Team USA announced for North American 5 km Team Challenge

Virginia Intermont\'s Fernando Cabada Selected to Participate

(Tuesday, September 27, 2005, Indianapolis, Indiana) - USA Track &
Field
has announced the Team USA for the North American 5 km Team Challenge,
hosted by the Arturo Barrios Invitational in Chula Vista, Calif., on
October 23.

The U.S. team will be competing against teams from Canada, the 2004
team
champions and Mexico for a total prize purse of $25,000. Each team will
be represented by 6 athletes, 3 men and 3 women, scoring the top two
times for each sex from each team. The winning team will receive
$12,000, second place $6,000 and third $3000.

Below is the Team USA lineup:

Fernando Cabada, 23, Bristol, Va. The 2005 NAIA 5,000 and 10,000 meter
champion, Cabada has earned numerous All-American honors at Virginia
Intermont College. He was a member of the championship U.S. team that
won the inaugural NACAC Cross Country Championships in March.

Ian Connor, 25, Lenoir, N.C. A 2002 graduate of Ohio State, Connor was
on the 2003 U.S. World Cross Country team. An Olympic Trials
semifinalist in the 1,500m, he owns a personal best in that event of
3:40. In 2005, Connor ran a 5,000m PR of 13:43 and qualified for the
USATF Outdoor Championships.

Peter Julian, 34, Boulder, Colo. Julian, a four-time All-American at
the
University of Portland, earned a spot on the North American team after
finishing sixth at the USA 5 km Championships in Providence, R.I. A
fixture on the USA Road Running Circuit for several years, Julian has
also finished in the top-ten at the 2005 USA 8 km and 10 Mile
Championships. Now the head Cross Country and Track coach at Metro
State in Denver, Colo., Julian was also responsible for the city of
Boulder\'s successful bid to host the 2007 USA Cross Country
Championships.

Lauren Fleshmen, 24, Stanford, Calif. A 14-time All-American at
Stanford, Fleshman made an impressive transition into the professional
ranks becoming one of the United States\' top prospects in the middle
distances. Finishing 2nd in 5,000m at USA Outdoors in 15:16.80, she
then went on to run a PR of 15:02.52 in Rome this summer and competed
at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships. Earlier this year she was the
top U.S. finisher at World XC (11th, 13:44), leading Team USA to team
bronze medal.

Amy Yoder-Begley, 27, Albuquerque, N.M. A 15-time All-American at the
University of Arkansas, Begley is the 2004 USA Women\'s 10 km champion.
She was seventh in the 5,000 meters at the 2005 U.S. Outdoor Tack &
Field Championships and was fourth at the 2005 USA 5 km road
championships.

Amy Mortimer, 24, Boston, Mass. An assistant track coach at Boston
College, Mortimer was a member of the U.S. women\'s bronze-medal winning
team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She was third at
the 2005 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at 1500 meters, fifth
at the USA 5 km Championships and ninth at the USA 8 km Championships.

For more information on the 2005 North American 5 km Team Challenge
visit www.usatf.org.