Individual First Place Boaz Chboiywo
On his strategy-
My strategy at first was just to go slow because I had a hip problem and an
Achilles tendon. After I started I did not feel it at the first instance so
I said 'let me try to go fast'. My hip has held me out of training for the last
two weeks.
On the early part of the race- There was a group of maybe eight of us (early). Then I decided that making a move was only the way to go. Because I could still manage, then I decided I could run.
On preparing for the race
I did not talk to anybody before the race. I just wanted to be by my own with
my coach. I did not want to talk to anybody. When I ran here at pre-nationals,
I saw that when I run with (Jorge) Torres and the rest of the guys, they could
not keep up with my pace. I decided that that was the best strategy.
On his injury
I was not very confident (coming into the race) because my hip and Achilles
tendon was bothering me. I was just going to run the best race that I could
today and if someone else were to win then I would just congratulate him as
a great sportsman. (The injury) really effected my training. For the last two
weeks I could not even run. My trainer and my coach told me not to train, just
relax and that would be better. It was sore in the middle of the race, but I
just wanted to finish the race and I will worry about that after I finish the
race.
On his race
I didn't look back, I just ran. I ran forward. If I looked forward maybe I would
relax. I was just concerned with running my own race. I feel very happy to be
the 2001 NCAA Cross Country Champion.
Individual Second Place Jorge Torres, Colorado
On Champion Boaz Chboiywo
I want to congratulate Boaz for being a great runner and a great competitor.
He went out there and did it today and proved that he was the best one out there.
He is a tough competitor and a tough runner. He is going to be around for a
while and hopefully one of these days I can catch up to him.
On his second place finish
I can't be disappointed with second really. Anytime you are second in the NCAA
Championships with such great competitors in this field, youšve got to be pretty
proud of that. Would I have liked to win yes I would have loved to win the
individual championship, but there is always next year.
On the team championship
The most important thing is that Colorado comes out as national champions. Colorado
deserves it. We've been right there year in and year out and wešve never gotten
over that hill. Today was our day and we got over the hill finally. Our instructions
were to stick with what works and we did that today.
Individual Third Place Alistair Craig, Arkansas
On his performace
I did not race the race I wanted to. I ended up breaking away with Jorge (Torres)
and I wanted to be in the chasing pack. I am happy with third place, though.
On the teamšs performance
We are very disappointed (as a team), though. If we had run the race we wanted
to, we probably could have run away with it. We had a couple of good runs, but
we also had some disappointing ones.
Team First Place Coach Mark Wetmore, Colorado
On the meet
I want to say thank you to all the people here in Greenville who made this race
uneventful and fun and safe for everyone.
On the championship
It is a thrill to be here. This is the most exciting and dramatic sport in the
world for those of us who know it and enjoy it. It is a relief to finish with
a win.
On training in elevation
I believe that living at elevation is an advantage, but training at elevation
is a disadvantage.
Team Second Place Coach Vin Lananna, Stanford
On Stanford's performance
University of Colorado ran a great race, it was a great competition. It was
a difficult way to run the race because we knew we did not have the big front
firepower. What we needed to do was get into the position relatively early,
which we did. We may have gone out a little harder than we would have like to.
For a young group of kids, we certainly did a great job. It was interesting
that the race would comedown to something going on in the back. It was a great
meet.