Saucony’s Duan Solomon, Jr. Earns Spot on Team USA

LEXINGTON, MA (June 26, 2012) – Global performance running footwear and apparel brand Saucony, Inc. today announced that “Team Saucony” athlete Duane Solomon, Jr. has earned himself a spot on the 2012 USA Olympic Team. The 27-year- old finished third in the men’s 800-meter final at the U.S. Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon on Monday night, establishing himself as one of the greatest 800-meter runners in the country. After falling half a second short of qualifying for Team USA in 2008, Solomon, Jr.’s 2012 time of 1:44.65 met the Olympic “A” standard at the same time to qualify for the London Olympics. A first-time Olympian, Solomon, Jr. joins fellow “Team Saucony” athletes Tianna Madison (100-meter dash); DeeDee Trotter (400-meters); Lauryn Williams (4X100-meter relay) and Keisha Baker (4X400-meter relay) in the quest for gold this summer in London.
“I want to thank Saucony for believing in me when no one else did,” said Solomon, Jr. after the 800-meter final. “Everybody was counting me out, but I knew I had something special today. The whole goal this year was to focus on the team, and I knew that in order to make the team, I had to set a personal best and I did that.”

“Watching our athletes over the past four days has been an incredibly uplifting experience,” said Mark Bossardet, vice president of sports marketing for Saucony.
“Not only are these extraordinary athletes raising the bar for the sport, but they’re inspiring the whole running community with their personal realization of ‘strong.’ The entire Saucony family is incredibly proud of ‘Team Saucony’ and we can’t wait to cheer them on to more amazing performances over the next few days,” added Bossardet.

At the close of the Trials’ first session, Saucony-sponsored track and field athletes have delivered outstanding performances. In addition to Solomon, Jr., Madison and Trotter each qualifying for London in individual events, two-time Olympian (2004 and 2008) Lauryn Williams has been named to the U.S. 4X100-meter relay team and Keisha Baker has been selected for the U.S. 4X400-meter relay team.

Other “Team Saucony” athletes have also advanced from preliminary rounds over the first four days of competition to the finals scheduled during the second half of the event: American record holder Molly Huddle and 2008 Olympian Magdalena-Lewy Boulet are set to compete in the women’s 5,000-meter final on Thursday, June 28; Benjamin True will compete in the men’s 5,000-meter final also on Thursday; and Ashley Higginson and Mason Cathey advanced to the women’s 3,000-meter Steeplechase final which is scheduled for Friday, June 29.

The U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials run from June 21 to July 1 at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Follow “Team Saucony” at http://www.saucony.com/store/SiteController/saucony/TeamSaucony_Saucony

The entire “Team Saucony” roster competing at the 2012 U.S. Track and Field Trials is as follows:
ATHLETEEVENTHOMETOWN
WOMEN
KESHIA BAKER400MLos Angeles, CA
MOLLY BECKWITH800MS. Bloomington, IN
MASON CATHEYSTEEPLEIndianapolis, IN
AMANDA DUNNE 5000MColumbia, Missouri
QUEEN HARRISON100Mh/400MhBlacksburg, VA
ASHLEY HIGGINSONSTEEPLEAnnandale, NJ
MOLLY HUDDLE5000MProvidence, RI
MAGDA LEWY-BOULET5000M/10,000MOakland, CA
PORSCHA LUCAS200MCollege Station, TX
TIANNA MADISON100M/200M/LJOrlando, FL
AMY MORTIMER1500MManhattan, KS
DEEDEE TROTTER400MKnoxville, TN
LAURYN WILLIAMS100MMiami, FL
JESSICA YOUNG100MColumbia, SC
MEN
GARRETT HEATH1500MPalo Alto, CA
ADAM NELSONSHOT PUTWatkinsville, GA
WILLIE PERRY100MRaleigh, NC
JEFF SEE1500MColumbus, OH
DUANE SOLOMON, JR.800MRosemead, CA
WALLACE SPEARMON, JR.200MBryan, TX
BEN TRUE10,000MHanover, NH
RYAN WILSON110MhLos Angeles, CA


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: Payless ShoeSource, Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group (PLG) and Collective Licensing International. Payless is the largest specialty family footwear retailer in the Western Hemisphere and is dedicated to providing incredible value pricing for trend-right styles of footwear and accessories for the entire family to enjoy. PLG is 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®, World Snowboarding Championshipsâ„¢ and Hind®.
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