Gonzales To Make U.S. Olympic Trials Debut On Monday

Two-Time Track All-American Seeded 12th In 5,000 Field

A two-time All-American in the 10,000, Gonzales won the 5,000 at the 2004 MWC Championships
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July 9, 2004

ALBUQUERQUE -- - University of New Mexico junior Matt Gonzales will travel to Sacramento, Calif. next week to compete at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. Gonzales will run in the 5,000-meter semifinals on Monday night at 9:45 p.m. (Mountain). A two-time All-American in the 10,000-meter run, Gonzales' top 5K time, a UNM record 13:35.59, is currently ranked 12th in the field of 24. The top-16 finishers in Monday's race will advance to the finals, which will be run on Friday, July 16. The top-three finishers in the finals will be selected to join the U.S. Olympic Team in Athens, Greece later this summer.

Monday and Friday's Olympic Trials competition will be televised live on USA (channel 50) beginning at 8 p.m.

An Olympic Trials qualifier in both the 10K and 5K, Monday's race will be the biggest 5,000-meter competition of Gonzales' career. An NCAA regional qualifier in the 5,000 each of the past two years, Gonzales has elected not to run the event at the regional or national championship meets in either season. The Santa Fe native did win the 2004 Mountain West Conference title in the event in May before turning his attention to his NCAA 10,000 race.

Gonzales has turned in some of the finest performances of his career in California, including a third place finish in the 10,000 at the 2003 NCAA Championships in Sacramento. On May 30 of this year he clocked his personal and school record 5,000 time at the elite Payton Jordan U.S. Open in Stanford, Calif. Gonzales finished eighth among a field of 31 professional runners in the race. Last year in Stanford, he placed 11th in the 10,000 at the U.S. Track & Field Championships, just 7 days after competing at the same distance at the NCAA Championships.

2004 U.S. Olympic Trials Results and Information