Indiana University Athletics
Big Ten Day One Quotes (02-16-05)
2/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
February 16, 2005
200-yard medley relay
Penn State Head Coach Bill Dorenkott
On the Nittany Lions winning the 200-yard medley relay:
"We have built a tradition at Penn State in the medley relays. For those kids to come out firing was a testament to them. We have a pretty experienced group there and I am awfully proud of them. They stepped up, got the job done and, hopefully, they have set the tone for us in this meet."
On getting a good start toward winning a Big Ten title:
"That would be nice and a lot of people would think that our goal is to win a Big Ten Championship, but we can't control that. The only thing we can control is showing up for seven sessions with 27 girls and putting forth our best effort. If tonight is any indication, we are going to have a heckuva meet."
Penn State's Amberle Biedermann
On winning the 200-yard medley relay
"It was good and really exciting. We have a tradition, because we won our freshman and sophomore years. It was nice to get the ball rolling and to get a good start for our team."
On the win being a good momentum builder for the rest of the meet:
"It definitely is. To start out like that with all the excitement, it got our whole team up knowing we had that to win. Hopefully, we have a lot more to come this weekend."
Indiana's Erin Smith
On setting the 200-yard medley school record:
"I was actually very surprised, because we had more of a breaststroker last year than we did this year. We all pulled it together and Kristen did an awesome job considering that she isn't a sprinter or a breaststroker. It was great."
Indiana's Kristen Bradley
On setting the 200-yard medley school record:
"The placing was all right, I actually haven't been on the relay the past few years. It is good because I actually went a second faster than I did in season and we got the record. Actually, all of us swam faster and we got the record, so we were pretty happy."
800-yard medley relay
Michigan Head Coach Jim Richardson
On winning the 800-yard freestyle relay:
"That relay has not been healthy all year. The leadoff leg, Amy McCullough, got mono in late October. She still wasn't herself until early January. Susan Gilliam, the third leg, was diagnosed with shingles before we left Ann Arbor. We had a freshman on the end, Justin Mueller, who had never been faster than 1:52 in her life. Lindsay (Smith), in the second leg, had been training really well but hadn't put it together yet. There were a lot of question marks about that relay coming in and I think they answered all of them."
On leading after the first day being a springboard start to defending their Big Ten title:
"I honestly don't worry about winning titles and meets. I understand it is there, but I don't think about it. We just think about trying to swim fast. We want to prepare to have every person swim fast. I don't care whether it is the fastest person on the team or not. Each of them needs to prepare to swim faster than they ever have before. If we have a team good enough to win it all, then hopefully it will happen. If we don't, we will shake the hands of the team that does."
Michigan's Amy McCullough
On winning the 800-yard freestyle relay:
"It has been a long year for me and a lot of the team. We haven't rested at all and we put a lot of faith in our training. It is great to finally see the results we have been hoping for. Tonight, both relays stepped up and went faster than we could have imagined. My one big goal for Big Tens was to stand on top of the podium. So, I have three more days to make some new goals."
On qualifying for NCAAs and winning a Big Ten title:
"Qualifying for NCAAs is always a little nerve-wracking. I am glad to have it out of the way. Now I can just focus on swimming as fast as I can the rest of the week. Hopefully, I can pull out some good swims and get faster and faster as the meet goes along."
Indiana's Leila Vaziri
On her swims in the 200-yard medley and 800-yard freestyle relays:
"I think I got myself a little too pumped up for the 50 back in the medley relay. In the 800 free, we all wanted to place better with better times, but it is the first night and hopefully we will get better every session."
On the 800-yard freestyle:
"The 800 could have been a lot better, but it is all right. We still have a whole meet ahead of us and I have a lot of events still to come."
Indiana Head Coach Dorsey Tierney
On the first night of the Big Ten Championships:
"I was very pleased with our 200 medley. They set a school record, and I liked the aggressiveness they swam with. The 800 free relay - we were not very smart, tactically. It is a very strategic race, and we had some inexperience on it."
On improving the rest of the championships:
"I like where we are right now. We are trying to take it one session at a time and trying to be the best every session. That is the only way we can do it. We prepare ourselves mentally so that once a session is over, it is done and we forget about it."
