March 1, 2008

Recap |  Complete Results

Women's Pentathlon: Olympia Nowak (UNI)
On setting the school and meet record:
"I was really surprised because something has gone wrong every time. But, today I improved 400 points from my personal best."

On nationals:
"I'm excited to compete against the best in the U.S. Next week, I'm going to rest and take time to study before training again."

Men's Pole Vault: Raven Cepeda (UNI)
On winning the pole vault, UNI's fourth-consecutive MVC indoor champion:
"It feels great to win and know I'm keeping up the UNI tradition."

On pressures of being part of a school with a pole vault tradition:
"I don't really feel much pressure. It's more of an honor and makes me compete harder. Teammates (Mike) Beese and (Mat) Clark will be able to carry on the tradition next year."

Women's 5,000 Meters: Kellyn Johnson (WSU)
On her plan for the race:
"I went out with a specific plan in mind. I wanted to conserve energy because I'm also competing in the mile and 3,000. I just stayed with who's in front and setting the pace, then kicked it in for the last 9 or 10 laps.

On winning the 5,000 and cross country title:
"It's great because this was my first year competing in both cross country and indoor."

Men's 5,000 Meters: Jeff Schirmer (SIU)
On being MVC champ:
"It feels really good [to be a MVC champion], but not as good as it could because we didn't hit our team goal for the event."

On what he is looking forward to for the rest of the meet:
"I hope we can do better as a team Sunday and make up for some of our performances today."

Men's Long Jump: Marcus Gaines (Drake)
On winning MVC title:
"I've been waiting for this for a long time. I've been fighting through injuries, but now my work has finally paid off.

On where he wants to go from here:
"Now I'm going to start focusing on that automatic NCAA qualifying mark."

Women's Distance Medley: Asher Kyger (Missouri St.) - anchor (1600) of winning team
On winning MVC title:
"It feels great to be an MVC champ. I've got great teammates backing me up, and we're trying to get this program to the next level."

On keeping motivated to finish with a record time after jumping out to a big lead:
"My motivation comes from my teammates. They keep pushing me to work hard and keep [our relay team] in contention, so that keeps me motivated."

Men's Distance Medley: Dorian Ulrey (UNI) - anchor (1600) of winning team
On overcoming such a big lead by Indiana State to win MVC title:
"I just focused on running even splits and it worked out well."

On being sick coming into the meet and still performing well:
"I've been sick the last couple of days, and I was even tested for pneumonia. Luckily the tests turned out negative." "Still, I feel good. My legs are a little shaky, but that will happen whether you run a 4:20 or a 4-flat."

Women's Long Jump: Bianca Stuart (SIU)
On winning her third MVC title:
"I was relaxed and loose. I'm just preparing for nationals."

On nationals:
"There's going to be a lot of good competition. I'm ranked third in the nation, so hopefully I can finish there or higher."

On next season:
"I hope to win the title again. Every year just keeps getting better and better."