OTC Elite’s Mead, O’Lionaird and van Ingen will be in action this Saturday
Russell Brown and Julia Lucas to speak at TrackTown Tuesday event
Eugene, Ore. – This Saturday, three OTC Elite athletes are heading east to race both indoors and out. Ciaran O’Lionaird and Erik van Ingen are set for the 3,000 meters at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, while Hassan Mead will travel to St. Louis to compete in the USA Cross Country Championships.
Saturday morning, Mead will toe the line in the 12-kilometer race and shoot for an opportunity to represent Team USA at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on March 24 in Poland. Other notable competitors include Olympians Dathan Ritzenhein and Matt Tegenkamp, and former University of Oregon athlete Luke Puskedra.
Saturday evening, O’Lionaird and van Ingen will take on a stacked field—including Galen Rupp and Ethiopia’s Dejen Gebremeskel—in the 3,000. This race will be O’Lionaird’s first of the year. Middle-distance specialist van Ingen made his OTC Elite debut last weekend, winning the mile at the Washington Invitational in Seattle.
O’Lionaird will return to Boston as a reigning champion, just not in the 3,000. He mentioned his 2012 mile win on his twitter feed, “Would love to defend the mile @NBIndoorGP, but looking big picture and opening with a 3k to see where this base work has me!”
Both events will be streamed live from the following websites:
- USA XC Championships on www.USARunningCircuit.com at 7:15 a.m. PST.
- New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on www.ESPN3.com at 2:00 p.m. PST, or tape delayed on Sunday, February 3 on ESPN2 at 11:00 a.m. PST.
In other news, TrackTown USA President Vin Lananna will welcome OTC Elite athletes Russell Brown and Julia Lucas to speak at the second TrackTown Tuesday event of 2013 on February 5 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Springfield, beginning at 7:00 p.m. They will be joined by members of the University of Oregon women’s cross country team, who won the 2012 NCAA Cross Country Championship this past November.
For complete results, athlete photos and tweets, check out OTCElite.com.
