March 15, 2008

Recap |  Complete Results

Chris Bucknam - Head Coach

 

On second-consecutive top-10 team finish at NCAA Indoor Championships:

"We're proud of the way we competed on Saturday. To get another top-10 finish is a great accomplishment for the University of Northern Iowa, and I'm just so proud of my staff and our team and the way we competed all year."

 

On Saturday's performances:

"Ehi got us going with his third-place finish in the high jump on a personal-best jump. That's something special, when you can come into the biggest meet of the year and put up a personal best when competing against such strong competition. We also are extremely proud of Raven for scoring us important team points and of Mat Clark for becoming an All-American with his heptathlon performance."

 

On Tyler Mulder's championship in the 800 meters:

"That was an extremely smart race that Tyler ran to win the 800. He had a lot left at the end, and he couldn't have run it better. That's a racer's race, because it's fast, it's tight and you're really fighting it out in a big group, so for him to run as well and as smart as he did, it truly exemplifies the great season he's had."

 

On Raven Cepeda's seventh-place finish in the men's heptathlon:

"Obviously it was a tough meet for Raven coming in as the national leader, he had high expectations and is disappointed, but he had an outstanding indoor season and has a promising outdoor season to look forward to."

 

 

 

Tyler Mulder - Champion, Men's 800 Meters

Junior - Orange City, Iowa (Unity Christian)

 

On winning the national title:

"It's great to get the championship, and now I just want to continue that success and compete like a champion."

 

On his finishing kick down the final straightaway:

"I really didn't know if I was going to be able to get to the outside, but then it opened up, just like the coaches said it would. I knew I had to be patient instead of going too early."

 

On what it means to win a national championship at UNI:

"It really shows the hard work our coaches have put in over the years to get us to this level, where we can compete with some of those big-name schools."

 

On what he learned from Friday's preliminaries:

"I had a feeling the guys from LSU (Elkana Kosgei and Reuben Twijukye) were going take the race out at a quick pace, but the coaches said to just take care of my race and it would open up for me at the end, and it did."

 

 

Ehi Oamen - Third Place, Men's High Jump

Sophomore - Hinton, Iowa (Hinton)

 

On clearing each of the first three heights on his first attempt:

"It felt great when I was jumping, things were just clicking. I always try to be a first-attempt jumper, but with it being the national meet, I think adrenaline really helped me out."

 

On the benefit of clearing on the first attempt:

"It takes a lot of pressure off.  I actually was feeling zero pressure because I had hit my first attempt on the first two bars and I could just relax a little bit. It helps because you know that if someone else misses that height you're going have an advantage over them if there are any ties."

 

On expectations coming into the NCAA Championships:

"There were only six people who had gone over 7-3 this year and I had been progressing really well, so I knew I could jump 7-2 1/4 for sure. I thought I'd be able to jump 7-3 1/4, and I ended up coming close."