Olympians to lead Team USA at Five Nations Match

Olympians to lead Team USA at Five Nations Match

INDIANAPOLIS - 2008 Olympians David Payne, Lolo Jones, Andra Manson, Funmi Jimoh and Amy Yoder Begley will lead Team USA in competition at the 2009 Five Nations Match, January 31 at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Five Nations Match will feature one athlete in each event from five nations: the United States, Great Britain, Sweden, Germany and a Commonwealth Select team. It is a unique country vs. country format that will feature athletes from the different nations battling against each other to earn points towards their teams overall match total.

On the men's side, 2008 Olympic 110-meter hurdle silver medalist David Payne will take on the field in the 60-meter hurdles. Andra Manson, the 2008 World Indoor bronze medalist, is set to compete in the high jump and 2008 World Indoor 4x400m gold medalist Jamaal Torrance will race in the 400m.

World-ranked #1 in the 100m hurdles, 2008 World Indoor champion Lolo Jones will toe the line in the women's 60m hurdles while, 2008 World Indoor champion Angela Williams will challenge the field in the women's 60m dash. 2008 Olympic Games finalist Funmi Jimoh is slated to compete in the women's long jump and 2008 Olympian Amy Yoder Begley will race in the women's 3,000m.

Also watch for 2007 World Outdoor team member Duane Solomon in the men's 800m, while Mark Jelks makes a run for it in the 60m dash. Chris Berrian will compete in the 200m and Bolota Asmerom is entered in the 3,000m. In the field events, former Washington standout Norris Frederick is set to compete in the long jump and 2002 NCAA champion Jeremy Scott will take part in the pole vault.

Three-time NCAA 4x100m champion Stephanie Durst is entered in the women's 200m and Deonna Lawrence, who anchored LSU to two national titles in the 4x400m, will run the 400m. Nikeya Green, who last competed in the Five Nations Match in 2007, is back to take on the field in the women's 800m while former Georgetown standout Elizabeth Maloy will race in the 1,500m.

The Team Staff for the Five Nations Match includes Women's head coach Sandy Fowler, who is in her 11th season as Women's head coach at the University of Alabama, and Men's head coach Pete Zinno, the former men's head coach at the New York Institute of Technology and assistant coach at St. John's University.

For more information on the 2009 Five Nations Match, visit www.usatf.org.