USA Track & Field hosted a media teleconference on Thursday, February 21 with hurdler Larry Wade and 800m runner Nicole Teter. Both athletes will compete at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships March 1-2 at the Armory Track & Field Center in New York City.

The winner of the 60m hurdles at the Verizon Millrose Games and the adidas Midwest Indoor Track Classic, Wade stormed onto the track scene in 2002. His two Golden Spike Tour victories prove he has recovered from the devastating injury he suffered in a 2000 automobile accident. At the2002 Millrose Games, Wade beat a tough field with winning time of 7.60.

Teter ran a world-leading time of 4:32.71 in her debut of the women’s mile at the adidas Midwest Indoor Track Classic. Known as an 800m specialist, the California native pulled away from an impressive international field in the final 200m that included Russian Lyudmila Vasilyeva, Jamaican Mardrea Hyman and Americans Sarah Schwald and Miesha Marzell. Teter finished second in the 800m at the adidas Boston Indoor Games and the Verizon Millrose Games.

Below are excerpts from Thursday’s teleconference. Or listen to the full teleconference on our Web site: www.usatf.org.

Q. How do you feel about running at the Armory?

WADE: I’m very happy to be running there. I’ve heard great things about running there. I’ve trained there before and the track is really fast, so I’m very excited about being there. This is only my second season indoors and I’m really happy to be able to go there and run. There are a lot of people who have run fast before me.

TETER: I’ve heard nothing but good things. We’ve had a couple of athletes run there a few weeks ago, and they were ecstatic about how they ran. I’ve heard great things about the stadium and the fans. I’m just very excited to be at the Armory and in New York.

Q. What are your goals for season?

WADE: Go to U.S. Nationals and perform well. I want to run fast times and win – to win you’ve got to be running fast.

TETER: This is my first indoor season and I feel confident that I have a shot to be in the top 3 or even be national champion this year. Outdoors is another story. I basically have time goals there.

LARRY WADE

Q: After winning two Golden Spike Tour Meets (Verizon Millrose Games and adidas Midwest Indoor Track Classic), how confident are you entering Indoor Nationals?

WADE: Well I’m very confident in the sense that I know I have to go in and do my very best. I’m looking forward to nationals. … The Millrose Games was kind of funny because it hit me really late – I realized ‘wow I won Millrose!’ I was kind of disappointed at first because my technique was not what I wanted it to be. But after my (post-race) interview I realized I had done something in history that people like Greg Foster and Renaldo Nehemiah had done.

Q: Larry, could you review the problems you’ve had stemming from your car accident in 2000.

WADE: To start off, I had problems with fever, high blood pressure and dizziness. I was cramping a lot and couldn’t finish a lot of workouts. I was anemic and couldn’t recover well if there was even a small injury. Towards the end of last season, my body started to come back around. I ran really decent toward the end of the season. My doctors told me it would take anywhere from a year to a year and a half to come back.

Q: How happy were you to be ranked #3 in the World last year?

WADE: I was very happy. I hadn’t run since ’99 consistently. For me to go through 2001 and run more than two meets in a year, it was great for me to be able to go out and run against those guys. When the rankings came out, it was even better.

Q: Please talk about the support you get from your teammates.

WADE: You can put a price tags on a lot of things, but having H.S.I. and John Smith is something I couldn’t put a price on. It seems like they understood more than I did (when he was hurt). Having Maurice Greene, Inger Miller, Ato Boldon, and Jon Drummond to support me, it was great.

Q. You’re in event where getting rhythm is important. Can you carry momentum from races or do you have to start each race over?

WADE: There are two ways I look at it. If you run races back to back, you can maintain that momentum for a couple of weeks. But if your timing is off after those couple of races, you have to hold onto that mentally, because it’s really hard to hold onto a momentum for 2 or 3 weeks if you’re not competing. You have to go out there and find it.

Q. Could you address the relative greatness of U.S. hurdlers?

WADE: I think I am in by far the most competitive event on the track. Usually in the rankings we have five out of the top 10 in the world. If I want competition, all I have to do is fly a couple of states over and run with some of the best in the world. I feel I don’t have to go anywhere outside of the United States to get competition. We have the best athletes in the world.

Q. Talk about John Smith as a coach.

WADE: The #1 thing I can say about John is he is never afraid to learn. John gives information and at the same time he absorbs other information, and that’s what makes him good as a hurdle coach. Not only does he know the technical side of the race, but he knows the sprint side and he can bring one out of the other.

NICOLE TETER

Q: After winning the mile in Nebraska, are you rethinking your future (800 vs. 1,500m)?

TETER: Somewhat. I’m excited about how I finished. I still consider myself an 800 runner and want to get my times well under 2 minutes this year.

Q: Please discuss how your workouts have changed and how you like working with (Nike Farm Team and former Georgetown coach) Frank Gagliano.

TETER: He’s helped me a lot with my confidence. Being with the group that I’m training with, I’m training with a lot of really really good athletes. We’re doing a lot of strength work, which has been a weakness in the past. Having been an 800m runner, I hadn’t really considered mileage an issue. But now I ran cross country and am working out with some 5,000m runners. Gags is such a great coach and a listener. Everybody I’ve come in contact with him has had such wonderful things to say about him.

Q: You’ve had a few seasons when you weren’t on the racing scene.

TETER: I just haven’t been consistently competing. I was training with my high school coach and training fully by myself. I think the biggest thing I could have done for myself to be with this group, the Nike Farm Team. Nike is supporting us fully and giving us the athletes to train with. From the men’s side, the women’s side, we’re a complete team. Everyone supports you and cheers you on. Everybody is there for each other.

Q: Will you be running the 800m or mile at nationals?

TETER: I’m going to focus on the 800. With the schedule, there’s no way to double both the 800 and the mile.