Missouri Cross Country Challenge Post Meet Quotes
Sept. 10, 2011
Head Coach Stanley Redwine
On his thoughts of the overall performance of both teams:
“It was a great effort by both the men and women today. To win both was really good. I thought they competed well as a team today. Some of the things we did poorly last weekend, we did a much better job of doing this week. With the addition of the athletes we didn’t run last week it showed that the team really can do well together.”
On Rebeka Stowe’s and the women’s team performance:
“I’m really excited for her (Stowe). Hopefully it’s the start of a great season for her. There isn’t a much better way to start out a season then with a win. Both (women’s) teams did well. I think the Missouri team ran very well. It was the first time we have ever beaten Missouri at this meet, so it’s obviously very tough competition.”
On the team’s pack running:
“Both team’s did a much better job. The goal was to stay in the pack as long as we could and if the race started to spread out then we needed to react according to the race. Coach (Mike) Whittlesey did a great job of preparing both teams to do that. The teams did a great job of reacting as the race progressed.”
On James Wilson’s performance:
“It was a pleasant surprise (to see Wilson perform well). He’s a hard trainer. He’s a great competitor and he showed it today. For a freshman to come in and do that today is awesome.”
On how these early season meets have prepared his teams for the rest of the season:
“Last week I said it was early and we just need to take it a race at a time. Again, it’s another meet and we have to prepare for the next one. We had a better reaction to a our preparation this week and we need to keep doing that.”
Assistant Coach Michael Whittlesey
On both team’s efforts in the races:
“I thought both teams ran really well today. We talked with both teams about winning the little races. If there was someone within 50 meters, going and getting them and I thought both teams did an outstanding job with that. I thought both teams competed extremely well the whole race. It’s great to come here and win both.”
On the men’s team’s performance:
“The men’s team did a great job of team racing. We had seven to nine guys up front. Missouri was sitting back and trying to attack in the second half of the race and we had talked about making them make the move. We kept a good rhythm the whole time and when Missouri came up we responded really well. It started to spread out a little more in the middle part of the race. We still need to tighten up with our pairs running.”
On the women’s team’s performance:
“We won the little races on the women’s side. We really went out well and got that first one in front of us. We looked really good today.”
On James Wilson’s performance:
“James is a really tough guy. He didn’t have a great race last week but he does have a lot of confidence. He’s got some really nice wheels. He’s going to be really good runner and that’s why we redshirted him last year, to get him a year better and a year stronger. He had a little bit of an advantage over the other guys on the team because he raced last week. I thought he looked great when (Missouri’s) Max Storms made the attack. (Wilson) was sitting right on his shoulder and looked comfortable up there.”
On Rebeka Stowe’s performance:
“She looked real comfortable. She’s done an awful lot of work this summer and it’s just an accumulation of everything she’s done over her four years. Her confidence is really good right now. She just ran out there strong. It’s going to be great having her as a front runner this year.”
Senior Rebeka Stowe
On starting her senior season with a victory:
“It’s really exciting. Last night and this morning I was thinking about how this is my last year and I wanted to start out on a good note individually and with the team. We executed how we were supposed to and it’s exciting.”
On how it feels claiming the victory against rival Missouri:
“It’s awesome. Anytime you can come out and beat some Tigers, it’s a good time.”
On the women’s team communicating during the race:
“It’s really exciting to be able to hear your teammates right there with you, even virbally encouraging each other. People probably don’t realize how much we actually are talking during the race. It’s nice to have that presence and know there’s five of you and two of them.”
On where this win puts her and her team for the rest of the season:
“It’s a really good start. He haven’t pack run this well in a couple of years. So we obviously have a lot of ability this year. This is just the beginning. It’s a lot easier when there’s just two teams. When we get to the Roy Griak meet and the Wisconsin meet it’s going to be 300 girls and we have to be more intentional about staying together. It’s really good start. I’m really excited about where the team’s at and I’m looking forward to the next few months.”
On the toughness of the course:
“This is a really tough course. My sophomore year the worst time I’ve ever run it because it was so muddy. In comparison to that, this was awesome. The hills are challenging but it’s fun because it breaks the race up.”
On if the team stuck to its game plan:
“For the most part, yes. I think we wanted to have our group a little bit tighter. The top five (finishers) needed to be a little closer because that wouldn’t allow Missouri to get in their and steal some points that we needed to have. Overall, it’s a way better start then we’ve had in the past so I’m happy with it.”
Redshirt Freshman James Wilson
On if he was happy with his individual performance:
“Cross country is one of the really hard sports to compare times because every course is different. Missouri’s course is pretty tough. There’s a lot of side hills and the footing isn’t great. It’s not bad because it’s on a golf course but it’s a pretty rough course. We weren’t as concerned with times today but I thought we ran well.”
On what he was thinking when the Missouri runner made his move:
“That was part of our game plan. Coach (Whittlesey) said he wanted us to stay in a pack and move together and then when once one of their guys went for it our job was to respond and go after it. I thought we did a really good job of that because we only let one of them get away and I think we finished the next runners second to sixth so we did a good job of staying together.”
On how the race will help his confidence going forward in the season:
“To be honest, we’ve got a really tight group of guys from one to seven. It just happened to be my day today and be the top (KU) guy out there. I’m very happy with that. Confidence-wise this is a good warm-up for the next few races and the big ones that matter most later in the year.”
