May 18, 2008

Recap |  Results

Men's Big Ten Championship Winners

Men's 1500 M champion Samuel Borchers of Penn State:
On winning a Big Ten title as a freshman:
"It feels like a great finish to the year. There have been a lot of ups and downs with the adjustment to college, so it feels great to finish on top. Its just a reinforcement that I can compete with some of the top competition in the country."

Men's Shot Put champion Billy Hardcastle of Purdue:
On winning Big Ten gold as a freshman:
"It feels good. It was really nice to go one, two with my teammate Tyler. There was a lot of good energy during the finals, so it was a really fun competition."

Men's Javelin champion Brian Bunnell of Ohio State:
On earning Big Ten gold as a freshman:
"It's a different experience because I never even threw javelin in high school. I had a nice big personal record today by four meters, which was great. I didn't expect to do this in my freshman year, but my coaches helped me a lot."

Men's 800m champion Hans Storvick of Minnesota:
On earning Big Ten gold:
"It's just a thrill that I have been waiting for for three years now. I knew the field was tough today, but I put in the work and it's just a dream come true to do it against this competition and take it home today."

Men's 200m champion Adam Harris of Michigan:
On earning Big Ten gold as a team and an individual:
"It feels great. Wisconsin probably came in here thinking they were going to take it because they have won it before, so it feels great to take it away from them. I came in with a pretty good time in the 200. I just ran the race that I have been running and was happy to help the team to victory."

Men's 5000m champion Hassan Mead of Minnesota:
On being a Big Ten Champion as a freshman:
"I'm very happy. This has been my goal since the beginning of the season and it is an incredible feeling."

Men's 100m champion Ibrahim Kabia of Minnesota:
On winning Big Ten gold:
"It feels good to win my first. I'm really happy with my time and I had a great race, so I'm just excited. It was pretty emotional to do this for our coach who is leaving at the end of this season. He's a great man and I was excited to win this for him."

Men's 400m hurdle champion Dan Harmsen of Michigan:
On earning Big Ten gold as an individual and as a team:
"It's the first time I have taken home gold and it's a great feeling. I couldn't be happier and just want to give all the glory to God. Winning the team title means more to me than anything. It's a huge team effort, everyone gave it their all, and we prevailed."

Men's Triple Jump champion Kyle Jenkins of Indiana:
On being a Big Ten champion:
"It's a good feeling. I have been working hard all outdoor season. It was great to come out and get a PR. I'm really happy."

Men's 400m champion James Groce of Wisconsin:
On being a Big Ten champion:
"It felt good bringing home the Big Ten gold. It was important to get points toward the team title, but we ended up falling short. It feels good, but I would rather have the team title."

Men's 110m Hurdle champion Josh Hembrough of Purdue
"It feels great to be a Big Ten champion after not being able to run for a month during the season."

Men's 4X100m Relay champion Stann Waithe of Michigan:
On taking home gold in the 4X100m relay:
"It has evaded me for quite a while until now. I'm a fifth year senior and I've gotten a lot of bronze medals, but this is my first gold. It feels really good for me and everyone on the team."

Men's Hammer Throw champion Dave Ebersole of Ohio State:
"I've come along way. I think my freshman year, I finished dead last in the hammer throw so to come away with a win was really huge. There was a lot of training and good coaching the last four or five years. I've really learned how to compete the last couple of years. I've thrown PRs at the last couple of Big Ten meets"

"As far as Regionals are concerned, I know the field will be tough. I've been moving up on the national list, so we'll see what I can do."

Men's Pole Vault champion Eric Sparks of Purdue:
"This is the most competitive field I've ever seen at the Big Ten meet so it felt great to win it and PR at it. If I can get the 18'1'jump, hopefully I can make it to the Olympic trials."

"I wanted to it bad. I got second indoors to my expectations were to win. I wanted to clear everything in my first attempt. I was thinking good thoughts. Ben Peterson was fire, clearing everything on his first attempt, so I just knew I had to go higher. I wanted to put a big mark out there. I got it and the championship."

"I had a rough start to the indoor season with the hamstring. I was a little rough in the whole technique part of my vault. It was coming together during the outdoor season. My coach and I worked a lot of things out. I felt really comfortable with my vault this whole outdoor season."

Men's 10,000-meter champion Chris Rombrough of Minnesota:
"I was actually kind of surprised to win it because with three laps to go, the runners from Wisconsin made a move and I didn't think I had anything left. I ended up taking over first with about 300 to go. I struggled the last 100 meters, but I was able to hold him off. I made a move with just over nine laps to go to try to separate. A few laps later I didn't feel I had anything in the tank, but ended up getting my second wind thankfully."

Men's High Jump champion Ryan Kelly of Iowa:
On being a Big Ten champion:
"It's pretty amazing. The first 10 minutes I didn't say anything and just walked around. Once I figured it out and let it sink it in, it feels pretty awesome."

"I was a lot more relaxed this year than I have been in the past. When other people were jumping, I was watching, but I was trying not to think about it as much as possible."

"I really though Tayo was going to go seven feet and I figured I'd have to go seven feet to place in the top three. Once it came down to 6-10 3/4 and there were only four of us left, I knew it was going to come down to misses.

Men's Long Jump champion Kiwan Lawon of Indiana:
On his winning jump:
"Adam (Harris) put it out there his first jump. I knew I had to go for it. Luckily everything worked out."

"I just wanted to stay focused and not get over excited. I wanted to trust my mark and trust my training and see how everything would work out.

Decathlon champion Frank Shotwell of Michigan:
On the close finish:
"I knew I had to run faster than Culligan and McGinnis in the 1,500 I ran a two-second PR and it turned out to be fast enough

"This was definitely a new feeling for me. My teammates were really encouraging me. I just wanted to stay focused and stay to the plan. It was important to get the points for our team."

Men's Discus champion Billy Hardcastle of Purdue:
"I never expected to win a Big Ten title as a red shirt freshman. I knew I was seeded sixth coming in and I'd hadn't thrown a PR for quite a while. The Big Ten meet is the biggest meet of the year, so I wanted to bring extra focus and a lot of adrenaline."

Men's Long Jump champion Adam Harris of Michigan:
"I've been second, third, top five, and top seven. This was my year to take it. This is my last year I had nothing to lose. I'm going to put it all out there today."

Men's 3000 Steeplechase champion Ryan Gasper of Wisconsin:
On being a Big Ten Champion:
"I almost didn't expect to win, but I knew I had the opportunity to do it. I'm just happy I was able to seize the opportunity."

"The meet has gone well. Obviously, we are focused on getting as many team points as possible. Running the 1500 m and the steeplechase is a little bit of a curveball when it comes to preparing. I wish I could have gotten more points in the 1500, but I'm glad I was able to get the team as many points as I could."

Women's Big Ten Championship Winners

Women's 10,000-meter champion Meghan Armstrong of Iowa:
"The early stages my teammates and I worked to switch off every two laps or so and help each other block the wind. I was really worried that either Katrina or Diane would really start pushing the pace with a mile to go, so I tried to pick it up with about five laps to go. The rest of it, I was like running scared. I was saying `Get me to the finish line before they do. `"

"This was only my second time winning the 10K. I could see myself winning this event because I always saw myself as a miler, but here I am."

Women's Hammer Throw champion Veronica Jatsek of Ohio State:
"It feels good to bring it home one more time as a senior. Last year I pointed to Big Tens. This year I'm hoping to stretch that out to Regionals or NCAAs. It still feels good to come out on top.

"Every throw started to feel a little bit better, but it still wasn't going anywhere. On my last throw, my older brother said `You're letting the ball get a little bit ahead of you' and told me to relax and have fun. It turned out to be my best throw by over a meter."

On her preparation for Regionals:
"I'm going to work more with the light balls and mentally prepare myself to compete at a higher level and to come out big at NCAAs.

Women's Shot Put champion Aja Evans of Illinois:
On comparison between Indoor Big Ten Meet and today:
"I tried to put the indoor meet behind me. I've been productive since then."

On setting the Big Ten record:
"I think my big turning point was the Twilight Meet we had a couple of weeks ago. That's when I broke the outdoor school record of 16.97, moving me closer to my goal of breaking 17, which I did today. I'm excited and happy about what just happened. I'm now just trying to move on to Regionals and Nationals to see how far I can go.

On winning the Big Ten title:
I thought it was possible; I just wanted to stay relaxed and not focus on throwing distance, instead focus on executing what we've practiced. I felt if I worked on technique, the distance would come."

Women's Discus champion Emily Pendleton of Michigan:
On being a 2008 Big Ten Champion:
"I'm really, really excited. It was my first time competing in the Big Ten Championships. Everything felt right today. Overall, I'm just happy to bring home a win for the team."

On winning as a freshman:
"I was just really happy to come out here and compete. I'm really excited for how everything ended up today. This meet helps build some confidence moving forward."

Women's Javelin champion Kara Patterson of Purdue:
On winning a Big Ten title:
"I won as a freshmen and it has taken three years to get back here. It feels great to accomplish one of my goals again."

On NCAA Regionals:
"I'm excited to stay focused on my training. Winning today is definitely going to give me a boost of confidence to move forward."

Women's Triple Jump champion Casey Taylor of Michigan:
"Overall, I had a really good jumping series today. It only had to take three jumps, which was really good on my legs. Now I can just take this momentum into regionals. I just wanted to help the team and I am happy I was able to accomplish that."

Women's 5000m champion Diane Nukuri of Iowa:
On winning Big Ten gold in her senior year:
"It felt good, especially after not having a great race on Friday. It's great to take home a Big Ten title at just the right time during my senior year. It was great to have good weather and my teammates were very supportive."

Women's High Jump champion Meghan Seidl of Wisconsin:
On earning Big Ten gold:
"It feels really good. It is exactly what I have been working toward, so I'm excited. I didn't try to do anything special today. I just tried to keep doing what I've done at every meet."

Women's Pole Vault champion Mallory Peck of Purdue:
On winning Big Ten gold:
"It's pretty awesome. I was hoping to go a little bit higher than I did today, but I'm happy with how I did. It's always good to come back after an injury, like I had last year, and it just feels good."

Women's 100m Hurdle champion Aleesha Barber of Penn State:
On defeating the defending national champion in the 100m hurdles:
"I've been working really hard to do this. My coach and I have been working to do this week after week. I just needed to execute the perfect race and that's what I did today. I didn't think, I just executed."

Women's 3000 Steeplechase champion Bridget Franek of Penn State:
"I feel like I can't really enjoy it yet because it's not over. It's awesome to be an individual champion, but I know it's going to feel so much better if we can pull off a team title."

On beating her competition by a wide margin:
"I had a lot of thoughts going through my head. It was one of the best experiences of my life."

Women's 1500m champion Nicole Edwards of Michigan:
On taking home Big Ten gold in her senior year:
"It means a lot to me. Last year, I didn't have a very good meet here, but I won the 1500m my sophomore year, so it feels really good to win it again this year. I am really excited about it."

Women's 800m champion Heather Dorniden of Minnesota:
On being a Big Ten champion:
"I was really excited about this victory because I have been doing this double with the 800 and 1500 for three years now. It is a very tough double to do and to win the 800 today was such an amazing feeling."

Women's 200m and 400m champion Shana Cox of Penn State:
On taking home Big Ten gold twice individually and as a team:
"I was really happy with my races today because it was a personal best in the 200. This is something I have been working towards for a long time. I put in a lot of work and a lot of effort and it all paid off in the events today. Taking home the title as a team was the best feeling of all. I've been here five years and it is something we have been waiting for for a while. It's a perfect ending."

Women's 100m champion Jenna Griffin of Ohio State:
On being a Big Ten Champion:
"This is my fifth year, so it was very important to me to go out with a bang. I was very happy that I accomplished that goal today."

Women's 400m hurdle champion Briana Cunningham of Illinois:
On earning her first career Big Ten title:
"I am more than excited. I am ecstatic. It felt amazing to come out and run my personal best in the Big Ten meet. I have been working all year to improve and improve and I finally broke 59 today and it feels great."