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| Men's 400-meter dash - Bobby Young of Lincoln
University (Pa.) |
"I was trying for a better time, but the wind killed
me a little bit at the 200-mark. In the trials I was just
trying to do my best to make it today's finals. That is
what I did and it worked out."
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| Women 100 Meters - Shanda Jackson of Lincoln
University |
What was going through your mind coming out the blocks?
"I was just trying to stay composed and run my race.
I really wanted to stay in control of my race and not
worry about the rest of the field.
Coming in as number two qualifier, what do you feel
like this is an upset? I was just trying to come
out here and do my best. Every time I just trying to run
my best race, regardless of whether it is the trials or
the finals. No race is any different for me
A national champion as a sophomore, what are you expectations
for the next couple years? "I just want to try
to hold on and keep doing what I have been doing.
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| Women's javelin throw champion - Lisa Brown,
Gustavus Adolphus |
How does it feel to win a National Championship in
your freshman season? "It feels unreal to win.
I had a lot of adrenaline, but all in all I was fairly
calm. I did everything the same like it was just another
meet and it all came together today.
You came into today's event ranked 16th, what were
your goals for today? "My goal was to throw 43
meters, which would have been my personal record by a
meter-and-a-half. Instead it got a PR by about five-and-a-half
meters."
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| Men's 1,500 meter run - Nick Symmonds of
Willamette University |
What was going through your mind at the end of the
race? "At the end I just 'Where's [Will] Leer,
where's Leer', because I knew that he has a decent kick
and I was just waiting for him to show up. With about
80 meters left I felt him on my shoulder. I had to reach
for another gear, but fortunately I found it."
How does it feel to defend your title in your senior
season? "The whole point is to get two wins today
in this event and in the 800-meters. I just want to prove
that every time I come to a championship race I can bring
my 'A' game. This will be the perfect way to end my collegiate
career by defending my 1,500-meter and 800-meter titles.
I have one down and hopefully one more to go."
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| Women's 1500 meter champion - Amber Druien
of North Central College |
How does it feel to win a national title just a few
miles from your home campus? "It's great because
I had a lot of support here. All I could hear is all my
fans from my school and my family so it really helps out
a lot.
Did you feel any added pressure coming in with the
number one qualifying time? "Yea, I did feel
a little added pressure. I think it was good pressure
because it reminds me of the level that I want to be at.
It helped me keep the focus for what I wanted to accomplish
today."
National champion as a junior, what are you expectations
going into your senior year? I haven't really thought
about it yet, but I guess it will be to defend the title
that I just earned.
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| Women 100 Meter Hurdles - She'ana Grigsby
of Carthage College |
How does it feel to be national champion going out
as a senior? "It feels really good, I am glad
that it is over. It's more of a relief than anything.
Did you feel any added pressure coming in with the
number one qualifying time? "Not really. At the
dinner banquet, they said 'do what you did to get here.'
I just kept focusing on that and it really helped me out.
I let that run through my mind and hoped that everything
would run smoothly."
What was going through your mind coming out of the
blocks? I just wanted to be the first person to get
the first hurdle. If you the first one to get to the first
hurdle, normally you're the first one to get to the second
hurdle. It's like a domino effect and I was just concentrating
on getting to the next line.
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| Men's 4x100 meter relay champion - Mount
Union College |
(Nick Saluppo) "In the beginning of the year we
had a lot of hard things to overcome. As the year went
on it all started to work out."
(James Cunningham) "We overcame a lot of obstacles
this year. We wanted to put it all together for this meet
and we did. We used a lot of hard work, training and dedication
to get to this point."
(John Biacofsky) "I think the number one thing about
competing at this meet was the fact that we got to run
against somebody today and we had not had a chance to
have that this year. For every other meet this year we
had been running alone."
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| Women 400 Meters - Rachel Anderson of Illinois
Wesleyan |
How does it feel to win a national title in a stadium
just a couple hours from home? "It's a real benefit
for us because we have class up to the end of the week,
so it's very convenient for the national meet to be close.
If it was far away, it would be a real struggle.
Coming in as number one qualifier, what was your strategy
coming into the championship? I tried not to be too
nervous. Coming in as the number one seed, you feel like
you have to win. I just listen to what my coaches tell
me because they are awesome. If I run it the way they
tell me to run it, I will be just fine.
A national champion as a sophomore, what are you expectations
for the next couple years? "Hopefully, I just
keep running faster. If there is people that are faster
than me, that's fine. I just want to keep improving my
time."
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| Men's 100-meter dash - Greg Nixon of Howard
Payne University |
What was going through your mind at the end of the
race? "I had a bad start, but I knew I had the
power to win it, since I had won the 200. I just tried
to run as strong as I could."
"It feels good to win a National Championship. Last
year I came in third in this event and won the 200, so
I had a little revenge on my mind."
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| Men's 110-meter hurdles - Marcus Walgrave
from University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse |
What was your strategy coming into the national meet?
I really didn't have any type of strategy. Our plan was
to make sure I came here healthy and run my race.
Coming in as the number two qualifier, do you feel
like this is an upset for you? No, I came in expecting
to win. There is some great competition out there with
last year's runner up Paul Klemic, but I have been running
very consistent lately and expected for things to work
out well.
A national champion as a junior, what are your expectations
going into your senior year? I expect to run faster.
Every year, I want to keep improving and dropping my time.
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| Women's 800-meter run - Amber Druin of North
Central College |
"Coming into that race I thought that I either really
wanted to win, but at the same time I didn't want to get
last. I just gave what I had and it was enough to win.
Does it have a special feeling to do this so close
to North Central? "Yes it is nice. There are
so many people in the stands and I know that a lot of
people came to watch me and our team. It feels great that
I gave those people something to watch."
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| Men's 800 meters - Nick Symmonds of Willamette
|
How does it feel to finish out your career as national
champion? It feels great. I was really nervous coming
into this event. I just tried to remember everything my
coaches taught me and follow all the solid training that
I've ahd. Its the perfect way to end my college career.
Coming in as the number one qualifier and defending
outdoor champion, did you feel any added pressure?
Yeah, a little bit. I feel like this year's competition
was a little tougher than last years. Will Leer worried
me and a bunch of guys that won the fifty were going to
be tough to beat. I knew it wasn't going to be a cakewalk
but everything came together at the right time.
Did the win in the 1500 earlier in the weekend boost
your confidence for the 800? Yeah, the 1500 was the
tougher event of the two. I knew I would have to leave
everything on the track to get that one done, so the 800
was a little more fun. I had a great time in both.
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| Women's triple jump champion - Alecia Watson
of City College of New York |
How confident were you coming into the meet as the
top-ranked jumper? "I was pretty confident for
today's jump. Today was a very nice day and I just told
myself to take this nice day and make it into something
and that is exactly what I did."
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| Women's Shot Put champion - Robyn Jarocki
of Wisconsin Oshkosh |
Are you pleased with your mark today that re-set your
previous national meet record? "I am happy with
my performance today. It was an outdoor personal record
so I really can't be mad at myself, but I always want
to be better. I was not consistent in my series, but I'm
happy."
Was anything different going through your mind today
knowing this would be your last collegiate event?
I think I tried to stay with my same normal approach.
I don't think it really hits you that your career is over
until you are back home and all the banquets and everything
is done.
With so many national championships, is it a relief
or are you as happy this time as the first? "I
think the first one is always going to most special for
you. When you've won it before, you don't get used to
it, you just act like you've been there before."
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| Women's 4x100 meter relay champion - City
College of New York |
How does it feel to set a new national meet record
(Jodyann Raymond )? "We are very happy with
a new meet record. We dropped some seconds off our time
and it just shows that our hard work paid off.
Did you do anything different today for the national
meet than you would for a regular meet (Alecia Watson
)? "No, we did the same thing today that we have
done all season. It's all teamwork. We came out here to
take care of some business and that is what we did."
What is left for you girls to accomplish (Sharnalee
Stewart)? We all want to support each other in our
own individual meets and bring home some more awards.
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| Women's 400-meter hurdles - Shea'na Grigsby
of Carthage College |
How does it feel to win eight National Championships
in your career? "It feels good, but I cannot
believe it is over. I think I have accomplished more than
I thought would. It is a real nice compliment to say 'This
is what I did and I can prove it."
Is there any special feeling winning this close to
Carthage? "It would have been nice to go somewhere
I have never been before. But no matter where the meet
is, I just need to get the job done."
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| Men's Shot Put - Uzoma Orji of
MIT |
How does it feel to finish out your career as national
champion? It feels great. I was really nervous coming
into this event. I just tried to remember everything my
coaches taught me and follow all the solid training that
I've ahd. Its the perfect way to end my college career.
What was your mindset coming out of the blocks?
Yeah, the 1500 was the tougher event of the two. I knew
I would have to leave everything on the track to get that
one done, so the 800 was a little more fun. I had a great
time in both.
Coming in as the number two qualifier, do you feel
like this is an upset for you? Yea a little bit. I
feel like this year's competition was a little tougher
than last years. Will Leer worried me and a bunch of guys
that won the fifty were going to be tough to beat. I knew
it wasn't going to be a cakewalk but everything came together
at the right time.
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| Men's 400 Meter Hurdles - Jeff Jasmin of
Lincoln University |
How does it feel to finish out your career as national
champion? It feels unbelievable. It's the greatest
feeling in life. I've been waiting for this the past three
outdoors I have competed in. I finally made it and it
feels great.
What was your mindset coming out of the blocks? I
basically wanted to attack the first three or four hurdles
nice and calm. During the turn and homestretch, I was
going to attack it as hard as I could. I stuck to my game
plan and it worked out.
Coming in as the number two qualifier, do you feel
like this is an upset for you? The beginning of the
year I wasn't running so good, but, during the last four
meets, everything started to come together. Once I popped
that 52 time, I got all my confidence back and knew that
I had no competition.
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| Women's 200-meter dash champion - Musu Jackson-Buckner
of Oneonta State |
"When I ran 24.16 I didn't think that was ever going
to happen again. So today was a really good day. It feels
really good to be a National Champion, but it is still
hard to believe."
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| Men's triple jump champion - Fred Jones,
Jr. of Tufts University |
"I am estatic that I won I have worked a long time
and I always felt that I could win. I know there was some
really stiff competition today. When you look at the results,
there are seven or eight guys that could have won today.
I am really proud that I did this and that I stepped up."
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| Men's javelin throw - Corey White of University
of Redlands |
How does it feel to be a National Champion? "It
feels good to win. I came in with the best throw, so I
was just hoping to continue that. I am really thankful
to the help that my coaches have given me. They have been
great to work with."
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| Women's 5000 Meter - Caroline Cretti of Williams
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How does it feel to go two for two in the 10,000 and
5,000 meter run? It feels good. This was one of the
hardest races I have won, so I am very happy with my performance.
Did you feel like the win in the 10,000 boosted your
confidence for the 5,000? Yea, I really think so.
There is so many solid Division III runners out there,
it could have been anyone's day.
Going out as a senior with multiple championships,
what do you feel like made the difference for you personally
in such an impressive career? I think learning from
mistakes is the most important. I've had some off years
and just kept going. I've also had amazing coaching and
I just love what I do. I am going to have some time off
now and I am already dreading it.
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| Women's 4x400-meter relay - Lincoln University
(Pa.) |
(Yolona Sabb) "It always comes down to Nationals
for us. We work the whole year to come here and do our
best. Everything we have done this year, from the first
practice to our last one, Nationals was always on our
mind."
(Jordean Matthews) "We have had a lot motivation.
The boys and girls have each motivated each other this
season."
What did you do to motivate each other? (Yolona
Sabb) "Every chance we had we made sure that we prayed
together. We made sure that we personally let the others
know that we were here for each other.
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| Men's 4X400 Meter relay - Lincoln University
(Pa.) |
Coming in with the eighth qualifying time, do you
feel like this is an upset for the team, or did you expect
to come out and take the title (Jermaine Morris)?
We were real confident with what we were doing. We just
wanted to stick to our game plan and run it the way our
coaches told us to run it. We executed our plan and that
was that.
What was the team's strategy coming into the national
meet (Randy Dawkins)? We really wanted to have fun
and give it our all. Coach gave me a pep talk because
I was a freshmen and told me to give it my all. I went
out and did that and it worked well for us.
What do you think was the difference today that your
team had and the competitors didn't (Lance Wigfall)?
We always just try to have fun. Every time we come to
nationals we feel like we are the underdog. We just take
that momentum and put it to the track. We have nothing
to lose and everything to gain.
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| Men's 5,000-meter run - Macharia Yuot of
Widener University |
What was going through your mind as you crossed the
finish line? "The man behind me was tough and
I was suffering by then. I knew that the 5K is my race,
it was tough, but I like the 5K and before I saw the finish
line I knew that I had it."
"I just want to thank all of the competitors, all
of the fans and all the media, because I have gotten a
lot of support here. At some point I looked up and saw
all of the people cheering for me.
How does it feel to win three National Championships
this weekend? "This is historic. I just wanted
to leave a mark that would be remembered. I just wanted
to show the next generation of runners that winning three
distance championships can be done. I just wanted to show
that if I can do it, somebody in the future can do it.
I know that it takes a lot of time, but it can be done."
"I just want to thank my coach, because he came
up with a plan. Part of my success was my coach's plan
and telling me to stick to the plan and making sure that
I did that."
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