INDIANAPOLIS  - 2012 Olympian Matt Tegenkamp will lead competitive fields in Monday’s  USA 20 km Championships hosted by the Stratton-Faxon New Haven Road Race in New Haven, Conn. 

Tegenkamp (Portland, Ore.) is the top entrant in the men’s field after finishing as the runner-up at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 27:33.94 and going on to finish 19th at the Olympic Games in 28:18.26.

The top returning man from last year’s 20 km championships is Christo Landry (Ann Arbor, Mich.) who took fourth place in 1:01.17. Others to watch include 2012 USA 25 km Champion Joseph Chirlee(Colorado Springs, Colo.), two-time USA champion Andrew Carlson who took sixth place and James Carney (Chaska, Minn.) who took ninth place at the Olympic Trials marathon in January.

The women’s field features several strong competitors. Katie McGregor (Savage, Minn.) finished third in the 2011 edition of the 20 km championships and has won seven national titles ranging from the 10,000m on the track to the 25 km on the road. Maegan Krifchin (Dewitt, N.Y.) is the top competitor in the U.S. Running Circuit standings with her runner-up finish at the USA Half Marathon Championships in 1:10:56 and third place finish at the 15 km Championships in 43:44.

The top-two American women from the recent Falmouth Road Race, Stephanie Rothstein (Flagstaff, Ariz.) and Renee Metivier-Baillee (Bend, Ore.), are both scheduled to compete. Rothstein took the top American spot in the 7-mile race in 37:24, and Metivier-Baillie was not far behind in 37:43. Also in the line-up is Alisha Williams (Colorado Springs, Colo.) who finished 5th at the Olympic Trials 10,000m in 32:08.51.

Video Coverage
Live text updates of the USA 20km Championships will be available at www.USARunningCircuit.com beginning at 8:40 a.m. ET and a highlight video will be available after the race in cooperation with RunnerSpace.com.

About the USARC
The USA 20 km Championships are the seventh stop on the 2012 USA Running Circuit (USARC), and will feature $43,000 in prize money.  The USARC is a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA Championships from one mile to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners. The 2012 circuit features nine events for men and ten for women.

The 2012 USARC features more than $900,000 in circuit prize money with U.S. athletes competing for the right to represent Team USA in various international competitions.

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USARC race (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1), with a final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6,000, $4,000, and $2,500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall.

The mission of the USA Running Circuit is to showcase, support, and promote U.S. runners.  Since its inception in 1995, the USARC and its races have provided over $6 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.

For more information on the 2012 USA 20 km Championships visit www.usatf.org.