Colorado State University Athletics
NCAA Regional Quotes
5/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Outdoor Track & Field
May 31, 2008
Recap | Complete Results
Head Coach Brian Bedard:
On overall team performance:
"I thought some of the athletes were a little bit tired, to tell you the truth. It's been a long season. It was an emotional conference meet. I thought some of the athletes looked a bit worn out. There were some athletes from some other schools that were in the same boat. You could kind of tell who our veterans are, the ones who've been here, the ones who've been successful at regionals before. Those were the ones that got through. They know how long the season is, when it's important to compete well. That kind of proved out over the last couple days."
On Jason Schutz: "He did what he was supposed to do. We had pretty poor conditions for the discus today, but he certainly did what he needed to do.
"He had a good day today in the hammer, too. That's a couple feet off his all-time best and he had several throws in the discus that would've won the competition. He had a good day.
"His best event is definitely the discus. I would say, the way he's been throwing this year, if he throws the way he's capable of throwing, he should be a Top 5 guy in the country. He's throwing against some of the best throwers in the nation, and he's done well against them. This is just a step along the way, in that process to getting there, getting through the regional meet and doing what you need to do there. He was second at the conference meet with a farther throw than his one today. He took second at the conference meet to the nation's leading thrower."
On Alex Godell:
"He put a few throws out of the sector, out of bounds."
On the conditions:
"They had a tail wind today, which isn't a good thing for the discus."
On prospects for at-large bids:
"You can pretty much look at the national list, the descending-order list, and Meagan (Berg) is way below 25. You've got to be in the Top 25 or you're not going to get a sniff for nationals. Someone like Missy Faubus is a good candidate for an at-large; she finished I think eighth in her disc and she was ranked around 19th or 20th, so unless some crazy things happened this weekend, she'll probably get in. Kristen Hemphill is a good candidate for an at-large, with her time. I hope that's a slam dunk there as far as her getting in."
Assistant coach Tim Cawley:
On Drew Morano:
"I thought Drew ran pretty well. He could've run a little better but I thought he did a great job taking third and qualifying automatically for nationals, so that's good. It was a pretty tough region in the 400 here. That was pretty exciting.
"It's one of those things that Coach Bedard had mentioned earlier this year. This was a meet where you just kind of had to get through. It's exciting for him to get in the Top 5 there, to be third in the region, and give him a chance to be an All-American. He ran two very smart, very technical races. I think he could've run a little better today, maybe give himself a little better shot to try to win it or be a little higher, but he did what he needed to get himself through. He's running well. He's strong. His speed's coming around. Everything's kind of meeting up together. I think he'll be strong here in two weeks at the NCAAs."
On Tanesha Johnson:
"Tanesha jumped well. She fouled the first two, but she was being aggressive. She didn't get on the board on her last one, but I thought she competed and jumped pretty well."
On Niomi Ridge:
"Niomi did well. She tied for 12th, so she still has a chance there for the NCAA championships. We'll see. We're going to sit and wait on her now, but I'm hoping and optimistic. There's a chance she might get in. There's two ways to do it. If you're Top 5 at regionals, you automatically go. Then, anyone that was sixth-12th, they get put in an at-large pool. So, then they go by their best mark of that season. So, you've got to be at least 12th at regionals, and you get thrown into a pool with everyone across the nation that was sixth-12th in their region, then they go on the descending-order list of the best marks across the country. They usually take between 26 and 28 athletes in each event and go from there. It's the best mark of the season, so her 180 will be the one they use. We'll have to look at the other regions to see how things go, but she's got a shot."
On Janay DeLoach:
"Janay competed really well to get herself fifth and an automatic bid. She struggled a little, but she did what she needed to get herself through. She's a talented athlete and she set herself up to be an All-American, so that's very exciting."
Assistant coach Bryan Berryhill:
On Kristen Hemphill:
"Kristen Hemphill ran a great race. Her time before regionals would've put her like 13th in the nation. She PRed by 8 seconds, almost actually 9 seconds, so anytime you come to a regional meet and step up and perform like that and PR, that's what you're looking for. She finished sixth by 5 hundreths of a second, so we'll have to go by the descending order (for a possible at-large bid to nationals). She looks pretty solid, with how quick her time was; I mean, she missed it by 5 hundreths. I can't even stop my watch that fast. It was a photo finish for fifth place. We'll have to wait until tomorrow when they come out with all the regional times. It'll be evening tomorrow."