Media

(Indianapolis, IN) The Indiana Invaders head to the University of Kentucky this weekend at the outset of their 14th season seeking USA National Championship Qualification Marks. Over the course of their first 13 seasons of competition the Indiana Invaders have generated 149 USA National Championship qualifying participants in the USA Indoor and Outdoor National Track & Field Championships.

The Indiana Invaders 14th season in many ways amounts to a rebirth of the USATF Elite Development Club as plans to activate a sponsorship development program are in place to support the renewal of an active elite athlete recruiting program which will be operated in conjunction with the growth and development of the team's high performance series of track & field competition, the American Milers Club High Performance Series, and the fall 2012 Grand Opening of the team's community-based Indiana Cross Country Arena.

The January 14th competition at the Kentucky Invitational will see Invaders veteran 800 meter athletes James "Jimmy" O'Brien and Ricardo Bell making their first outing of the season at 800 meters. O'Brien and Bell both have made USA Indoor National Championship finals in prior years. Newcomers to the Invaders roster, Drake Sterling & Jason Springer, will join O'Brien and Bell in competition at 800 meters over this weekend.

Last weekend the Indiana Invaders opened their 2012 Indoor Season at the Indiana University Open in a notable manner in races of non-standard championship distances with a couple of Team Records in the 500 meter and 1000 meter races. Ricardo Bell got things rolling for the team with a win in the rarely contested 500 meter dash (video link) posting a team record 1:04.05. Nathanael Browning finished 5th in the 500m coming off a week of illness having missed a couple days of training.

In a strong field of 1000 meter competitors, Invaders newcomer Drake Sterling bumped up his status on the Team Roster with a personal best (PR) and team record 2:24.14 (video link) in his inaugural Invaders outing while finishing 2nd in his race. James "Jimmy" O'Brien, 4th at the 2011 USA Indoor National Championships 800, finished in a PR mark of 2:24.92 with his 5th place finish and he was followed closely by another newcomer to the Invaders roster, Jason Springer, also posting a PR of 2:25.50.

Coach Greg Harger said, "This year, as we look ahead, is very exciting for the Indiana Invaders organization as we look forward to activating our new and unique operational model which has been in development for several years". Harger added, "We have a great core of high character elite development athletes in place to anchor the launch of what amounts to Indiana Invaders 2.0 which will transpire in stages throughout this year. The most exciting element we look forward to sharing in detail very soon is the strong community presence which will be the cornerstone for our new program".

The Indiana Invaders, a not-for-profit organization competing at USA National Championships since 1999, provide a resident-based, athlete-centered support system based in Indianapolis, Indiana.