won Heat 2 in 11.32, and 2009 NCAA 100m champion and USA Outdoor
Champs fourth-place finisher Alexandria Anderson won Heat 1 in 11.29.

In men’s 100m qualifying,
three-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion and 2008 Olympic Trials
fourth-place finisher Travis Padgett had the fastest time of the three
qualifying heats when he captured Heat 1 in 10.23 seconds. 2008 Olympic
Games 100m and 200m bronze medalist Walter Dix won Heat 3 in 10.27, and
Leroy Dixon, who has finished sixth in this event the last three years,
won Heat 2, also in 10.27.

Dunn does it in 400m
qualifying

2009 USA Outdoor Champs
runner-up and World Outdoor Championships sixth-place finisher Debbie
Dunn led the women’s 400m qualifiers in winning Heat 1 in 51.74. Last
year’s fourth place finisher Natasha Hastings came up with the
second-fastest time of the day from her win in Heat 3 in 51.91, and
reigning World Outdoor champion Sanya Richards-Ross, who has been ranked
#1 in the world at 400m over the last five years, won Heat 2 in the
identical time posted by Hastings.

Jamaal Torrance, who ended
last season ranked #9 in the U.S. by Track & Field News,
posted the fastest time in men’s 400m qualifying of 45.49 in winning
Heat 4. Other first round winners included 2004 Olympic gold medalist
and two-time World Outdoor champion Jeremy Wariner (Heat 3 – 45.80),
LeJerald Betters (Heat 2 – 45.68) and Steven Willey (Heat 1 – 46.35)

Johnson, Williams lead
800m qualifiers

The fastest qualifier in the
first round of the women’s 800m was 2007 USA Outdoor and NCAA champion
Alysia Johnson, who won Heat 2 in 2:02.19, with the University of
Tennessee’s Phoebe Wright winning the first heat in the second-fastest
time of the day of 2:02.33. Wright won the NCAA Outdoor crown earlier
this month in Eugene, and finished third at last year’s USA Outdoor
Championships.

Two-time USA Junior champion
Karjuan Williams led the men’s 800m qualifiers with his win in Heat 2 in
1:47.02. 2009 USA Outdoor Championships eighth-place finisher Tyler
Mulder won the first heat in the second-fastest time of the day of
1:47.18, with two-time defending champion Nick Symmonds winning Heat 3
in the third-fastest time of 1:47.91.

Donohue, Pierce post
fastest times in women’s 1,500m

2008 Olympian and 2009 USA
Outdoor Champs fourth-place finisher Erin Donohue was the fastest of 18
competitors in women’s 1,500m qualifying. Donohue won the second of two
heats in 4:11.72, with 2009 World Outdoor Championships 1,500m
sixth-place finisher Anna Pierce finishing as the runner-up in that heat
in 4:11.82, which was the second-fastest time of the day.

2009 World Outdoor
Championships bronze medalist and reigning national champion Shannon
Rowbury won Heat 1 in 4:11.87, with 2008 Olympic Games 10,000m bronze
medalist Shalane Flanagan finishing as runner-up in 4:11.94.

Jackson leads the way
in men’s 400m hurdles

2005 World Outdoor champion
Bershawn “Batman” Jackson is the unquestioned favorite in the men’s 400m
hurdles and his performance in the opening round confirmed his status
as the man to beat.

The bronze medalist at the
2008 Olympic Games and 2009 World Outdoor Championships, Jackson won the
third of three heats in 49.58 as he begins the quest to win his third
consecutive USA Outdoor title. 2009 NCAA champion Jeshua Anderson won
Heat 2 in 49.61, and last year’s USA runner-up and 2010 NCAA champion
Johnny Dutch was the victor in Heat 1 in 49.64.

Franek in first in
women’s steeple

A competitive first heat of
women’s steeplechase qualifying was won by Penn State University’s 2010
NCAA champion Bridget Franek, who finished third at last year’s USA
Championships and crossed the finish line first today in 9:58.91. 2008
Olympic Trials fourth-place finisher Nicole Bush was the runner-up in
10:00.69

2006 national steeple champion Lisa Aguilera won Heat 2
in 10:02.75, with former Stanford standout Lindsay Allen, who finished
seventh at last year’s championships, placing second in 10:03.81.

USA Outdoor
Championships network television coverage begins Friday night!

The 2010 USA Outdoor
Championships will be televised on the following dates (All times
Eastern):

June 25  – 8:00 – 10 p.m. on ESPN
June
26 – 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. on ESPN
June 26 –  3:00 –
4:00 p.m. on NBC
June 27 – 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. on ESPN
June 27 –
3:00 – 4:00 p.m. on NBC

USA Track & Field, in
conjunction with RunnerSpace, is providing real-time coverage of all
events not broadcast on television. Highlighted competitions in the
webcast include Thursday’s men’s and women’s 10,000m as well as
extensive field event coverage. Webcasts will also include the voices of
elite athletes as guest commentators. The webcasts will be found on the
USATF 2010 Championships page in addition to an already posted video
clip from USATF CEO Doug Logan on the partnership at: www.usatf.org