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The
2005 Nike Indoor Nationals were held at the Prince George's Sports
Complex outside Washington, D.C. March 12-13. Ricky Quintana caught
up with many of the top performers after their races.
(Special
thanks to Caleb Doan for his help behind the camera.)
Karjuan
Williams, River Ridge, Louisiana
(Winner, 800m, 1:52.79)
Ricky
Quintana: Wire to wire, was that your plan?
Karjuan Williams:
Mostly. I know I wanted to go out and scorch the track and get it
over with. I knew E.C. Gibbs could run with me. His time was low
1:50s so I knew he could run with me. I tried to stay right in front
of him. So when he kicked on me, I could kick with him. I knew normally
in the last 200m, no one can kick with me. I figured if I had the
lead the last 200m, I was going to take it all.
RQ:
Is the indoor season big for you in Louisiana?
KW:
No, not really. My fastest time entering this was 1:56. I was really
scared that a lot of people were going to get me. My coach has had
me doing pool and bike workouts so we could try to get ready for
this. We didn't do too much pounding on the track. I had shin splints
earlier so we didn't want to take any chances. I feel better now.
I feel great.
RQ:
You have wicked fast 400m [speed], wicked fast 800m. What can we
expect from Karjuan Williams?
kW:
I feel like right now, I could go 1:47 or 1:46. My older brother
went 1:46 in the NCAAs [Joel Williams of Jackson State]. I think
I can hit 1:46 at some point.
RQ:
Right now, you're sophomore. How old are you?
kW:
Seventeen. Right now, I'm working on my schoolwork. I'm going to
graduate. As hard as I work on track, that's how hard I have to
work on my schoolwork. I work hard on my books and work hard on
the track now.
RQ:
What are your PRs?
kW:
Outdoor season, I went 47.2 at the [Junior Olympics]. Regionally,
I went 47.59. So far indoors, I've run 49.05.
RQ:
Are we going to see more of you in the 400m?
kW:
Hopefully, you will. I could have run the 400m here, but my coach
and I wanted to get the 800m out of the way.
RQ:
What do you think you'll run outdoors? Under 1:50?
kW:
Definitely under 1:50. I'm going 1:47. I promise. I'm going to get
1:47. I can feel it.
Andrew
Bumbalough, Brentwood, Tennessee
(Winner, mile, 4:12.60)
Splits of 31, 63 (32), 1:35 (32), 2:09 (34), 2:41 (32), 3:13 (32),
3:43 (30), 4:11 (28)
[Video
of this interview - This video will be available for a limited
time. If you would like to view it in the future, please save it
to your hard drive now.]
RQ:
I guess you are a miler now.
Andrew Bumbalough:
Yeah, I guess so. I always felt like I could run a good mile. I
never want to count anything out. Some people may think I'm more
of a two-miler which I might be, but I want to be competitive in
every distance event.
RQ:
Was it your plan to take it at 800m? Did you not want to leave it
to chance someone coming back on you at the end?
AB:
Yeah, originally, I wanted to wait a little [longer]. I looked up
at the clock and saw that it was pretty slow so I started the lap
after the 800m. From 800m to 1,000m, I picked up the pace and was
just hoping to hold everyone off.
RQ:
They starting to come back on you. Did you feel like they were starting
to get antsy behind you?
AB:
I knew if I went with a half to go, that they would come back and
I would just try to hold on and fight them off.
On
whether he's been working on his foot speed:
AB:
No no. I've been doing long runs and tempos mostly. Some speed development
type stuff, but nothing anaerobic.
RQ:
It was mentioned [on a message board] that you ran 1:54 [for 800m].
Was that indoors or outdoors?
AB:
That was indoors at Kentucky. They have an oversized 280m track
so it was a pretty good race.
RQ:
So just off of base, you are getting a lot of speed.
AB:
I feel like the base helps you get stronger. I feel like I've been
able to use the miles I've been running the past four years as strength
which converts directly into speed.
On
whether or not he's made a college decision:
AB:
No, I'm not sure yet.
RQ:
Arcadia is about a month away. That was a big breakthrough for you
last year. This year do you have plans of doing something special
there?
AB:
Yeah definitely. It's a great atmosphere and a great chance to run
fast. I just hope the pace is right and we can get into a good fast
race and it will be competitive. It always has been so this year
should be no exception.
RQ:
I know you did your best at Foot Locker nationals. I had thought
you would run better. You just didn't look yourself. Do you have
any comments on that?
AB:
I don't want to make any excuses. Kenny [Cormier] ran a great race.
The week leading up to it, I had a cold. I don't want to say that
is what really affected me. I certainly wasn't feeling my best a
couple of days leading up to it. I tried to push it out of my mind
and just try to run hard. I guess it got the best of me at the end
and he did too.
RQ:
Are you happy with your effort there?
AB:
Definitely. Looking back on it, it's a great learning experience.
You're not going to win every race. It's better to lose that one
than one down the road that's just as important or more important.
RQ:
Can you tell us the schools that you are interested in?
AB:
Colorado, Wisconsin, Villanova, Georgetown, and Arkansas. I'm sorry,
I'm blanking out here.
RQ:
When will you come to a decision?
AB:
I'm looking to come to a decision in the next week or two.
RQ:
The two-mile record of 8:36 is just way out there. What do you think
about the record?
AB:
It's rolling. I don't know if a high school field could get going
that fast, especially one where the guys are so elite like Arcadia.
No one wants to go out and lead it. It might be kind of rough to
do it there. I think if you can get the best six to eight guys and
a couple of professionals in there, I think the guys have the physical
tools that it takes to get that record. It's just whether you could
do it in a race like Arcadia or not.
RQ:
Do you think you could find a race like that?
AB:
I would love to. We're still planning post-season stuff. We might
try to run a fast mile or a fast two-mile. We're not really sure.
RQ:
How about 5K? It seems like you could run these paces forever. Do
you have aspirations of running a fast 5K this season?
AB:
Post-season, after state, I would love to do a 5K. That's what I'll
be racing primarily my freshman year in college and [on the] track.
I might as well get used to it running that many laps on the track.
RQ:
Any projections on what you could run?
AB:
I don't know. I'd like to think I could run 14:10 or something like
that, but who knows.
RQ:
What about the 3K record? [8:03] That's out there also.
AB:
That's a great record. I don't know where he ran that... It's really
fast. If I ran that, I'd be ecstatic.
RQ:
I guess a lot of people are going to be asking you to come to their
race and set records.
AB:
[Laughing] I hope so.
Ken
Cormier, Douglas, Arizona
(Winner, two-mile, 9:11.33)
RQ:
You have some scars there.
Ken Cormier:
You I got an early spike. It was pretty bumpy there for a little
while. It turned out alright.
RQ:
It looked like you were going backwards there for a little while.
KC:
You know, I was. I was kind of feeling the mile. I really didn't
want to push the pace with those guys up there, really surging and
working the pace. I decided to sit back and see what happens. It
worked out for me.
RQ:
The shoes came untied and everything. It just didn't seem like things
were going your way.
KC:
It's really weird. I didn't seem to get affected by that. I had
a strange mental outlook during the race. I just told myself to
stay in it and just see what happens. I wasn't feeling good at all.
I kind of, you know, was in last place for a while [laughing]. I
was just trying to stick with the race. My shoelace came untied.
I didn't really notice it for a lap. Towards the end, people started
dropping. I started feeling a little bit better. My pace started
picking up and I was able to reel them in.
RQ:
With 400m to go, you really started to look like you had a shot
at it.
KC:
With 400m to go, I moved past a few guys. I was in the top three.
With 200m left, I was in third. I caught the second place guy on
the curve. When I did that, I really didn't want to get second place
again. So I really put everything I had into that last 100m.
RQ:
That double was really remarkable. Are you pleased with your time
and your effort?
KC:
Yes, I'm very pleased. My mile was an Arizona state indoor mile
record. Second place at nationals, you can't be too disappointed
being the second best indoor miler of the year. I'm really happy
with that. My two-mile time is a PR by nine seconds. I'm really
happy with that too. It was a very good day.
RQ:
What about your decision to run both? Why did you want to do that?
KC:
A lot of it was seeing what my body can handle right now. My coach
was telling me that it's pretty early in the season. We tapered
a little bit for this. We kind of decided that running both of these
would be tough, but we just wanted to see what I could take mentally
and physically.
RQ:
How many different types of sunglasses do you have?
KC:
I actually have one pair that has changeable lenses. I've run three
races with orange lenses and didn't win one so I thought maybe I
should go back to the dark pair. Seem to work out for me [laughing].
RQ:
Are you looking forward to your battle with Andrew Bumbalough at
Arcadia?
KC:
Oh definitely. Me, Bumbalough, and [Chris] Barnicle [will be] there.
There's going to be some fireworks going off.
RQ:
Any predictions on the time?
KC:
You know, that is really tough to say. It's going to be fast. That's
all I am going to say. It's going to be fast.
Syosset
High School coach Bart Sessa
(Coach of winning 4x800m team - Adam Lampert (2:00), Chris Howell
(1:58.8), Dan Tully (2:01), Sean Tully (1:54), 7:53.80)
RQ:
How was it for you today?
Bart Sessa:
It was phenomenal. That was our goal. The national record is still
ours. We won the state meet against the second best team of the
year and the third best team in history. We just went out today
and won. That was our goal.
RQ:
Germantown gave you a little bit of a challenge for the first three
legs.
BS:
Yeah, they were phenomenal. Our second leg's goal was just to get
the lead. We underestimated that Germantown team a little, but we
knew we had the best anchor in America, the second best indoor 800m
of the year. Once he got the baton, we knew we were safe.
RQ:
What has this season meant to you?
BS:
Considering we normally focus on the outdoor season, this is unbelievable.
For me, it's 10 years of hard work. All the kids who have run fast
and worked hard. These guys have just been a lot of fun to work
with and we still have three months to go.
RQ:
Talk a little bit about the outdoor season. What kind of things
do you think this team can do?
BS:
I guess we have to start talking about the outdoor national record
which over the last couple of years has been broken. It goes back
to the historic 1966 when two teams dove at the finish in a dead
heat in 7:33.0. That's still the New York state record. I don't
know yet. We are probably going to go to Arcadia. Then we'll head
out to the Penn Relays. Then we have the state meet and the national
meet. We actually have Shaker Heights going to our state meet. We
have to try and win our state meet as well. Wow!
Sean
Tully, Syosset, New York
(Anchor of Syosset's winning 4x800m team)
RQ:
Sean, you had a little bit of competition there when you got the
stick on your last leg
Sean Tully:
Yeah, it was fun. I knew when I saw our third leg coming around
the corner, it was going to be tight and I wasn't going to have
that much of a lead. But I knew I wanted it so bad. I just went
out and took it out and their fourth leg, I didn't feel him really
close to me. I know he was close, but it was awesome.
RQ:
What has this season meant for you?
ST:
It has meant so much to me. Those three guys and myself have worked
so hard every day for this. We set the national record, but this
was our goal. The national record was just an awesome thing that
happened along the way, but our goal was to win the national title.
We did it.
RQ:
You've been coming to this meet year and year out. How does it feel
to finally come away with a national championship?
ST:
It feels incredible. I remember when I was a sophomore and my PR
was probably 2:03. Seeing all these awesome people coming away with
a national title, their medals and their rings, I never thought
that would be me, but look at me now.
RQ:
Outdoors, do you have the same aspirations to get national records
and titles?
ST:
Definitely. That is going to be one of our goals. To come back to
the national meet outdoors and do this again.
RQ:
Do you think you can crack 1:50?
ST:
I'm certainly going to try. I'm confident that I have what it takes.
J.R.
Tucker High School, Richmond, Virginia
(Winning Distance Medley Relay team - Mason McElroy (3:11), Marcus
Harper (52), Thuom Mathiang (2:01), Michael Chapa (4:16), 10:20.26)
RQ:
How does it feel to win a national championship?
Thuom Mathiang:
It feels great. We came here and nobody really expected us to do
[anything] big today. It was kind of hard to do it. We came here
to compete at a high level. And we did today with determination
and dedication.
RQ:
It was a pretty close race there. Were you guys confident that you
would come out on top?
TM:
Oh yeah. As soon as I got the baton and I saw that the gap wasn't
that far, I knew I had that guy. I knew I could control the race.
I know when I can control the race, I can put my teammates in the
top.
RQ:
So this puts Tucker on the map.
TM:
Yeah, big time. Nobody really knew who Tucker was, but today we
sent a message and they know what is going on.
Mason
McElroy:
I'm just happy to win something. I'm so glad to win state and a
national championship is even better. We've never even run a DMR
before. Everything is new to us. I've never run a 1,200m or anything.
I wasn't sure how to run that, but I tried my best.
RQ:
Have you been thinking about this a long time, coming out here and
winning the race?
MM:
Pretty much all year. This was our best chance of winning a championship
and we pulled it out.
RQ:
Does this give you confidence for the spring track season?
MM:
Yeah, definitely. We can run a 4 x 800m, 4 x 1 mile, DMR at nationals.
Anything, we have that kind of speed on our team.
Marcus
Harper:
It went pretty good. I just blessed that I get to run with people
like Mason, Thoum and Michael. I think we did pretty good. Hopefully,
we can come back during outdoor. I think we did pretty good.
RQ:
Being a quarter man, what do you think about all this distance stuff?
MH:
It was incredible man. I just had to come out and do what I had
to do for my team. We ran good. We did what coach wanted us to do.
RQ:
Were you confident knowing that you had such a strong couple of
distance guys?
MH:
I knew we were going to take the meet. Even though we weren't in
the fast heat, we still did what we had to do. We've got some of
the best runners in the country so I knew we were going to take
it. I'm just blessed. Me being a junior, I get to run with these
guys. This is their last year. Hopefully, next year, I can try to
bring the team back.
RQ:
What did you run last year? Did you run the quarter?
MH:
I ran the 100m, 200m and the 4 x 100m. This is like another step.
Coach just wanted me to try something new and that got me here.
RQ:
You don't see many 100m and 200m guys wanting to step up and run
a 400m.
MH:
Well, like I said, it's not something that I wanted to do. My coach
was like, 'Marcus, we need you to run the 4 x 400m today.' I ran
it and killed myself. At practice, I just have to get back in shape.
He just got me in shape for the 400m. I just came up here to do
what I could do.
RQ:
Michael, you had little challenge when you got the baton, but then
you pretty much sped away from everybody.
Michael Chapa:
That's what we expected. I just needed to get the baton near the
lead. I knew that there would only be one winner and that would
be us. I was expecting to win it.
RQ:
How did you do tonight as far as splits?
MC:
I went out too fast. I just wanted to go out ahead and ran 2:02.
I just wanted to get with the leaders and do what I could do for
the last few laps.
RQ:
How does it feel to come out as champion?
MC:
It's exciting. In cross country, we would have made it to nationals,
but we just had a bad season. We had injuries and things happen,
but we came here and won.
RQ:
Are you more hopeful for track this [outdoor] season?
MC:
Yeah, I can't wait. We are going to have crazy fun. We are going
to have a great track season this year.
RQ:
Is this the last event you will do at this meet?
MC:
Outdoor is coming and I am expecting to run at nationals again and
run good times.
RQ:
What kind of times can we expect from you this outdoor season?
MC:
I just want to go sub-4:10 this year. That's what I expect for outdoor.
I've been training hard for indoor. It just didn't happen because
I didn't have any competition. I'm expecting more competition during
outdoor. Last year, I ran 4:21 and this year, I've already run 4:16.
RQ:
Where are you going to school?
MC:
Undecided yet. I haven't qualified for NCAA yet. I'm waiting to
qualify and then I'll decide.
Keith
Capecci, Council Rock North High School, Newtown, Pennsylvania
(Anchor of winning 4 x Mile relay - Splits: Brandon Pomerantz (4:25),
Grant Stanfield (4:37), John Mahoney (4:32), Keith Capecci (4:23),
18:00.05)
RQ:
Keith, how did that race shape up for you?
Keith Capecci:
It was kind of slow at the beginning, but I knew I could get him
if he tried to get by me again. I tried to make a little surge because
he caught up to me so quickly. I knew if I could get him to surge
with me, I could tire him out. He actually passed me. I knew with
200m left, I had him because it was nationals. I had to do it.
RQ:
Have you ever raced these teams?
KC:
No, we've never raced these teams other than Cedar Cliff. We raced
them a couple of time in cross country. I'm glad we beat them too.
They were tough on us all year with cross country and last year
too. Most of these teams we've never seen before. Arch Bishop Carroll
was at our state meet. A bunch of us ran against them. The mile
was messed up and stuff. We knew we could win. We knew it. It felt
good.
RQ:
When he started catching up with you, what was going through your
mind?
KC:
I ran a similar race during the season when a guy caught up real
quick. Like 600 or half mile in. I stayed on him. I just waited
and waited and kicked with 200m. I knew if I kind of got him to
go out. I was surprised at 600m when he made a little surge. He
passed me right back and that probably wasted some of his energy.
I just stayed with him until the 200. I knew I had it.
RQ:
All the guys are seniors except you. Why did they decide to run
you on the anchor?
KC:
I had a rough rough cross country season. I was injured before the
first race even. The whole season was rough from the start. I finally
got back at districts and I ran like crap. I came in like 139th.
At states, I finished 38th. It was a big improvement. I took a rest.
I watched these guys run Foot Lockers and Midwest. They had to do
that stuff. I was the first one back from cross country Then Grant
Stanfield joined me. [Brandon] Pomerantz had a bit of an injury,
but came back real strong. He won the Meet of Champs. I came in
third. [John] Mahoney had a rough season with his throat and stuff.
They helped me here. It wasn't just me.
Andrew
Perkins, Watertown, Wisconsin
Freshman mile winner - video
interview [This video will be available for a limited time.
If you would like to view it in the future, please save it to your
hard drive now.]
(Interviews
conducted March 12-13, 2005)
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