Five current and one future ZAP resident athletes took part in this past weekend's (6/25-6/28) USATF Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Kicking things off for ZAP Elite was 3rd year resident athlete Allison Grace who grabbed a 10th place finish and a new personal best in the 10,000m with a time of 33:12. She concluded her stellar weekend of racing by doubling back in the 5,000m the following evening with another personal best time of 15:47, good for 8th. The performance is Grace's 4th personal best in the 5,000m event in 2009 alone. "Alli came together nicely at the end of her season," said Elite Athlete Coach Pete Rea. "She also had the 3rd fastest final 1000m of any women in the 5k which tells me she has good racing left in her legs."
In the men's 3,000m steeplechase 3rd year resident Ryan Warrenburg ran a gutsy preliminary race on Thursday to qualify for the Saturday final. In the final, Warenburg's 2:41 final kilometer secured him a 7th place finish, his highest finish ever at a USATF Track Nationals. Also competing for ZAP was Jessica Minty in the women's 5,000m, Dave Nightingale and Thomas Morgan in the men's 5,000m and future ZAP athlete Alissa McKaig in the women's 10,000m. For Minty and Nightingale this was their first time qualifying for a USATF Outdoor Championship and for Morgan 2009 marked his 6th consecutive year at the US Championship.