Oct. 31, 2009

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Oct. 31, 2009

2009 Big 12 Cross Country Championships
Oct. 31, 2009
A.L. Gustin Golf Course - University of Missouri
Columbia, Mo.
Men's Post-Race Quotes

Individual Big 12 Champion Ryan Vail (Oklahoma State)

On what it means to be the Big 12 Champion...
Well, it has taken me six years to get here. This is my sixth year of cross country so it feels that much more special. After putting in this much effort and finally have it pay off at this meet is a great finish for me.

On the strategy used during the race...
We were more focused on the team victory. We wanted to make sure that we were running with Colorado's No. 2 and No. 3 men. Once we had that settled, our head coach said that we could start moving. And so we all just started competing against each other out there, our own teammates, which was fun. I was still with my guys until about 150 meters to go.

On the plans moving forwards towards the NCAA Regional and the NCAA Championships...
I think that we are going to have the same strategy at the next meet; try and just run as a pack and try to do what we can to win the meet. We are probably not going to be concerned with the individual title there, so it'll be just another day of pack running.

On racing in tough course conditions...
I think the mud was the toughest part. The water out there, it was pretty slippery, there were a lot of people out there tripping and pushing so you really had to pay attention and stay on your feet.

Big 12 Champion Oklahoma State Head Coach Dave Smith

On what it means to be the Big 12 Champion...
It's exciting, this is obviously one of the toughest conferences in the country and it has been for the last five or six years in terms of cross country. Any conference that has teams like Iowa State, and especially Colorado, is a tough conference.

On his overall feelings of today's race...
It went really well. I thought the guys were extremely patient, stuck to our plan, just kind of sat back and waited until the last mile and take command at that point. They did a great job doing it and they ran together. It went exactly how we had hoped it would go.

On the plans moving forwards towards NCAA Regionals and the NCAA Championships...
We just want to keep moving on and keep winning. Our goal is to win the regional and hopefully contend for the national championship as well.

Women's Post-Race Quotes
Individual Big 12 Champion Jenny Barringer

On what it means to be the Big 12 Champion...
Oh my goodness, this took me five years. It took me three years of college to get to the Olympics (3,000-meter steeplechase), and five years of cross country to get to the Big 12 Championships. It means a lot and it means a lot that I came back with a really strong team. This is absolutely the most fun race I've had in college so far. It was a really fun day.

On the strategy used during the race...
The course is really hard, it's really hilly, it's a mess of turns and hills and mud. Actually, that's perfect for a cross country runner. I felt like the course really suited me as long as I kind of settled in and didn't go out too hard. I tried to settle in during the last 2K. I just had a lot of fun, it was really, really fun.

On the plans moving forward towards NCAA Regionals and the NCAA Championships...
First, I hope the snow melts. When we left Denver there was 20 inches of snow on the ground. That's kind of hard for training, but in the next couple of weeks we're just going to get back to work and hit the ground running back in Boulder. We'll keep getting in better shape over the next couple of weeks.

Big 12 Champion head coach Jon Murray (Texas Tech)

On what it means to be the Big 12 Champion...
It's great, especially considering that we lost Sally Kipyego who she did a great job leading us for three years. So to come in with, basically with a new group, really we we're kind of discounted at the beginning of the year because we lost our stud. But it was just a good team effort. I thought coming in, we might be a better team overall, we may not have the top No. 1 girl, but a better team and they showed a lot of heart today. It was a great effort.

On strategy for the race...
Well we were trying to go out conservative, so they went out fine because they didn't die that much. You know, this is a very difficult course, most difficult we've ran on this year. Trying to be a little bit respectful of the course at the beginning and then once we got past the long hill after the first two-and-a-half miles, to be able to just finish strong. The ladies got up there and ran well and maintained their position throughout the race. It was a very dominant performance.

On the plans moving forward towards NCAA Regionals and the NCAA Championships...
"Well main thing is to get through regionals to get to nationals. We have good goals there at the national meet, we're just going to keep on going and keep on doing, what we're doing "