September 5, 2006
(INDIANAPOLIS) Indiana Invaders' Erin Nehus finished ninth at the USA 20K Championships in New Haven, Connecticut with her debut effort in a USA National Road Championship on September 4th. Nehus' 1:11:03 effort in finishing 9th made her eligible for roster selection on the USA World Road Running Championships scheduled for October 8th in Debrecen, Hungary. The USA Team roster is expected to be finalized by September 10th.

Nehus, a graduate of Cedarville University and currently working on a graduate degree in Physical Therapy at the University of Indianapolis, is a nine time NAIA All-American. Nehus faced several Olympians and National Champions in arguably the deepest 20K USA Championship historically for women as she ran the fastest 9th place time in the history of the championship.

Nehus' teammate Stephanie Dueringer finished 22nd with a personal best 1:14:49 effort as she prepares for a fall Olympic Trials marathon qualifying attempt.

Coach Greg Harger said, "Nehus ran a solid conservative debut USA Road Championship race against the deepest field in the championship's history. Her time would have placed her fourth in last year's race. We haven't begun her speed training yet so this was a good run for Nehus based only on her strength and base training." Harger added, "Nehus is fresh off a breakthrough season with her first competitions at the USA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships along with the USA World Cross Country Trials plus a few personal best times so this is not a major surprise and hopefully leads to further breakthroughs and opportunities in the coming months and years."

USA 20K Championships Results:
http://www.plattsys.com/results/res2006/nh20k06.htm

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