Athlete Quotes - Day 5

Jordan Hasay (Arroyo Grande, Calif.) - Youth Girls 3,000m champion (9:35.12)

On the race:

"I always go out fast. I always just go out and run the way I'm feeling. If I feel good I'll go for the record, if I don't feel good I won't. Today I felt good so I went for it."

"I pretty much hit all my splits. I started a little bit fast but as I got tired my splits eventually evened out."

On preparation for the race:

"I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I think pressure makes it fun."

On sticking her tongue out:

"It's just something I do, it helps me concentrate."

On not cutting her hair:

"I have never cut my hair, it's become my trademark."

Bianca Knight (Jackson, Miss.), World Youth team member – Intermediate Girls 200m champion (23.46)

"I go out hard in the curve and make it hard for everyone else to catch me. I run my race in the curve."

On Junior Olympics:

"I've been running JO's (Junior Olympics) since I was twelve. It would have been unprofessional if I wouldn't have run here."

Brittany Hall (Norcross, Ga.) – Intermediate Girls 800m champion (2:08.47 national record)

On setting a national record:

"I was trying to go 2:08 but had no idea I was going to break the record."

"Being a Junior Olympic champion has been my goal and now that I accomplished it, it feels great."

David Klech (San Ramon, Calif.), World Youth team member – Young Men's 110m hurdles 1st round (14.26)

"I feel good coming back from Morocco. I was able to get home and get a few good practices in before coming here."

"My 400 hurdle race went perfectly yesterday and winning my heat today has put me exactly where I want to be going into the finals."

On running in lane one:

"I learned this season that you're not always going to get the lane that you want, but running in lane one made me feel like the underdog. Being an underdog is kind of nice sometimes because you don't have the pressure of having everyone focus on you, and you can sneak in there and do what you need to do."

Desirae Gonder (Bakersfield, Calif.), World Youth team member – Young Women's high jump champion (1.75m/5-8.75)

"I felt confident coming into this meet. The girls who were still in the competition with me at the last height were the girls who I thought would be able to push me…and they did. My goal was to get the gold and I was happy that I was able to do that."

Dan Haddock (Paradise Valley, Ariz.), World Youth team member – Young Men's javelin 6th place (57.15m/187-6)

"Any day anyone can win and it wasn't my day today. You take what you can get though and there's more meets coming up next year."

Kelly Sampson (Detroit, Mich.) - Young Women's 3,000m champion (10:22.97)

On running with the defending champion (Asia Diaz):

"In the 3,000m you want to run with other faster runners because it makes you work harder and pushes you along to be better."

Asia Diaz (Garland, Texas) - Young Women's 3,000m runner-up (10:42.12)

"I felt okay and just tried to keep up with the girl who won it. My time last year was better."

Jamaal Williams (Victorville, Calif.) - Bantam Boys 200m champion (27.02)

"It's tiring…you have to keep your form when someone is coming behind you…I had to lean my chest over the line at the end."

Randall Carroll (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Youth Boys 200m champion (22.20)

"I felt good…a little nervous…just ran the curve hard and used my arms."

Evander Wells (Atlanta, Ga.) - Young Men's 200m champion (21.30)

"I knew that if I ran the curve hard no one would be able to catch me and all I would have to do is hold off the field, and that's what I did."

Jahvid Best (Richmond, Calif.) - Intermediate Boys 200m champion (21.18)

"My coach told me to get out hard and around the curve. I just relaxed down the straight away and focused on keeping my form."

Brooke and Blaire Dinsdale (twins), 15, (Traer, Iowa) - Intermediate Girls 3,000m

Brooke (6th place):

"I wasn't as nervous today as I was in the prelims (preliminaries). I felt pretty good coming into the finals and the only difference today was that it was a lot hotter."

"I've been running 2:18 or 2:19 most of the season, but before we come to this meet we never really have anyone to push us."

On being able to run against each other:

"It helps a lot to be able to run against my sister because it helps me run a lot faster, especially for high school track."

Blaire (7th place):

"I was happy that I made the finals but during today's race I just kept trying to find my position, but I kept being pushed. "

Elias Gedyon - Midget Boys 800m champion (2:06.51)

"I went straight out with speed to the break line…I'm really proud of myself for winning."

Nicholas Panezich (Poland, Ohio) - Young Men's shot put champion (19.17m/62-10.75)

"Coach said I needed put together three good throws. I think I did that. I had a two and a half foot PR (personal record). I'm just really excited right now."