Quotes From Champions

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MEN’S EVENTS

HAMMER – Kevin Becker – Wisconsin-LaCrosse – 208-10/63.66m
“It was good to get out there (threw 197-6 on his first throw, longer than anyone else in field), but I was obviously still looking for a big one. I was glad to just get a good one today. That hammer throw’s a big blend between power and finesse, and you just have to find it sometimes.”

400-METER RELAY – Anthony Miles (Anchor) – New Jersey City – 40.31
“It feels good to be a National Champion. Our team isn’t happy with the time we had. We wanted to go after the record, but it still feels good to be first. It was definitely easier to be in the lead and keep the lead when I got the baton. Again, it just feels great to be a National Champion.”

1,500-METER RUN – Nick Symmonds – Willamette – 3:54.20
(Multi-event champion: 1,500, 800)
“I just wanted to run the 1,500 as easy as possible. I knew coming in to the last lap that I had to run it in under a minute to stay ahead of the pack. I ran it two years ago and just wanted to come in and run it well. I run the 800 later today, and before then I plan on lying around and getting as much strength back as possible. I hope to defend my 800 title as best as I can.”

110-METER HURDLES – Richard Harris – Buffalo St. – 14.12
“I just want to cry, but not in front of all these people. I placed third in the indoor championship, now first here. Man, I just want to thank Jesus! This is such a technical race. A lot of things can hinder you from winning, the wind died down before and during the race. I just had a real good start. You just have to want it. I beat a real good athlete, I really beat the best.”

400-METER RUN – Bobby Young – Lincoln (Pa.) – 45.95
“It feels great. I can’t really let it sink in yet, because I have two more races to run today. Once the 4 X 400 is over later today I think that is when it will start to sink in. I felt like I ran real well today, I’m just glad I could come out on top. Now I got to think about my second race though, the 200.

JAVELIN – Khristoph Becker – Middlebury – 205-7/62.67m
“That was my personal best and I was fired up. I competed in the decathlon here and fouled on all three throws in the discus, which was a big disappointment. But this makes all up for that. I usually do better in big competition. I recently changed my grip in javelin. Three weeks ago I changed from the fork grip back to the regular grip. It helps having a teammate (Steve Atkinson who finished fifth) in this meet. This was his first time in the nationals. He is my best friend in school. We will go out and celebrate tonight.”

100-METER DASH – Augustine Schmader – Lincoln (Pa.) – 10.53
“I did what I came here to do. I struggled with injuries during the indoor season and this is only my fourth 100 of the season. I had a great start and a good drive force. Then I felt flat for a second but when I heard my competitors coming on I held my composure. I still have to triple jump and run on our 4x4 relay.”

800-METER RUN – Nick Symmonds – Willamette – 1:49.87
(Three-time champion in this event, 2003, 2004, 2005; Multi-event champion: 1,500, 800)
“It was real hard to defend this event knowing the other runners (Zodda, Henning) would be pushing him and putting up good times as well. After the 1,500, I jogged around, ate some food to get some energy back, and got my legs up. I didn’t want to jump out too fast at the start because of just finishing the 1,500. I worked my way up slow and made my move when I felt strong enough and was lucky enough to come out on top again. I was nervous coming into today with both of these events, but it definitely feels good to win both events.

400-METER HURDLES – Blake Boma – Monmouth College – 51.78
“This has been a great outdoor season for Monmouth and a great weekend for all of us. We had a lot more qualifiers this year in different events. It felt good to have more teammates around this weekend. We have had made a lot of improvements since last year, especially in the 4x400. Those have guys have been training with me all winter and it’s been good to see their improvement along with mine. It feels awesome to finally be a National Champion. I have had a lot of great advice from the past champion, Derek Toshner, and from both of my coaches, especially coach Haynes.”

200-METER DASH – Greg Nixon – Howard Payne – 20.96
“It feels good to come out of here with a National Championship. I knew that I was going to get one today, coming in the 100 or 200. I had a bad start in the 100, and I got a little scared there. This race, I got a good start out of the blocks and was able to come out on top. I just want to thank my coaches. They got me ready for this race.”

TRIPLE JUMP-Yudehwheh Gbaa- Lincoln (Pa.) – 49-6.25/15.09m
“This feels awesome. I was just coming into this event trying to place. I had the ninth-best qualifying jump, so I was shooting to score my team some points in this National Championship by placing eighth. I’ve never hit 48 in my life, and today I hit 49. This feels so good. All my hard work and practice with my coaches paid off for me.”

5,000-METER RUN – Josh Moen – Wartburg – 14:36.22
(Multi-event champion: 10,000, 5,000)
“It is an absolutely surreal feeling. I knew that coming into this weekend I would have a chance to win the 10,000 and the 5,000, but I didn’t know if it would happen. So it feels great to know what I’ve done. It was everything I had, that last 150 I was thinking to myself, ‘If I’m hurting this bad, he (Macharia Yuot, second-place finisher) has to be hurting.’ I just toughed it out to see if I could break him, and I did. I could feel him. He is the guy I always think about in practice. I love racing him, I’ve raced against him multiple times, and he is the greatest competitor I’ve ever faced.

1,600-METER RELAY – Wisconsin-LaCrosse – 3:08.71
(Three-time champion in this event, 2003, 2004, 2005)
Jeremy Deterville, first leg: “I went out hard and wanted to get a decent lead. Nate (second leg Olson) rang a great leg to give us the lead.”
Eric Svestka, third leg: “It’s just amazing that we came back as a team. We need to come in strong and had a great race. We brought a lot of fans here and you could hear them cheering.”
Tony Marcinek, anchor leg: “I just focused on staying with Lance (Lincoln’s anchor leg Wifgall) and running my own race. I wanted to stay relaxed. It’s nice to keep our streak alive.”

2005 NATIONAL CHAMPION TEAM HEAD COACH – Cyrus Jones – Lincoln
(team won its seventh team title, first since 2000)
“I told the kids before we left the hotel that today that in order for us to win, they had to run a flawless race in all eight events. And for the first time in my 31 years at Lincoln, I haven’t seen anything as devastating and outstanding as I saw today with those kids across the board. In every event, they gave everything that they had. It’s just overwhelming to me at this point.”

WOMEN’S EVENTS

JAVELIN – Tiffany Masuhr – Richard Stockton – 148-10/45.37m
“Oh, my gosh. Last year I finished second so I wouldn’t have it any other way to win it on my last throw. I knew I had it in me. Everything was building up toward a strong finish. I had my coaches, parents and teammates cheering me on, so I had to unleash something. To end the season on a top note, especially for a senior, is what every athlete strives for. It was a little windy, but I’m from Atlantic City and we’re used to these cross winds.”

TRIPLE JUMP – Doreen Nagawa – Wilmington (Ohio) – 41-1.75/12.54m
“It feels good to be a national champion. I’ve was the runner-up at last year’s national meet, so it feels good to get over the hump. The weather was a little tricky today, the wind kept changing. That is why I kept fouling because I couldn’t get the wind down. I’m just glad I got the first jump off and it was a P.R., so I was going to be happy with that, even if I didn’t win a national championship.”

400-METER RELAY – College of New Jersey – 47.04
(Two-time champion in this event, 2004, 2005)
Sophomore Khristelle Manuyag, first leg: “My start felt great. I drove out and made sure the baton was in her (second leg Jessica Bonelli) hand. We trust in each other. I told her not to leave early and we will get the baton to her. We were just worried about getting the stick all the way around the track.”
Freshman Jessica Bonelli, second leg: “I was the only new person on the relay so I felt a little pressure. I definitely wanted to do well, so I wanted to get out and run as hard as possible and do my best.”
Junior Brittany Body, third leg: “We’re used to being the underdog, so it was a different feeling this time around. With that in mind we knew we had to run faster than last year. I had complete confidence in Jessica (Bonelli). I didn’t have any room at the top when I got the baton from Jessica, so I knew I had to make an adjustment when I gave the baton to Tiffany (anchor leg Clark) and the only way was to run fast.”
Junior Tiffany Clark, anchor leg: “We had a big target on our back being the defending champion. We just had to get out there and do our best. I felt pretty confident. I knew Lincoln and New Jersey City would contend. I’m so happy and proud of all of us. Without the other three girls I couldn’t have done it.”

100-METER HURDLES – Sheana Grigsby – Carthage – 14.08
(Two-time champion in this event, 2004, 2005)
“It is a little bit of pressure coming in as a repeat champion, but it’s more pressure, I feel, not trying to win it for myself, but trying to win it for people who have helped me get here. And so I’m happy that I can make them happy. It’s for me, but it’s more for them. Nothing is ever easy. A race is never perfect. You’re always going through things in your head. I hit one of the hurdles, so that means it’s not perfect. The time was a pleasant surprise; it’s very nice. I can probably put that on my record. It’s my PR, actually.”

400-METER RUN – Tiffany Clark – The College of New Jersey – 54.59
“Yes, I felt it was going to be a big day because I also ran the anchor leg on the winning 4x100 relay team, but also competitive. I got out of the blocks fast and set the pace yesterday and I was trying to keep the same race on. I knew that if I kept the same race, I’d be really hard to get to, so that was my plan.”

HAMMER THROW – Kelly Godsey – Bates – 195-4
(Division III Championship record)
“I’m really happy because I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I tried not to think about my knee (an injury she suffered in the discus on Thursday) at all. I don’t really consider that part of the equation. I had the speed and caught it pretty well. Honestly, I was just trying to save one, to get one in for finals, because I didn’t save my first one. I guess I was just more relaxed on that one because I was thinking ‘I need to get one in.’ Robyn Jarocki (Wisconsin-Oshkosh) is a great thrower. I’ve been competing against her now for three years and I’m happy to finally have been able to come out on top.”

1,500-METER RUN – Missy Buttry – Wartburg – 4:27.27
(Three-time champion in this event, 2002, 2003, 2005)
“I really wanted to run a faster time, but I kind of tightened up with 700 to go. I think I was putting a little too much pressure on myself on that one. It was just awesome to come and win it in front of the home crowd, and regain my title this year.”

100-METER DASH – Diana Lawson – New Jersey City – 11.82
(Multi-event champion; 100, 400)
“I didn’t get off to the start that I wanted, but I was able to finish strong. Coming into today, we wanted to bring home three championships, but we had baton problems in the 4x100-meter relay and we dropped the baton and I didn’t even get a chance to run. Hopefully I can come back in the 200 and get a second championship today.”

800-METER RUN – Marcia Taddy – Wisconsin-Platteville – 2:11.54
“It always forces you to get out there and go when you feel someone on your shoulder (2004 runner-up, Alicia Andrews, Williamette), it kind off forces you to get out there and go. I had the 1500 before so I was hoping that would be little helpful to be warmed up and stuff. The 15 didn’t go exactly how I wanted it to, so I thought I’d have to try harder for the 800. It feels pretty good to be a National Champion, and I’m a little surprised. I wasn’t exactly expecting it. I had it in the back of my mind, though.”

400-METER HURDLES – Emily Lepley – Susquehanna – 61.20
“I was just planning to run all out from the start, there was no strategy. I’m surprised that I’m Susquehanna’s first national champion on the track. I was a little disappointed in not making the final in the 100 hurdles. You know we all have our days. After I did badly in the 100 hurdles, I wanted to go out and redeem myself.”

200-METER DASH – Diana Lawson – New Jersey City University – 24.10
(Multi-event champion; 100, 400)
“It’s always a tough double with the 100 and 200. I knew I had to get out quick and hope for a good finish. Precious (Macklin) and Musu (Jackson-Buckner) are strong finishers. I was a little mentally fatigued, but I kept telling myself he can do it.”

5,000-METER RUN – Missy Buttry – Wartburg – 16:11.90
(Three-time champion in this event, 2003, 2004, 2005)
“It was just a lot of fun to go out there in front of the home crowd. To have the whole team over there at the corner, and then the grandstand’s filled with Wartburg people, and my whole family was here and everything, it was just a lot of fun. The coaches kind of told me that if our team got third and we beat Calvin (in that relay), we won. I was like, ‘Are you kidding?’ And coach Johnson said ‘No.’ So then I was about ready to have a heart attack during the whole 4x4. And then we did it! It just puts the icing on the whole entire career. That’s what we wanted to do this year and doing it as a team makes it that much better.”

1,600-METER RELAY – College of New Jersey – Tiffany Clarke, anchor – 3:45.48
“We won on heart basically. It was tough because there were so many great competitors. This was the best of the best, and it just depends on how you run on that particular day. And fortunately, we ran well today.”

2005 NATIONAL CHAMPION HEAD COACH – Marcus Newsom – Wartburg
“A year ago at this time, finishing fourth, I knew we were getting closer (to winning a National Championship). Then indoors, being national runners-up – by four points – we took another step. And then to get home, in Missy’s senior year, with everyone else being basically sophomores and freshmen, I knew we could put together a good team – and we just had to take care of the preliminary rounds. We had no points coming into today – zero – but we had gotten to the preliminary rounds Thursday to make today possible. So I felt that if we could go out and compete, to the best of our abilities, things would happen. After it hit me and they said it (the final team scores) over the loudspeaker, I was just overjoyed.”

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