USA Championships Kick-Off in Des Moines

Just down the road from those of us here in Minnesota, the 2010 USA Outdoor Championships will kick-off today at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Remarkably, the venerable stadium that has hosted more than 100 editions of the Drake Relays has never been the site of the USA Championships.

The meet will feature both the USA Championships, for open runners, and the USA Junior Championships, for athletes aged 19-years-old and under.

Action for open athletes begins at 4:15 p.m. today. USA Junior action kicked off yesterday with multi-event competition. The USA Junior Championships concludes on Saturday; the USA Championships closes on Sunday.

Minnesota will be well-represented in both meets.

Headlining the open competition among Minnesota women are: 800-meter stars Laura Januszewski and Heather Dorniden; 1500m specialists Molly Lehman and Gabriele Anderson; 10,000m runners Katie McGregor, Meghan Armstrong, and Megan Duwell; and triple jumper Amanda Smock.

The top men in action include: 1500m contenders Will Leer, Garrett Heath, Elliott Heath (who is also entered in the 5000m), and Ben Blankenship and 10,000 specialists Josh Moen, Patrick Smyth, and Michael Krish.

USA Junior competition features Minnesota prep stars Jessica January in the 100m hurdles and Maggie Ewen in the shot put as well as North Dakota State freshman Emily Stalpes, a Wayzata High School alum, in the heptathlon. (Stalpes is in 31st place after yesterday's open session of competition.)

On the boys side of the competition, Devin Crawford-Tufts will race the 100m and 200m, Jacob Sandry will run 1500m, Mike Sandle will compete in the triple jump, and throwers Logan Hussung, Jake Fenske, and Casey Dehn will compete in the shot put. Hussung will also throw the discus.

(Thanks go to Kevin Holubar for help compiling the list of athletes. Check out his preview of the USA Juniors throwing competition, HERE, on his fine Throwing Farther web-site.)

If you're not making the trip down I-35 for meet, you can still follow the action on-line.

Find live video of the USA Junior competition HERE.

Find live video of USA Championship competition not broadcast on live TV HERE.

Live results are posted HERE.