Boase clocked the fastest time in the nation at Arizona State (UW Media Relations)

1. Congratulations on breaking the Washington 400 meter record previously held by Ja'Warren Hooker with your winning time of 44.82 at the Arizona State Sun Angel Classic. It must have been a thrill to look at the scoreboard after the race realizing you just broke 45 seconds. How did the race fold out for you and were you surprised by the time?

I was definitely excited to see my time when I crossed the finish line. Before the race I felt very good warming up and knew that I was going to have a good race. During the race my goal was to just get out hard and maintain as long as I could, the competition definitely helped me run fast because ASU has some great 400 runners. I wouldn't say I was surprised by my time because I knew I could run that especially after running 46.34 indoors and feeling disappointed with that. I knew I could have run faster. Ja'Warren Hooker was actually at my race where I ran 46.37 indoors and broke the school record, and he told our head coach Greg Metcalf that if anyone was going to break his outdoor school record it was going to be me, so that gave me a lot of confidence.

2. What many people don't realize is that you took the entire 2006-07 season off as you were unsure if the sport was right for you. Now that you've found success on the track, including a third-place finish at the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championships, do you look back and realize that you made the right decision?

Yeah, well I only ran track for a couple months in high school, so what people don't realize is that track was still new to me my freshman and sophomore year, because those were really my first and second years ever running track. So after my sophomore year I just needed some time away from the sport, but in the end I’m happy with my decision, I think it helped me a lot this year.

3. Your events coach, LaMonte Vaughn, seems to have molded you into the right kind of sprinter. How has the combination of speed and endurance into your workouts helped you to where you are today? What workouts do you find translate to the most success on the track?

Coach Vaughn and I have definitely figured out a good routine for me throughout the year. I used to think I was a 200m runner, that was actually my hopes for this year was to make the final in the 200. Because I only ran two years of track really I never understood how to run a 400 correctly, so my sophomore and freshman years I never really ran the race right. Most of the time I wasn't getting out hard enough and didn't know how to run the race to the best of my ability. But now with all the 200m background that has definitely helped me with my 400m races, and the experience is definitely what has helped me the most. Just about everyone else has been running track their whole lives, so I’m still new to it and still learning about how to run the race correctly, and how to keep my body in good shape and keep healthy.

4. As we head into the final stages of the collegiate outdoor season, what meets will you be competing in next considering this was your outdoor opener? Will you see any action in the 200 meters?

My next 400 probably won't be until Pac-10's. As for the 200m, we'll see about that. As of now I think I'm going to focus on the relays and improving the teams. But I would definitely be interested in running a 200 before Pac-10's to improve my times, because my freshman and sophomore year outdoor season I was banged up for most of it and was never truly healthy.

5. Going back to your training, how did you prepare for this season coming off an entire year where you did not step on the track? How did you train in the fall season after a long period of being away?

I just took whatever Coach Vaughn threw at me, he knew I was out for a year and I trusted him to give me the right work outs. So in the I fall I just focused on getting back into shape and I knew the speed would come back naturally, that’s something that doesn’t leave.

6. Breaking 45 seconds in the 400 meters usually separates the elite from the contenders. As you know, the United States is very deep in this event. Have you looked ahead to the Olympic Trials knowing that you may have a good chance at making the team, if not the relay pool?

It's definitely crossed my mind, but there’s still so much more season left to go. It would be selfish of me to focus only on the trials because I would be letting my whole team down including my coaches. And they’re the ones who I can thank for my accomplishments because they gave me the opportunities to show them what I can do, without them it wouldn't be possible. But I will definitely be interested in trying to make the Olympic team when that time comes around.

7. What are some of the other technical aspects of your event that you work on? What have you learned the most since your short tenure in high school?

There’s just so much I've learned since high school. Only running a couple months in high school I knew NOTHING about track and field, which I think is why I've been able to improve so much because I've learned so much along the way, and all these things I've learned added up and helped me improve myself. The 400 I definitely had the most trouble with my freshman and sophomore year, to someone as new to the sport as I was it was an intimidating race, so running it correctly was difficult for me to do. But with just about every 400 I've run I've improved on, and I hope that trend keeps occurring.

8. After your race, there was certainly a buzz in the track & field world. They were asking who you were and what you've done in the past, at least on the international scene. Do you feel as if you're a dark horse in this event or would you like to be more well known in the sport at this stage?

Well even my sophomore year I went 21.19 indoors and was hurt most of outdoors but no one knew who I was even during the indoor season. Then outdoor came along and I was leading off with 45.7 splits on our 4X4 which finished 3rd indoors and 8th outdoors my sophomore year, but still no one knew who I was. And even now what people forget is that I went 46.34 indoors and finished 3rd at NCAA's, and indoors I was disappointed with that time, because it felt so easy for me to run that and I knew the whole time I could do better. My first 400m race in two years was two weeks before indoor nationals, so I was still getting comfortable once again with running a 400. Everyone else had multiple 400's under their belt before nationals and I only had one in the last two years.

9. Washington has been a consistent top-25 team over the past few years. How important is the team title chase at the Pac-10, NCAA Regional and NCAA Championship meets?

It’s something that’s been discussed here for the last couple years, so it’s very important to all of us. I mean my freshman year our team was pretty bad as a whole, so the fact that we can talk about trying to win now is impressive on its own.

10. Take us through what it's like to be a student-athlete on campus when you're away from the track. Originally from Bothell, Washington, how often do your family and friends get to see you compete?

It was tough my freshman year because I was still learning so much about track and then to throw school into the mix too it was tough to keep learning in both areas. But I enjoy being so close to where I grew up, because my friends and family are able to come out to all the indoor meets and even some of the Oregon meets outdoors.