Saucony Athletes Crowned National Champions

LEXINGTON, MA (February 28, 2012) – Global performance running footwear and apparel brand Saucony today announced that Saucony athletes Tianna Madison and Duane Solomon claimed 2012 USA National Championship titles to highlight the second day of the U.S. Indoor championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Sunday, February 26th, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In front of a near sell-out crowd, Madison continued her dominance in the 60m this year by seizing the USA Indoor title while equaling her world-leading time of 7.02. Madison, the 2005 World Long Jump champion, now holds the three fastest times in the world this year and solidified her standing as fifth on the all-time U.S. performer list. With her national title, Madison has secured a seat on Team USA for the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, March 9-11.

Solomon, a member of the U.S championships teams for the 2007 World Outdoor championships and 2009 World Indoor Championships, was a wire-to-wire victor in the 800m final, surging ahead of the pack to win in 1:48.58.

“The whole Saucony team congratulates Tianna and Duane on their amazing performances,” said Mark Bossardet, vice president of sports marketing for Saucony. “At Saucony our athletes are our heroes. They inspire all of us to be better, to find our strong by elevating their own. Tianna and Duane’s continued success is testament to their talent and work ethic, as well as the products they train and compete in. We’re proud to have them as part of the Saucony family.”

“I’m happy,” said Madison after her win. “It always feels good to execute after I’ve trained hard all fall. I will be in Istanbul representing Team USA, and it will be an honor to do it.”
Madison wore the Saucony Showdown sprint spike in the brand’s black and pink athlete edition to claim the women’s 60-meter national title. She continues to work with Saucony in developing a new line of track and field spikes starting with a long jump shoe.
“It felt very comfortable,” noted Solomon after the 800m final. “I actually had a kick at the end — I felt like I was running 200s in practice. I wanted to go wire-to-wire and dictate the pace.”

Solomon was outfitted in the Saucony Endorphin MD3 middle distance spike in the brand’s special athlete edition colorway.

Saucony, Inc.: Saucony, Inc., a subsidiary of Collective Brands, Inc, is a leading global running lifestyle brand that fuses performance, innovation and style to create compelling footwear and apparel with its widely recognized brands Saucony and Saucony Originals. Founded in 1898, Saucony continues to inspire runners everywhere with its award winning innovations, including ProGridâ„¢, PowerGridâ„¢ and ViZiPROâ„¢ apparel. For more information, go to www.saucony.com.

Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS) is a leader in bringing compelling lifestyle, fashion and performance brands for footwear and related accessories to consumers worldwide. The company operates three strategic units covering a powerful brand portfolio, as well as multiple price points and selling channels including retail, wholesale, ecommerce and licensing. Collective Brands, Inc. includes Payless ShoeSource, focused on democratizing fashion and design in footwear and accessories through its nearly 4,500-store retail chain, with its brands Airwalk®, Dexter® and Champion® and designer collections by fashion designers Christian Siriano, Lela Rose, Isabel Toledo and Silvia Tcherassi; Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group, focused on lifestyle and performance branded footwear and high-quality children’s footwear sold primarily through wholesaling, with its brands including Stride Rite®, Keds®, Sperry Top-Sider® Robeez®, and Saucony®, among others; and Collective Licensing International, the brand development, management and global licensing unit, with such youth lifestyle brands as Airwalk®, Above The Rim®, Vision Street Wear®, STRIKEFORCEâ„¢, Clinch Gearâ„¢, Sims®, Lamar® and LTD®, each of the Collective Brand’s units can be found at www.collectivebrands.com