PAC-10 CONFERENCE PAC-12 CONFERENCE

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For Immediate Release // Sunday, May 12, 2013 Pac-12 Contact // Natalia Ciccone ([email protected]) USC Contact // David Tuttle ([email protected])

2013 PAC-12 TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 2 QUOTES

Chizoba Okodogbe (Anchor), Oregon Women’s 4 x 100 “It was great. We still have some stuff to work on, but it was a decent time. We still want to run a little faster… a lot faster. We want to run 41.9.”

Ryan Milus (Anchor), Arizona State Men’s 4 x 100 “Basically, I just trying not to get caught. My teammates did a great job getting it to me in front, so basically I was just trying to stay in front, stay relaxed towards the end of the race, and !nish it off.”

“This is a good stepping stone for us, getting to regionals and nationals. We’ve been putting down great times this year, and hopefully we continue to keep dropping the time and getting better and better.”

WHY THEY WON “Good stick passes. We work it at practice every week, having good, solid stick passes throughout the zones, and I think that was the key to getting the victory today”

Davonte Stewart (Anchor), USC 4 x 100 (Finished 2nd) “I wanted to win. I’m trying to get the !rst place guy, so I wasn’t just thinking that I was happy to catch everybody else.”

“This is going to be great for us. This is our !rst time doing this order for the 4 by 1, so it’s kind of new to us. So if we get used to it, we’re going to be good.”

BEST PART OF THE RACE? “Everything but the handoffs. The handoffs were terrible, everything else was good.

Shelby Houlihan, Arizona State Women’s 1500m “This win is huge. I never actually thought I would win. I knew I had a good chance if I played my cards right, and eve- rything went right. I knew I had a really good shot.”

“It was tough. I didn’t feel totally 100 percent going in, my hamstrings were a little tight. I just kind of took the lead, went with it, and the last 400 I started picking it up gradually, and in the last 150 I took off and hoped no one would catch me.”

ON THE LAST 20-30 YARDS “I was just looking at the !nish line. I was kind of looking to my side to see if anyone was creeping, but I was just fo- cused on getting there.”

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“We’re thinking of running the 5k. I’ve never run it and don’t really have a race strategy for it.”

“This gives me a lot of con!dence. I took a week off because my Achilles was a little in"amed, that was after my 4:13, but I didn’t totally have all the con!dence after that and didn’t know how much !tness I lost. Obviously, I didn’t lose that much.”

“I’m still learning the 1500, this is only the third time I’ve run it this year. I’m still learning it and seeing what kind of strategies work best for me, and so far it looks like ‘just run from the front’”

Lawi Lalang, Arizona Men’s 1500m “I go the front and keep the pace. That’s my running style, I like keeping the pace”

“I had doubts today. Sometimes, when you feel like you’re a novice, you feel like you can’t do it, but you just do it.”

“The NCAAs are going to be tough, but I think this is it. I think this is my year.

“I think it’s a nice thing to do the 10K and the 5K, so I’m doubling and pick up some con!dence.”

Bryshon Nellum, USC Men’s 400m "It feels great. I knew this was going to be a breakthrough. I had a great competitor in Mike Berry. The whole year I've been thinking about Pac-12s being at home. I knew it was going to be very exciting, and knew it was going to be a good feel."

"I feel good still. The hard race was the 400…now the 200 is going to be fun."

ON WHETHER HE THINKS HE WILL DOUBLE TODAY "That's the goal. I'm gonna go out there and get ready and see what I can do."

AFTER THE 200 “This feels amazing. This is exactly what we hoped for and planned for. After the 400m I knew this would be fun.”

DID YOU HAVE FUN OUT THERE TODAY? “Oh yeah, that was a ton of fun.”

“I doubled in the 200 and 400 in high school and coming into college I was planning on doing the same. Unfortunately I got hurt and I had to go through a lot of rehabbing and after a lot of years of getting healthy I !nally made it back.”

“I’ve been working on this since I came back from the . My experience there brought me to a whole other level with track and !eld. Running with the best in the world, I knew I was able to come back and if I work hard, stay dedicated and stay healthy then I’d be able to perform the way I did today.”

“My time in the 400 de!nitely surprised me. I’ve been working real hard and I had great competition in Mike Berry. He helped me make it through that race.”

“The times I was running in practice, the work I was doing, I knew if I came out here and ran a smart race I could do it.”

“The 400 right now is wide open. There’s a lot of performers out there. As long as I stay on the grind and stay healthy, my future is bright.”

“I’ve been in a positive mode and stayed healthy. Things are going the way I planned it.” “It means a lot to be able to do this here. A lot of family, friends, and loved ones here. This is my school and it feels great to do this here.” 2013 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships Page 3

Phyllis Francis, Oregon Women’s 400m

"I feel good. It's really hot."

"That was a shock. I wasn't expecting to run that fast."

"I'm not used to the heat but I felt good."

"It feels great and I think our team is doing a great job on our way to winning another title. Go ducks!"

Aaron Brown, USC (2nd) Men’s 100m “We went in there thinking we could get 1-2, we knew we were head and shoulders above the rest of the !eld, and we wanted to just go out there and execute and show that the Trojans have got some good sprinters.”

“Obviously I would have liked to win, but I was to lose to anybody, it would be my training partner. He works really hard, and I’m really happy with the result overall.”

“I want to maintain what I’m doing. I’ve been making steady progressions all year, and I just want to carry that momen- tum through to, to Nationals.”

Beejay Lee, USC Men’s 100m “I’m feeling pretty good. I’m glad we were able to do that together, 1 and 2, as a team that’s pretty good. It was good for me to come and show I still have it, even though I transferred… that a lot of transfer athletes can still do it.”

ON GETTING ALMOST IDENTICAL TIMES (.01 DIFFERENCE) ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY “A lot of people doubted me and told me that it was windy and it was 3.9, that I wouldn’t be able to do it… that it wasn’t an accurate time. But I wanted to come out with a chip on my shoulder today and show them I’m at 10-oh sprinter.”

“I’m just going to keep trusting my coaches, trusting my teammates. This helps me go to regionals calm, relaxed and con!dent and carrying this into it."

ON GETTING FLAK FROM AARON BROWN “He’ll give me a little something, but we’ll see what we can do in practice.”

Reggie Wyatt, USC Men’s 400m hurdles “This is my last Pac-12 Championships, its here at home, and I wanted to come out with a W and leave it all on the track.”

ON PUTTING UP THE FASTEST TIME ALL YEAR IN THE 400M HURDLES “It feels great. My training is coming along where it needs to be, and what I need to improve on to run faster.”

“I did really good on !nishing strong this race. It’s been something I’ve been working on and its been coming along good.”

WERE YOU EXPECTING THE WIN? Not really, I just wanted to go out there and get the W 2013 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships Page 4

Anna Jelmini, Arizona State Women’s Discus “I knew that coming into this meet, there was only one other person who had won three times in a row, and that hap- pened to be Dawn Dumble, my very !rst coach, so I thought it would be really cool to be able to do that. It feels really good.”

“At the beginning of my competition, I was getting too much in my head. I needed to refocus and do what I do every day and get back to what I’m usually doing. I feel like I have some really good momentum going forward. I never count anyone out, but I feel really good about myself.”

Laura Roessler, Oregon Women’s 800m “We’re trying to execute some team tactics today. Three girls in the 800, big opportunity to score some big team points. It was all about working together, for me it was trying to move into the lead at about 250 (meters). Anne (Kesselring) was there, so I stayed wide and tried to drag her along with me and it worked. I tried to stay wide the whole way and just tried to go home very fast, and I was able to really put down a great last 100.”

“It worked 1-3-5, that’s probably more points than we were expected to score. So, it’s a good turn out. We’re all working together. We came in as the underdogs, but we’re not trying to leave as the underdogs.”

OUTLOOK GOING FORWARD “I have to stay out of traf!c, stay out of trouble. Race plans can change, so you can’t just be set in a certain race plan. I got to use my speed to my advantage. Everyone’s going to !nish in 30, so the person who’s going to !nish under 30 is going to have the better-off chance of winning the race.”

Jenna Prandini, Oregon Women’s 100m ON COMPETING IN CALIFORNIA AGAIN “It was awesome, coming back to California and competing in front of familiar fans. It’s fun, my family’s all out there cheering for me, so it was just like high school.”

“Coach (Robert) Johnson and English (Gardner) were telling me before the race: Go out, keep your running form, pick up your knees the last 30, so I just wanted to go out there and get that 10 points to help us win this Pac-12 (title).”

ON EDGING OUT UCLA’S KYLIE PRICE “I just wanted to get those 10 points. It was a long day yesterday, I knew it would be a longer day, but I gave it all I got at the end and luckily I came out with a win.”

“Going in, !nishing 1-2-3 was the idea of what we wanted to do. And we did it.”

ON FALSE-STARTING IN 100M YESTERDAY “It’s always though to see your teammate do that, especially since I knew that she was upset about it because she’s the world leader right now. It happens to the best of them, and I knew she was going to come back and do amazing like she did in the 200m today.”

GOING FORWARD “I think we’ll get a lot of speed work in these next two weeks and that our times will drop. A lot.”

Ray Stewart, California Men’s 110 Hurdles 13.42. LIFETIME BEST. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE BACK. “First, I have to thank God because without him, none of this is possible. I started running hurdles in January coming off of a ACL tear and I wasn’t really prepared for indoor. But that really prepared me mentally because I wasn’t able to run two races in a row. Now, I am able to run four by fours all out and hundreds back to back.” 2013 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships Page 5

TALK ABOUT THE RACE TODAY AND YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS. “It’s different when the spotlight is on you. The spotlight has been on him (Jonathan Cabral, Oregon). He knows I’m a great !ghter and I know he’s a great !ghter—it’s like a respect thing.”

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE BACK WHERE YOU WERE TWO YEARS AGO? “I can’t give any credit to myself. This is all God. The ACL is such a crucial ligament not just for sports, but for life. It stabilizes your knee; you can’t really walk without it. It’s crazy to be running this fast again in just my 7th hurdle race of the year. I’m running hundreds faster than I’ve run them before. I’m not as strong as I’ve been because I wasn’t able to lift weights till February, so I’m really looking forward to next year.”

TALK ABOUT WHAT’S COMING UP. “I have three more meets left. West regionals, NCAAs, and nationals. I’m planning to do all three—god willing. I’m just going to go out and do my best, running with my heart and running with faith.”

Elijah Greer, Oregon Men’s 800m YOU JUST BLEW THEM AWAY. WHAT WAS YOUR TACTICS TODAY? “My coach prepared me that I wouldn’t go out that hard because of the nature of the !eld and wind as it is. I really wanted to focus on the second half of the race, attack the last 300m. But going into the bell lap I felt pretty good and we were going slow enough that I felt con!dent enough that I could take the lead with 400m to go and hang on. I really wanted to gradually build up my kick and surge; at no point did I want to be going all out.”

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO GET THE 800 TITLE? “Every year it’s nerve-wracking and intimidating but once you achieve that success and get your goal it’s certainly a delight. You have to go through that struggle, that process to accomplish it.”

WHAT ARE YOUR TACTICS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF RACES? “I feel like the NCAAs will have some strong competitors and challengers. I feel that any day I have a chance. I’m in that ballpark and I’ve done it indoors, so now I want to do it outdoors.”

TALK ABOUT WINNING YOUR SECOND STRAIGHT TITLE AS A SENIOR AND GOING OUT WITH FOUR STRAIGHT PAC-12 TITLES “That’s a really great joy, being a duck and being able to go out with fours straight titles. I’m thankful that we have a strong team of guys that really just step up and do it. From my individual point of view as a freshman I came in second and as a sophomore I came in second, so winning last year was just a sigh of relief. This year was a process all over again. But I ran my race strategy and on this day I was the best guy in the !eld so it feels great to be a winner and say I am the current 2013 pac12 800m champion.”

English Gardner, Oregon Women’s 200m ON REDEEMING AFTER SATURDAY’s FALSE START IN THE 100M “It felt good. I’m just glad that both of my teammates were behind me to share the moment (Oregon !nished 1-2-3). I’m excited that we got up and there and we swept again for the second year in a row. It just gives us con!dence going into the future of the season.”

“In the NCAAs, !ve-point margins are nothing and you always want to get as much as points as you can and get the lead. Before we went out onto the track (Gardner, Frandini, + Phyllis Francis), we had a talk amongst each other and our coach and we were like, “If we sweep, we’ll close the casket”. And so each girl looked at both of the other girls and I said ‘I’m going. Just come with me, and we’re going to go all the way to the !nish line.’ And that’s exactly what they did.”

ON JENNIFER PRANDINI, WHO WON THE 100M “Once I turned around after crossing the !nish line and saw Jennifer Randini coming in third, I couldn’t do anything but scream and be excited. You have young girls like Jennifer Randini; me and Phyllis (Francis) have done already a few times, so we’re vets in the game. But she (Randini) de!nitely proved herself today. She came out and won the 100 2013 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships Page 6 when I got disquali!ed, so it always shows that our team is strong enough to be able, if one person messes up, we can all just buckle up and work that much harder to get what we’ve got to do and get the job done.”

“I was very disappointed with my 100, wasn’t being able to compete. But it kind of gave me joy that the trophy is still coming home with an ‘O’ on its chest, so Jennifer Randini kind of made up for some of my sorrows, but I still had a little bit of bitterness left over for the 200. I basically just got out there and ran my heart out. I broke the school record, and I’m just excited and pleased and !nally satis!ed that I got to let loose and run.”

“I’m not the most con!dent in the 200, but I was excited to just go out there, not think… and race. And I think I did well.”

Ashley Liverpool, USC Women’s 4x400m "It was great. I was nervous when they passed me at the 200 mark but I just chilled behind them and tried to push it on that last 100."

DID YOU KNOW YOU HAD IT IN YOU AS YOU TURNED THAT LAST CORNER? "Yeah I did. I usually can do that so I knew it was there. It was just a matter of actually doing it. I let God push me and got to the !nish line !rst."

"I think our team did pretty well overall it could be a little better. My open 400 wasn't what I wanted to run. I know I have a better time in me I just have to work harder at practice and run my race and I'll be where I want to be."

Alitta Boyd, USC Women’s Triple Jump "Very emotional. This is my !rst individual Pac-12 Title so to end my senior year with one is one of the most amazing feelings. I know there are a lot of seniors who would like to do what I've done today. To actually be able to do it is amaz- ing. I have so much more work to do and further to go."

"It seemed to fall right in my lap. It's a blessing to have your last Pac-12 Meet on your own turf where you're familiar with the settings and the surroundings and your family and friends are in the stands. It's amazing."

ROBERT JOHNSON, HEAD COACH OREGON "It feels phenomenal. I can't say enough about all of our coaches. They have done so much with our team and most importantly they develop our talent."

"We have a team of one. We are a balanced program and that shows. We had kids step up and do their part all across the board. They really rallied around English yesterday and what a great thing that was for her to come out and get a lifetime best."

"Event after event we continued to do well for both men's and women's. It felt great. I can't say enough about our team."

Bryshon Nellum, USC Men’s Athlete of the Meet "This is everything to me. Athlete of the Meet, 400 and 200 champ, stadium record in both, in front of the fans, on Mother's Day, it really can't get any better than that."

"I de!nitely feel like today was my breakthrough. Everything is going as planned. I've been running great in practice, hitting all my times, I've been healthy, and I've been putting in the work. From there on out, something has to break- through."

"This is just the beginning. I have to get back to the drawing board, get some treatment, make sure my body is ready to go, and get back out there for NCAAs. I de!nitely feel like I have more in me." 2013 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships Page 7

"I think we did great overall. We don't have distance runners so for us to score as many points as we did without having athletes in a lot of those events, if we had those, we possibly could have won the meet. We are limited, it's hard for us to dominate at conference. But overall, I'm very proud of our team, both men and women. We went out there, ran our best, and performed in our home stadium."

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