(Des Moines, Iowa) With a 6:30 a.m. start time, the 20 kilometer race walk was the earliest event at the 2013 USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, IA.  Cornerstone junior, Monica Lawrence joined 2012 CU graduate, Janelle Brown on the starting line. For Brown, the event marked a return to Drake where she competed in the 20k walk in 2011. Lawrence who raced at the USATF Jr. Championships at the 10k distance two years ago was making her 20k debut.

With temperatures in the low 70's and the humidity near 80%, the first hour of the 50 lap event took place before the Sun rose above the top of the stadium. Lawrence, who finished fourth at the NAIA Outdoor Championships one month ago in the 5,000 meter race walk, slowed as the temperature rose. While visibly struggling in the final fifteen laps, Monica carried on, reaching the finish in tenth in 2:13:12.01. Brown was ninth in 2:05:36.70.