Quotes by Mike Stevenson

“Theyre (Gilson and Martin) both very talented athletes, maybe the most talented athletes on campus. No matter where we go, Big 10 or Big 12, theyre still the best competition they have, which is each other.”

“(Pickford) did a good job and were real pleased with the way she has evolved. Her mental side is starting to catch up after a rough start. It was just a mental thing for her, she just had a hard time getting her step off and couldnt get her foot to land at the specific place.”

“Were going to try to knock off a little rust with a high quality meet with good competition like (University of) Alabama and Brigham Young University. We dont have enough people to run the womens distance relay and we have issues with kids competing in more than one event being so close to each other they might get tired out.”

“If (Gilson) and (Martin) go over 55 feet, PR on the shot put and get fifth or sixth place Ill be happy but if they throw 46 feet and win Ill be mad. It will be tough competition and it just matters on how they perform.”

“Were average and were not super ready but we had enough practice that we should be ready. For the most part we will compete well and we should be Ok. Were competing against some major programs and if we finish in the middle of the road, Ill be content with that. If we competed as well as we could, Ill be happy, and even if we do win the meet and the kids didnt do what they were suppose to do, then Ill be disappointed.”

“We had so many guys that graduated last year and we have a few seniors on the team now. We only have one guy that is a true senior, so we will be relying on the younger guys.”

“Traditionally its a pretty good meet and it depends on what teams go. Northern Iowa itself is a very good team and they have a bunch of All-Americans on their team.”

“Were real happy for her, especially for the shot put. (Gilson) threw real far in the first meet and is back up where she needs to be. The weight throw has some improving to do; she kind of declined on it and is real frustrated. She has been watching film on her technique and checking to see if there is anything visible to see if she has some kind of problem throwing it.”

“Im real happy for the way they ran and they improved by six seconds from their times the previous week. Well run faster this weekend and our goal for them is to drop another four seconds.”

“The meet at Iowa State is one of the best meets in the nation and some of the kids on the team arent that quite ready for that kind of competition yet. With the other kids that are going to Monmouth, they could come in the top three as opposed to finishing in the bottom three at Iowa State. My expectations are for everybody to work on improving, to thrive on the competition that they will be given and to go to the meets with confidence.”