April 8, 2011
Men's 1500m University
Elkana Rotich, UTEP
On the win: I feel great, but it was so windy. I was in position four for most of the race, and the times weren't so fast, so it was kind of a scratch race.
Men 3000 Meter Steeplechase Section A University/College
Wesley Ruttoh, Houston
On the win: The fun thing about racing here is that everybody is going for the win. That makes you run faster, compete harder and it makes the victory feel that much better.
Men's Long Jump University
Ngonidzashe Makusha, Florida State
On the win: I feel great. This is my first competition coming from the indoors, so I feel like it's a very good opener outdoors. This is so much wind out here, but I still feel like it was good day. I am happy.
Men Javelin Throw Section A University/College
Sam Humphreys, Texas A&M
On the win: This is my second year winning, and I am thrilled to have pulled it off twice. The PR made it an even sweeter victory.
Men 4x1500 Meter Relay University
Patrick McGregor, Texas
On the win: We knew that the wind was going to hold us back for the majority of the race, so we focused on fighting that. We also focused on keeping our pace and remaining comfortable. We knew we had a chance of winning, and we did everything necessary to capitalize on that.
Men 1600 Sprint Medley Invitational University
Joey Roberts, Texas A&M
On the win: It is redemption. As per usual, this was a matter of execution. Getting the stick, our handoffs were better. I am eager to watch the video, because I feel like the handoff got us the lead, and it was a momentum boost. It is a real big achievement. Two relays down, we have three more to go.
Men's Sprint Medley College Invitational
Isaiah Gill, South Plains College
On the win: Feels good, and really good to get a time like that. We just wanted to run fast, and that's what we did.
Women 3000 Meter Steeplechase University/College
Zuna Portillo-Rodriguez, Southern Mississippi
On the win: It felt so good to win. It took a lot of work out there to win and beat the wind factor. I tucked in behind the lead runner for most of the way, and luckily I was able to break when I needed to. I feel amazing right now.
Women 4x1500 Meter Relay University/College
Paige Johnston, Arkansas
On the win: We had a nice lead, so the wind and pacing were the two big things we had to focus on. We pulled it off as well as we possibly could have and it resulted in the win.
Women 1600 Sprint Medley Invitational University/College
Shelise Williams, Arkansas
On the win: It feels really good to win. To come out here and repeat our victory in front of this Texas crowd just made us feel great.
Women's Long Jump Section A University/College
Tori Bowie, Southern Mississippi
On the win: The wind was blowing really hard so I felt like I had to pressure myself to go against the wind. It was hard. It takes patience to be on the runway and I can't really explain the feeling. Overall for my first meet it was a great performance. I felt that I had a lot of great jumps out there today. I feel like I did a really good job today.
Women's High Jump University/College
Brigetta Barrett, Arizona
On the win: This week I feel a lot better. As a jumper I feel a lot better. Last week, coming off of nationals, for some reason my approach just didn't feel good. It didn't feel like my natural self. So this week I felt myself exploding off the ground even though I didn't clear on [some of] the first attempts and hit the bar with my head and stuff. I feel better and ready to go. This is a really hard week. My body hurts but I pushed and my approach felt good and I thank God that I was able to keep that together.
Women's Discus Throw Section A Univeristy/College
Jessica Maroszek, Kansas
On the win: We had a pretty strong head wind today but if you were able to catch it right you were able to get a good throw in, which I did. My first throw was my best throw.
Boys 3200 Meter Run High School
Craig Lutz, FM Marcus
On winning this event four years in a row: That was one of my biggest goals this year is to get this fourth win. It was something we noticed freshman year, that no one had done it, so it was just something we looked at as a goal to go for.
On running at Texas Relays: This is my favorite city. When I picked to come to Texas, it definitely had to do with coming to Austin and the program here. We're going to do something amazing. This stadium is great. I have never run in anything better. It is loud and it is a lot of fun.
High School Boys 2,000m Steeplechase
Derwin Graham, Copperas Cove
On the win: It feels good. Especially since I won last year, so I was coming back to see if I could win again, and hopefully get close to that record, but I just couldn't get to it today.
Boys High School 4x800-Meter Relay
Cameron Foreman, Georgetown
On the win: The win is great. It's kind of are premier event at our high school that we look forward to every year so it was good to come out and win.
Boys 1600 Sprint Medley High School
David Smith, Edmond Memorial High School
On the win: There are a lot of great runners out here. It is a humbling experience, but we were lucky enough to be the fastest today, and the win felt great.
Boys Long Jump High School
Mykkele Thompson, San Antonio Stevens
On his jump: I just had to get my mind straight. I started tensing up after [Jonathan Turner] jumped the 25 feet, but I had to step up. I used my God-given ability.
Boys High Jump High School
Jacorian Duffield, UC Randolph
On the win: I didn't feel as good at the beginning but as the height got up it got smoother and smoother. I did good but I wanted to get 7'1".
Boys Shot Put High School Section A
Connor Myers, Edmond Memorial
On the win: It's really good experience, to come down here and go against some Texas guys, some higher level guys. It helps us get ready for the state meet back in Oklahoma.
Boys Pole Vault High School Section A
Reese Watson, Spring High School
On the win: It feels really good to win. I have been working the whole season. I haven't really gotten to put up the bars that I want to but everything came together today.
Boys Discus High School
Hayden Reed, LC-Mauriceville
On the win: It's a new experience. I have never done this before. There's a lot of new competitors, but I thought it was a pretty good day.
Girls 3,200 Meter Run High School
Kaitlan Flattmann, Benton High School
On the win: I feel awesome. It was the first time I've ever been to the Texas Relays and to come out here and win is a blessing. I am very grateful.
Girls 1600m Sprint Medley High School
Elizabeth Kerpon, Coppell High School
On the win: It feels really good. We ran our race exactly how we planned. We couldn't have asked for a better run.
Girls 4x800 Relay High School
Grace Kohler, SA Brandeis
On the win: It feels really good. We did not expect to win, and it feels amazing.
Girls Long Jump High School
Taliyah Brooks, Pflugerville
On the win: It felt great coming out on top. There are a lot of great athletes here, and I was excited to compete with them and excited to get the in
Girls Pole Vault High School Section A
Morgann Leleux, Catholic NI
On the win: It was pretty amazing. I wish I got that 14'2", but it's coming, it's coming. I came here determined to jump that but I got kind of sick this week so we were a little worried but it went well.
Girls High Jump High School
Grace Beaudoin, Ingram Moore High School
On the win: It feels amazing. Last year I took second, and I was really worried about that happening again. I came out here, gave it my all and it really paid off.
