Jon Peterson Joins Team USA Minnesota

Jon Peterson, an All-American distance runner at the University of California- Davis,  has joined Team USA Minnesota.  Born in Colorado, Peterson has already settled into the Minnesota community as he is the assistant boys XC coach at Edina High School.  

At UC Davis, Peterson was the Big West Conference Cross Country champion in 2010 and was named UC Davis Cross Country Most Valuable Runner in 2007, 2009-2011, and he finished 14th in the NCAA Division I Championships in 2010, and was twice selected as the  recipient of the Colby E. "Babe" Slater Award as school's outstanding male athlete of the year.

On the track, Peterson was the 2012 Big West Conference champion in both the 1500m and 5000m and in 2010 was named Big West Athlete of the Year.  His personal bests include 3:42.78 in the 1500m, 13:41.93 in the 5000m, and 28:50.45 in the 10,000m.  His 5K and 10K track times are school records.

Peterson grew up in Clovis, CA, and is a 2007 graduate of Clovis High School. He had a personal bests of 4:13.67 in the mile and 9:11.93 in the two-mile and was conference and section champion in the 1600 his senior year

He will make his professional running debut at the USA 10 Mile Championships, which will be held in conjunction with the Medtronic TC 10 Mile on Oct. 7.  He lists among his goals running a sub-four minute mile.  His best time while running at UC Davis was 4:03.89.  

"Coming off of a successful collegiate career, I knew I wanted to pursue the next step and run professionally, but wanted to be sure I found a program that provided the right fit," said Peterson. "I was looking for a larger support system as well as more competition within my daily training routine, but wanted to venture outside of California to try something new. That's where Minnesota seemed to provide the proper support and edge."