NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships - Day Two Quotes

2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Drake Stadium, Des Moines, Iowa
QUOTES

Tiffany Ofili, Jr., Michigan, winner of heat one in women’s 100-meter hurdles with top qualifying mark of 12.73 which set Drake Stadium record. Ofili is 2007 NCAA champion in event and also won 2008 NCAA Indoor 60-meters hurdles crown.
“I was really happy with the quick start. I got out quickly and then cruised in. I am really excited about this meet. I am looking forward to the next round.”

On defending title:
“I am not thinking about that (repeating as champion) too much. I am just trying to stay focused. That was then, this is now.”

On running at Drake Stadium. Ofili won the 2008 Drake Relays university-college 100 hurdles:
“I love it here. It is a wonderful facility.”

Nickiesha Wilson, Jr., LSU, winner of heat two in women’s 100 hurdles in 12.95. She was third at 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championship.
“I felt pretty good but this is just the first round. I just wanted to advance and stay focused on that.”

Nickesha Anderson, Sr., Kansas, winner of heat one in women’s 200 in 23.00. She was runner-up in 200 at 2008 NCAA Indoor runner-up.
About her performance:
“It was fine. This is my favorite event. If I want to get to the finals I need to just keep starting the way I’ve been starting. I also need to be more aggressive on the curve.”

Ty Akins, Sr., Auburn, finished third in heat one of the 110 hurdles in 13.69. He is defending NCAA Outdoor champion in 110 hurdles.
On his race:
“It was really sloppy. I hit so many hurdles, it’s unbelievable. But, the key is making it to the next round, and I gave myself a chance to do that. I’ll have to run better in the semis.”

Jason Richardson, Jr., South Carolina, winner of heat one of 110- hurdles in 13.26. He was runner-up in 60 hurdles at 2008 NCAA Indoor meet.
About the race – first round:
“It felt really good. My main objective coming in here was to run clean, stay focused and come out with a win.”

On competition:
“Ty (Akins from Auburn) ran fast – this is an amazing group of competitors. I had to respond. I am just excited to be here and competing. I was not here last year. This was a good start for me.”

Andrew Wheating, So., Oregon, who posted fastest qualifying time in semifinal round of men’s 800 in 1:47.15.
“I was feeling absolutely great at the beginning of the race. I think I gave too much energy at the beginning. I had to really find it in me to really run that last 150 meters. I found it in me and it worked out, but that’s not to say I don’t have more. I am very happy about winning the semifinal (heat one) in the 800 and I am looking forward to running in the finals.”

On the possibility of Oregon winning both the men’s and women’s 800 after teammate Zoe Buckman led all the women’s qualifiers to the final:
“I think it’s great for Oregon that we both won. Zoe (Buckman) is definitely a potential national champion and I’m in contention to win so I think that the two of us make one heck of a team.”

Simone Facey, Sr., Texas A&M, who posted third fastest time in women’s 200 semifinal of 22.96. She was second in 200 at 2007 NCAA Outdoor Meet and fifth at the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championship:
“I felt good about my race. I had a good start. In the finals I just need to focus on my race and execute better. I probably will need to accelerate more.”

Brittany Reese, Jr., Mississippi, won the women’s long jump by tying her world outdoor leading mark of 22-9. She broke the Drake Stadium record of 22-3 by Aisha James of Iowa in 2003.
“I thought I could go out about 23 (feet) but I just couldn’t quite make it today. Hopefully I can do it at the Olympic Trials.”

On the conditions:
“There were no wind issues. It could have been a better jump but I’ve been dealing with a lot of injuries. I’ve just got to put it behind me.”

Nickiesha Wilson, Jr., LSU, won heat one of the women’s 400- hurdles in 55.89. She was second in the 400 hurdles (:55.68) and third in the 100 hurdles (12.93) at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor meet.
“I feel real good about it (her race). I’m confident I will run a much faster time tomorrow but I’m quite happy with my performance.”

On Thursday’s conditions:
“I didn’t have to deal with the wind although I handled it better than yesterday.”

On a rematch with 2007 champion Nicole Leach of UCLA:
“It will be a very good, competitive race. It will take at least a 54.5 to win.”

Nicole Leach, Jr., UCLA, won heat two of the women’s 400 hurdles in 55.98. She is defending champion in the women’s 400-meter hurdles.
"I feel fine. I still have some parts of my race to work on and I need to execute my step pattern better. The first half of the race was good, but I had some problems in the second half. I just need to put it all together and I'll be fine."

On defending her title on Saturday:
"I have so much adrenaline going through me right now. I'm ready and I've known in practice I'm ready. I'm just going to use the crowd on Saturday and my adrenaline to come away with the win."

On how the NCAA will prepare her for the Olympic Trials in two weeks:
"This is helping to build my confidence. Once I get to Trials, I know it will be a whole new group of people to compete against. It'll help to run in front of a large crowd like they have here because there will be a big audience in Oregon.

“Today the race felt fine. I am working on executing my steps. The first half of my race was good while yesterday the second half (of the race) was good. I just need to put it all together for the final.”

On the crowd:
“The crowd helps me learn what it’s like to run in front of a big audience. I need to use the crowd and everything else to win the title.”

On running at Drake:
“I like competing here. It’s a good crowd and they get your adrenalin going. I’ll definitely be back.”

Zoe Buckman, So., Oregon, won heat two of the women's 800- with the fastest qualifying time of 2:03.64.
On her race:
“I got caught in the pack, but I did not panic. I knew wherever I was that my ability would help me through. I just waited for an opening.”

Gina Gall, Jr., Michigan, winner of heat one in women’s 800 in 2:04.02. She was fifth at the NCAA Outdoor Meet in 2007.
“It was my plan to stay up with the leaders. My coach did not want me to lead and I knew going in there would be a few girls that would take it (the lead). I just stayed right behind them. At the end I found out a little space and kicked with a 100 (meters) to go.”

On the absence of defending NCAA champion Alysia Johnson of California:
“It’s never good to hear about one of the other competitors being injured. We are all close and race a lot. Her injury came out of nowhere. Yesterday I had no idea she was hurt.”

Walter Dix, Sr., Florida State, won semifinal heat of men’s 200- in 20.51. He is two-time defending champion in the race:
“I feel good. I just want to go home and rest up for the 100-tomorrow night. My start was good. I’ve been working on my starts, just trying some things out. Hopefully it will come together tomorrow night.”

On regaining his feel for racing after coming back from a hamstring injury:
“It’s all about that. I just need to get comfortable and get confident in my running again. The speed is there, I’ve just got to get it sharpened.”

Brie Felnagle, Jr., North Carolina, winner of heat one of the women’s 1,500. in 4:15.56. She won the 2007 NCAA crown.
“It was bumpy and you could feel the nervous energy. My game plan going into the race was just to qualify and I felt good. I just did what I needed to do. Today was faster than I usually run in prelims. It’s nationals, so you kind of expect that.”

On her race plans for the finals:
“I have done the sit and kick thing and it does not work. I want an honest race on Saturday. It’s a great field with a lot of talented girls.

Hannah England, So., Florida State, winner of heat two of women’s 1,500 in 4:17.36. She captured the title at the 2008 NCAA Indoor meet.
“I felt really good today. It was nice to get out there and have a hard run. I’ve had a lot of tactically races recently so it was nice to have a race that was fast the whole way through because that’s what the final is going to be like.

“I felt good starting out and tried to stay on the outside the whole time. I didn’t want to get caught up in traffic like the one girl who fell in our race. That really caught my eye and I just wanted to get out of there.”

On the fall with 350 meters to go:
“I heard the fall and I could hear bodies. I heard the scream of the girl who fell. It really scared me and I just decided that I was going to go. I just wanted to be free.”

On her race:
“I wanted to run well today. I just did not want to hold back and get top four.”

Susan Kuijken, Jr., Florida State, finished fourth in heat two of the women’s 1,500. She was the runner-up at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor meet.
“I haven’t been running at a great pace lately, and this was. It felt really good. When I qualified for regionals, I didn’t want to just get there, I wanted it to mean something and get to nationals. Then making nationals, I didn’t want to just be here, I wanted to make the finals. Now that I got in the finals, I want it to mean something.”

Ashton Eaton, So., Oregon, won men’s decathlon title with of 8,055 points.
On winning a national championship:
“It feels good. I wasn’t trying to think about it (during the 1500). I usually just try not to think and just do what I do.”

On scoring more than 8,000 points despite low score in javelin:
“That’s the decathlon. It has ebbs and flows. If you have a low score (in an event), you can’t let it affect you in the rest of your events.”

On his improvement over last season:
“I think I’m more coachable. I’ve matured, and I’m better at adjusting.”

On competing in the Olympic trials:
“It’s in the back of my mind, but I’m not thinking about it too much. First, I had to be here. I had a job to do here.”

Jessica Pressley, Sr., Arizona State, qualified for the finals in women’s shot put on Saturday with throw of 57-3.75. She is defending national champion (59-0.75).
On qualifying for finals on first throw:
“I didn’t really know what the qualifying mark was. I just knew I needed to get out and have a solid throw to get through to the finals.”

On qualifying for finals in the hammer, discus and shot put:
“It’s very important to be efficient. It’s a great opportunity for me to be qualified for the finals in all three events. I haven’t qualified in the hammer since my freshman year, and now as a senior it’s great to have that chance.”

On competing for a team title:
“I don’t really feel any pressure. I have a lot of confidence in our team. We brought the best of the best with us. I know that I just have to do my part and great things will happen.”

Louisiana State, women’s 4x400 relay finished first in heat one in 3:31.21. The Tigers won the NCAA Outdoor title in the 4x400 relay in 2007 (3:28.07).

Deonna Lawrence, Sr., Anchor, ran on 2007 national title team
“We wanted win our heat and have a good enough time to be in the middle (of the lane) and not on the outside (in the next round). We got the job done.”

Juanita Broaddus, Sr., ran third leg
On rallying the team:
“I had to catch people. We usually have the lead. I am usually running away from people (competitors), not at people. It was a different experience, but was for the best.”

Ngonidzashe Makusha, Fr., Florida State, won the men’s long jump title with Drake Stadium record of 27-2.25, a performance which ranks fourth in the world this year. He also broke his home country (Zimbabwe’s) record with his performance.
“It feels really great. This is one of my dreams and it just came true. It’s a great feeling and a feeling I’ve never experience before. To be a national champion my freshman year is really great.

“I’ve been working really hard with coach (Dennis) Nobles, working really hard on my technique. I was feeling really comfortable as I was coming towards the board and everything was right to the point. I think I’m starting to put some things together.”

On his record jump:
“Everything just came to together at the point (jump). It happened. I am just happy and excited about this jump.”

On winning national title:
“It is great. I have fulfilled one of my goals by winning this (championship). I work hard every day so this makes me very happy. It was also very important for our team as we try and win a (team) title.”

On performance:
“I broke my country’s (Zimbabwe) record in this (event). I have already qualified for my country’s team for the Olympics. It makes me really feel good as I head to the games. It should be exciting to see what I can do.”

Baylor 4x400-meter relay, won heat three in 3:04.54. The Bears won are defending champions in relay.
Marcus Boyd, Fr., First Leg
“I was really anxious. As a freshman I just didn’t really know what to expect. There’s a lot of pressure on us to do well, but we also put a lot of pressure on ourselves in practice to get better and work harder.”

J.T. Scheurman, So., Second Leg
“I came out anxious, and I came around the first 200 too fast which I definitely felt on the back stretch. I felt like I still ran a good race, especially since it’s only the fourth time I’ve run it this year.”

Justin Boyd, senior – third leg
“This was my second race of the day, so my legs were kind of dead. But, I think I came back strong and ran a good race.”

Lisa Koll, So., Iowa State, won the women’s 10,000 in a Drake Stadium record of 32:44.95

On breaking the stadium record:
“I don’t even know what to say! I always wanted to be where I’m at right now, but it came a lot faster than I thought. Hopefully I’m going to keep improving over the next two years and I can possibly lower the record time here at Drake Stadium.”

Her strategy for the race:
“Going into the race, I wanted to run fast because the weather was perfect. When you get an opportunity to run in perfect weather, you want to take advantage of it. I felt very comfortable during the entire race. I ran the first 5K at a great pace and I knew I could pick it up for the last 5K.”

About the crowd at Drake Stadium:
“I heard the crowd the entire time and it was great! Running here at Drake is the best feeling for me. I never won a state title in high school and then, to come to Drake, and win a national championship is the best feeling.”

On going to the U.S. Olympic Trials in two weeks:
“I’m very excited that I will be running at the Olympic trials in two weeks and with the great competition I’ll hopefully be able to run a lot faster. The talent level in America is so high that I’m going to have to have a great race there and fight for my spot in order to get a chance to qualify.”

On being a Cyclone at Iowa State:
“It was so great to hear the crowd cheer for the Cyclones and yell ‘Go Iowa State.’ We (the team) don’t hear people cheering in the crowd like that when we travel and it was so motivating for me as a Cyclone and a native Iowan.”

Shadrack Songok, Sr., Texas A&M Corpus Christi, won the men's 10,000 in 28:46.69, while defending his 2007 title.

On the slow start:
“A couple of guys took off early but the guys I was worried about stuck around. After we saw the two guys up front, no one wanted to go. It was too early. By the end, it was everybody’s race and it was very tactical.”

On close finish with runner up Shawn Forrest of Arkansas:
“He almost caught me, I thought that he was done. I am just glad that I stayed a little ahead of him.”