Final Day quotes, 2014 USATF Outdoor Championships

USATF Press Release
June 29, 2014

Men’s 20k RW Final
John Nunn, winner
“It was great. We had a good crowd and good athletes to compete against. I was a little banged up earlier this year and I wanted to see where we were at coming into this race. I was pleased to be able to pull off a win.”

“It’s fun. I raced against Tim Seaman for years. It’s fun to be able to put forth the effort and pull off a win.”

“We have another 20k this year and build up for the 50k in December. We’ll go for that and try to go for the A standard for next year.”

Patrick Stroupe, 2nd Place
“Just went out there with not much of a goal in mind in terms of time. Just wanted to race and see how I could do.”

“I’ve been race walking seriously since 2007 when I finished college but I started in 2003. I was on scholarship for running at an NAIA school but I wasn’t great, so they switched me to race walk and I really started to excel. My form was good, my technique was good and I’ve been going strong since then.”

Nick Christie, 3rd Place
“I just need to get with my training partners, including Alejandro (Chavez) who got fourth, and continue to get better. We’re pushing really hard. I brought our training group to San Diego to train with Miranda Melville and it’s really about building our community and getting better. A few of us are going to JOs in Texas, and try to get the kids there excited and knowledgeable about race walking.”


Men’s Pole Vault Final
Sam Kendricks, Winner
“I’m ecstatic right now. This is such an awesome experience. After the NCAA championship, I just wanted to come out here and jump and to be with these guys I’ve looked up to, it’s incredible.”

Mark Hollis, Second Place
“It was tricky out there because of the winds. We had to make adjustments on the fly. Sam did a great job today.”


Women’s Discus Final
Gia Lewis–Smallwood, Winner
“It’s an amazing feeling. I’m super excited to come out and be able to throw well. It gives me a lot of confidence to be able to go overseas and do the same. I started off a little bit rocky. I hadn’t competed in a couple of weeks and when that happens, sometimes my first few throws are kind of rocky. But I found my rhythm and pulled it together.”

“I love this stadium. I remember 2004 and the Olympic Trials hold a lot of great memories. I didn’t make the team, but I PRed and that did great things for my career. So Sacramento holds a lot of magic. It’s a wonderful place and I’m so glad we’re back.”

Liz Podominick, Second Place
“It feels really good obviously placing in second place in National Championship. I am really happy with second place finish. It was nice to throw in the stadium. It was amusing to watch the discus bounce off the turf. It was great atmosphere to throw the discus in the stadium. I really enjoyed throwing in the stadium.”

Stephanie Brown Trafton, Sacramento Native (4th Place)
“Having it here at Sac State, I was a little nervous to tell the truth. I was looking forward to just having a calm meet but the adrenaline–pumping competitive juices get pumping and it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Beijing or London. I’m looking forward to coming back to Sacramento in 2017. I might be retired by then, but who knows, maybe I’ll come out of retirement just for that year. It’s great to be able to throw inside the stadium. You don’t get to do that at so many stadiums anymore.”


Men’s Javelin Final
Sean Furey, Winner
“I wanted to throw a personal best and I was pretty close. Executing our technique feels so good. It’s like hitting a perfect golf shot. It’s what makes you come back for more. The conditions were good, the wind was good and there was a lot of great competition. There were six or seven guys that could have won today.”

Riley Dolezal, Second Place
“It went pretty well. I had the second best throw of my career. It feels good and bad. I had one of my best throws about coming in second at National Championships. It was great year. We had hardcore fans watching us throw.”


Women’s High Jump Final
Inika McPherson, Winner
“It feels amazing to be a national champion. I love it. Today my coach wanted me to keep it easy in the beginning so I could get a nice build up. Everything went as planned. Now I’m a 2–meter jumper. I’ve been building towards this for a long time.

Chaunte Lowe, 2nd place
“I felt good. I think that Inka really deserved it and it was good to see her do so well. Of course next year, this will but a little more vigor in my training. As I’ve said in previous interviews, it’s always a toss up when you come back from maternity, so you’re really just trying to get your fitness back first. Next year I’ll try to sharpen everything up and get some more records.”


Men’s Long Jump Final
Jeffrey Henderson, Winner
“I think I did really well today. My coach and I were focusing on my approach and my knees getting up. I feel really good. My first time being in Sacramento and I loved the crowd and  I loved every single bit of the event.”

Jarrion Lawson, Second Place
“It felt great about second place win in National Championship. I was able to execute on my third jump like my coach wanted me to do.”


Women’s 400m Hurdles Final
Kori Carter, Winner
“I got a little shady over hurdles five, six and seven but with eight to go I just decided to go for it and got into Kori-Monster mode, gave it everything I had, and luckily today it was good enough. It was awesome. My family is here so it was awesome; it was amazing.”

Georganne Moline, 2nd place
“I think I should have kicked it right before hurdle five and not put myself in that position when I’m already tired. I was just trying to give it everything I had and it felt really good.”


Women’s 800m Final
Ajeé Wilson, Winner
“It was pretty hot. I was not sure how the race would go, but my coach prepared me mentally. I have been working really hard. “

Laura Roesler, Second Place
“I’m really happy. It was fun. I felt I ran pretty well after the first two rounds. Once I settled in, I felt I ran the last 200 really well. This year was about the experience and learning to travel. “


Men’s 800m Final
Duane Solomon, Winner
“The plan was to take it out with authority. I did exactly what we wanted to do and just tried to maintain the whole way through. I like to stay out of that predicament by staying in the front. There was a lot of jostling in the back and anything can happen back there. The whole thing was to run the race my coach wanted me to do.”

Casimir Loxsom, 2nd place
“I’m so happy. I really held off on trying to close until the last 70. We had talked about if it was real hard to kind of back off and have something left at the end. It;s one of the best track and field moments of my career so far and I’m really happy with it.”


Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Final
Evan Jager, Winner
“I knew that going into this race Huling was very fit and it was going to be hard to beat him. I’m not really worried about the time at a race like this. It was hot and windy, so you can kind of throw time out the window. We wanted to make it a hard race. We thought that was our best chance to finish 1–2.”

Daniel Huling, second place
“I wanted to be in front of him at the water barrier so he’d have to go around me.”


Men’s 200m Final
Curtis Mitchell, Winner
“It was a nice weekend for me. I had to dig down deep in the finals. I’m just happy to come out and compete at the highest level and set myself up for the rest of my season against the best in the world. This attests to the hard work I’ve put in to come. words can’t describe how happy I am.”

Wallace Spearmon, 2nd place
“I was looking forward to racing Mitchell. Running 20.19 was a step in the right direction. I don’t like losing, but I don’t mind losing to him. I can promise you I’m not going to do that a lot more. The old guy still has some new tricks left.”


Men’s 400m Hurdles Final
Johnny Dutch, Winner
“The race went pretty well. I didn’t go in with any strategy, I just ran with my heart. I just went for it today. This year has really been a journey for me. I was on the verge of giving up. There was so much going on in my life and with injuries. I thought if it doesn’t go right this year, I might just become a waiter. But I didn’t give up. Everybody had faith around me. If everybody has faith for me I should have faith in myself. So I kept going and things worked out.”

Michael Stigler, 2nd place
“It was pretty good. I’m really satisfied with today’s outcome. I ran my own race. I was in lane two, so it felt like everybody was out on me, but I just ran my own race. To be able to place second, I’m pretty happy. My goal was to make it to finals because I didn’t make it the previous year.”


Women’s 200m Final
Jeneba Tarmoh, Winner
“I’m excited. It’s great to be a national champion. I’m looking forward to the rest of my season. I want to go home to L.A. and keep training and working on the things I need to work on. I was very excited about the time until I found it was wind–aided. But I thought I executed well and I have no complaints.”

Kimberlyn Duncan, 2nd place
“There’s definitely been a transition between college and professional track and field. It’s been a struggle but for me to come out here and race against these great ladies was great.”


Women’s 1500m Final
Jenny Simpson, Winner
“It felt really, really good. It is hard to run 4:05 in the heat and the wind. You have to be brave in a race. That is why you work hard in every race. This is special part of my consistency. You can feel pressure when people are close to you. You have to run all 1500 meters. I know I needed to run hard to win.

Mary Cain, 2nd Place
“It felt really good. I tried to gauge off of Jenny was doing. I felt really good about what I was doing. My workouts have been going really well. I think I am good championship racer. If I can keep growing in my running.”


Men’s 110m Hurdles Final
Devon Allen, Winner
“I knew I was going to run fast in this league. I am pretty excited about it.  I did not know I finished first when I crossed the finish line, until they announced it. Things started clicking in practice, feeling better, and going through things and running faster.”

Ryan Wilson, 2nd Place
“I knew some folks were ready to run fast, so I was focused on having a good start and first hurdle so that I was in the race. I felt like I got out of good body position at hurdles 3-5 but then stood myself up, felt the difference it made and then just started racing from there. I felt like my finish was great.”