Josh Moen, Macharia Yuot Join Team USA Minnesota

Minneapolis/St. Paul - Aug. 27, 2008 - Two Division III standout runners, who have already made significant strides in their distance running careers, have joined the Team USA Minnesota Distance Training Center. They are Josh Moen , who ran for Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa; and Macharia Yuot , who competed for Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Moen, 26, grew up in Readlyn, Iowa, and graduated from Wartburg in 2005. At Wartburg he was a 10-time NCAA Division III All-American and a five-time National Champion in cross country and track. Since 2005, he has been a three-time member of the U.S. Chiba Ekiden team in Japan, including the team that set the U.S. and North American record at the event. He has also posted a best of 28:31.08 in the 10,000 meters, and a mark of 28:58 in the 10k on the roads, and placed fourth in both the 2005 and 2008 USA 10k Road Championships.

He has raced distances from the 5k up through the half marathon - with a best of 1:04:37 - and will make his marathon debut at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on Oct. 5. Moen has been training with Team USA Minnesota since Aug. 1.

Yuot, 26, is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan who arrived in the United States in 2000. At West Philadelphia Catholic High School he ran track and then ran track and cross country at Widener, where he was a 14-time All American and six-time NCAA Division III National Champion. Since completing his collegiate eligibility in the fall of 2006, Yuot has run three marathons including the U.S. Men's Olympic Marathon Trials in November 2007. He became a U.S. citizen in 2007.

So far in 2008, he has placed seventh in the USA 10k Championships, 10th at the USA 8k Championships, and 13th at the USA 15k Championships. Yuot joined Team USA Minnesota in mid-August.

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 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 the Twin Citeis Marathon, Inc. (www.mtcmarathon.org). It is also supported by the New York Road Runners and the USA Distance Project. For more information, visit the web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org.

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Contact:

Pat Goodwin

952-924-1081

pfgoodwin@teamusaminnesota.org