Wednesday, January 11, 2012

HOUSTON - Former Drake track standouts Jason Lehmkuhle (2000) and Matt Gabrielson (2000) will compete at the United States Olympic Trials in the marathon on Saturday (Jan. 14) in Houston. The two are fighting for one of the three spots on the U.S. team that will compete at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Lehmkuhle qualified for the trials with his ninth-place finish at the 2010 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:12.34. His personal best came in 2007 at the USA Men's Olympic Team Time Trials as he crossed the line in 2:12.24.

Gabrielson's time of 2:13.28 at the 2011 Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn., earned him a coveted spot at the U.S. Olympic trials and was a personal best.

Both Lehmkuhle and Gabrielson have continued their running careers after Drake by competing for Team USA Minnesota.

"It's been very exciting to watch Matt and Jason develop during their post collegiate careers," commented Drake cross country coach Dan Hostager. "They both had great careers here at Drake and have been outstanding alumni. They've put in ton of hard work and given back to their sport by coaching high school cross country teams over the years. Jason has been in the top 10 for the last two Olympic Marathon Trials and Matt is coming off of a huge marathon personal best this past summer so it'll be a lot of fun watching their race this weekend."

Lehmkuhle, a native of St. Charles, Mo., won the individual cross-country title at the 1999 MVC Championship en route to helping the Bulldogs win the team title as well. He holds school records in the 5,000 and 10,000. Lehmkuhle was an All-American in the 5000 and 10,000 and qualified for the 2000 Olympic trials in the 10,000.

Gabrielson, a Belmond, Iowa native, was a five-time Missouri Valley Conference champion. He won the 3000 indoor race, the 3000 steeplechase outdoors and was part of three winning indoor distance medley relays. Gabrielson holds the Drake indoor school record in the 3000 with a time of 8:06.44 set in 2000. He also was a 12-time All-Missouri Valley Conference performer and a Cross Country Academic All-American.