Pac-10 Championships Postgame Quotes
May 17, 2003 | Track & Field
May 17, 2003
Women's Long Jump Champion Tiffany Greer (ASU) 20-10.5 (2.1)
(On becoming the first Pac-10 woman to win three career long jump titles): "It's been a struggle all season, so it's a blessing to win my third title. It's been my goal all season. I wanted to jump one more time (to break 21 feet) but my coach wanted me to rest. I'm getting ready for regionals and nationals and getting my mind ready and getting my legs ready. You'll see me later on at the nationals and at the Olympics."
Men's Long Jump Champion Juaune Armon (UCLA) 26-01.00 (2.0)
(On edging USC's Alen Simms by ? of an inch) "Allen kept pushing it farther and farther. I needed him to pass me. I was starting to lose my energy and that got me going. Also, I hate to lose, especially to a Trojan. We're over here at USC. Where else to do one of your best performances.
(On jumping the winning the length on his second to last jump) "I've learned from past experience, when I'd get excited at the end and scratch. After doing that a couple of times, you learn to focus better at the end."
Women's Hammer Champion Cari Soong (UCLA) 215-11
(On her winning effort on the fifth throw): "I just cleared my mind. My coach told me to wind like I was going to throw 220 and I just did it and didn't look back. The hammer is crazy. You feel under control and when you push your body more, you feel more out of control. But you can get it back. The shot put is not artistic. But the hammer, there's four turns and it gets prettier. I just tried to hit my third and fourth turns."
Women's High Jump Champion Whitney Evans (WSU) 5-11.50
(On winning her third consecutive Pac-10 title in the event): "I think more about the performance than just the win. I'm always happy to help the team with points. I was hoping to make 6-1, which would've been a p.r., but I wasn't able to do it today. I tied my p.r. at Stanford earlier this year, so I'm excited to go back there for regionals.
(On heading into regionals and nationals): "I'm feeling really good. I've had my best outdoor season ever, so I'm looking for a p.r."
Men's Shot Put Champion Dan Ames (UCLA) 63-05.50
(On beating teammate and 2002 Pac-10 shot put champion Scott Weigand): "We go head to head every day. You never know. Each day we have a new fight between us.
"Each competition is another opportunity to get a p.r. or score points. I'm happy with my throw today, but today's distance didn't pay off as much as I expected."
Women's Shot Put Champion Jessica Cosby (UCLA) 55-07.75
"I was just trying to bring the shot put title back to UCLA. That was the motivating factor going in."
(On UCLA's tremendous success in the event): "You want to do your part and to keep the title in the Bruin family."
(On her performance): I wasn't going in with a set goal in mind. I wanted to just rip and pop with whatever was in my body and it worked today."
Women's Javelin Champion Inga Stasiulionyte (USC) 168-11
(On her performance, which): "I'm in the process of discovering my own throws and I'm not really there yet. I'm trying to find what really works for me. I'm trying to stay within my ability of being fast and technical. I didn't have time to practice as much as I'd like because we just had finals.
"Right now, I don't feel any connection to the javelin. I've improved my body. I've improved my weightlifting and my speed and now I just have to put it all together."
Men's Javelin Champion Adam Jenkins (Oregon) 217-09
"I wanted to break 70 meters. I've come close before and I've still got some meets left to do it in. I was hoping this was going to be the meet I'd do it in and it would be my jumping off point. I thought (Oregon teammate) John (Stiegeler) and I would be 1-2, but he fell a couple inches short."
Men's Pole Vault Champion Brad Walker (Washington) 18-02.50
(On winning but not making p.r.): "In a big meet like this, you're always trying for a p.r. It's not a total disappointment but you feel you can do better. A lot of guys stepped up today. They're peaking at the right time and had a good competition. The vault is the most technical event in my mind and there is always things to improve on."
Women's Steeple Chase Champion Lisa Aguilera (ASU) 10:22.94
"I didn't expect to run as fast as we did. I was running to win. But it was a faster race than I expected. It was good."
(On why she'll concentrate on this race at the regionals and nationals): "I like the distance and I like the steeples. It breaks up the race. It makes it go by faster.
"I didn't perform as well as I wanted last year at NCAAs and I did better at the USA nationals. I feel better this year going in."
Men's Steeple Chase Champion Ian Dobson (Stanford) 8:50.83 (p.r.)
"I'm pretty happy. The idea of the Pac-10 Championships is to get as many points as possible for the team. I think we've got some good momentum.
"This is only the third time I've run this. I feel like I'm getting into a groove, but I'm still learning, just learning how to hurdle, and I know I can go faster. I was confident going in that I was a faster flat racer than anyone. I knew that I could beat them on a flat race. Luckily, I'm tall enough that I can handle the hurdles well enough to get by."
Women's 10,000 Meters Champion Alicia Craig (Stanford) 33:42.29
(On finishing first and second, along with teammate Sara Bei, with both competing in the 10,000 for the first time): "I've never done it and Sara had never done it and we decided to do it this year. It's a perfect set up for the 5k tomorrow. We wanted to go out and finish 1-2 and we worked well together and that's what we did. Sara had the stomach flu. She's not feeling well at all. She deserves a special award for this.
Men's 10,000 Meters Champion Louis Luchini (Stanford) 29:13.28
"The race went as slow, as we thought it would. (Teammate) Adam (Tenforde) took it out a bit, helping me. I felt great. They key for me is to stay relaxed as long as possible. Once you don't you tighten up and you realize you've got a lot of laps left."
Women's 100-Meter Hurdles Top Qualifier Virginia Powell (USC) 13.33 (USC freshman record)
"I was looking to run this fast and I hope to run faster tomorrow. Each race I run, I want to better my time. I've been working on a lot of things in practice and it all came together today."
Men's 100-Meter Dash Top Qualifier Sammy Parker (Oregon) 10.18 (p.r.)
"I wanted to come out and just try to set the tone today. I haven't had that much training so I just wanted to do my best. I'm a Long Beach Poly guy and this is my hometown, so it was good to run well. I have about 20-25 people out here today."
