Luke Watson, a member of Team USA Minnesota since January 2004, has accepted a position as an assistant coach at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind. He will be assisting in cross country this fall and coaching the Fighting Irish 800 meter runners and steeplechasers in track. He also plans to continue to train and race.

Watson has both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Notre Dame, where he was an eight-time All American, and six-time Big East Champion in the steeple, 5,000 meters and mile. While in college he was also the 1999 USA Junior National Cross Country Champion, and still holds five Notre Dame school records.

During his professional running career with Team USA Minnesota, he was a three-time member of the U.S. World Cross Country team, represented the U.S. on the Chiba Ekiden team, was second at the 2004 USA Indoor Championships in the 3000, qualified for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 5,000, and set a personal best this spring in the steeplechase of 8:36.12.

Team USA Minnesota is based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and is a member of the USA Distance Project presented by the New York Road Runners, which is a partnership of the Long Distance Running Division of USA Track & Field and major U.S. events and running related corporations. Additional support for the project is provided by the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and the Chevron Houston Marathon. For more information, visit the web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org.