The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
03.29.2014 | Texas Relays, Track & Field / Cross Country
2014 Texas Relays Headquarters | Recap | Notes | Photo Gallery | Video: Longhorns Shine on Final Day of Relays
University/College
Trayvon Bromell (Baylor), 100-meter dash
On his debut and setting the record: Basically, I just wanted to get my name out there to let people know that I can run with the big dogs. The coaches that I've had throughout the years of track have always told me to set for the perfect race, go as strong as you can in every race and today I just needed to execute that and it all came together.
On if he felt as comfortable in the race as it looked: A little bit. Coming off the blocks I stumbled a little bit, I was leaning over too much, but I kept my head on. I did what I had to do to make it up. I just finished my race strong.
Brian Smith: South Plains—4x100m Relay
On how it feels to be at Relays and win your event: This is my first year so I'm really excited. We won this event two years in a row so I was nervous and didn't want to mess it up.
Kendra Harrison (Kentucky), 100-meter hurdles
On being at Texas Relays: It's pretty amazing. This is my first time here so I'm just glad for the experience.
On winning: It was awesome. I trained hard, and I'm glad I came out on top.
Wayne Davis II (Texas A&M),110-meter hurdle
On being at Texas Relays: It's my first win since I've been here during my four years of college athletics, so I'm really happy about it.
On his rivalry with Eddie Lovett (Florida): It's a friendly rivalry; it's all fun and games. When you get to the next level that's when it really gets serious with people earning money, but right now I'm just out here to have fun. It's friendly competition and I'm not too worried about it.
On tying for the win: It tells me I'm in a much better place than I was last year. This meet, last year I was injured, so I'm way far ahead of where I was last year. I feel blessed. I'm just grateful to God for that.
Florence Uwakwe (UTEP), 1600-meter Relay
On how it feels to be at Texas Relays and win: It feels very satisfying because this is my first outing. I think this went well for us. It is the sign of a good start.
On the atmosphere of Relays: Everyone here is so lively! It's so motivating because I can feel the crowd cheering me on. It was a lot of fun.
Cass Brown-Stewart (SFA), 1600-meter relay
On how it feels to be at Relays: I've been coming to Relays for a long time. This one was a special one because this is the last time my relay mates will be together. We all came in together and it's our last one together. It was very special for us to win. In the past years we got 3rd, then 2nd and now we got the win. We are very blessed to be out here.
On what they did different this year to get them the win: This is the first time we've put together the relay how we wanted it. This is the first time we've been able to run together successfully and put up a good number.
Steven Gale (South Plains), 1600-meter relay
On how it feels to be at Relays: It's always exciting. I love the experience of being here. I'm about to move to D1 next year so I'm just getting used to the atmosphere.
On the atmosphere of Relays: It boosts our adrenaline. I like how the fans react to us winning.
On the win: We're proud of it. Every year we come here to compete and win. We are just going to keep our tradition going.
Eddie Lovett (Florida), 110-meter hurdles
On thoughts about race: It was a great race. I made some separation but at the end I kind of rested a little bit – should have stayed a little more patient. I talked about staying more patient, that's just something from this point on that I need to work on. Other than that, I felt like I had a great race. Just the last 3 hurdles – I have to stay a little more patient.
On rivalry with Texas A&M's Wayne Davis II: I started hurdles later in high school and Wayne Davis was the first guy that I heard of – he has the American record. There's always going to be competition. He's a very technical guy; I'm a little bit more speed. Once you get to this elite level, we kind of have to dip into each other's jars. I have to have a little bit of his technicality and him a little bit of my aggression. If you put us together, you'd have the best hurdler in the universe. It's always fun and it'll always be a competition.
Ashley Spencer (Texas), 1600-meter relay
On thoughts about race: It felt good. I enjoy being around these group of girls, they are wonderful training partners. When we come together for a 4x4 like that, it's just magic.
Fedrick Dacres (UWI Mona), Discus Throw
On being for the first time at the Texas Relays and the competition he faced: To come out with a victory in my first Texas Relays is a great feeling because I'm not from the USA. I'm from Jamaica so I'm not really used to the coolness but I have adapted so I'm good. The competition was really good. A guy opened with a 62, that's a really good opener. It was great competition. I'm just glad to be able to come out on top.
Morolake Akinosun (Texas), 100 meters
On being Texas Relays champion: It's amazing. It sounds amazing. It feels amazing. It was a great race. I was expecting to run fast, it was my second hundred of the year. The prelims race was my first yesterday, so improving from my mark yesterday was my biggest goal.
On the energy from the crowd: It feels great knowing that the majority of the people in the stands are cheering for me, so that helps a lot. It was really fun.
Ahmed Ali (South Plains), 100 meters
On how it feels to win in front of this Texas crowd: It's always a going back home feeling. It feels great to be with the whole crowd. It's all about representing a school. I wasn't really nervous being from Houston, it's just another step to another level. My main focus coming here was staying healthy having dealt with a lot of injuries, just trying to get better.
Marielle Hall (Texas), 1,500 meters
On how excited she is about being successful in this event: I'm super excited. My whole family, I'm originally from New Jersey so they came down to watch me. I just really wanted to do well here in front of my teammates and my family.
On the expectations she had coming in: Our whole team expectation is to win. This is our meet, this is our track, so when we come out here we always expect to win, to represent our school as best as we can.
Arman Hall (Florida), 1,600-meter relay
On his thoughts of the race: Dedric (Dukes) gave me a lead, so I knew I just had to extend it and not get caught. That's my job as the anchor, is just to do as I can to win us the 4x400 and any relay possible.
On the atmosphere of Texas Relays: It's amazing. I love coming here. Texas is a beautiful place with a great crowd. They love track; I can see it. It's amazing. I just have so much fun when I'm here.
Ricky Robinson (Ole Miss), high jump
On his performance today: I felt pretty good about my performance. I jumped better than I did last week, so that's a progression. I tried 7'8 in my last attempt but, I couldn't quite get it but there'll be more times I'll be able to get it. I felt pretty good over the bar though.
On the atmosphere in Texas Relays: The atmosphere is great. It takes a little while for the crowd to get into it, but once they're finally into it, they'll give you all the love you need.
Morgan Snow (Texas) 100-meter hurdles
On her thoughts of the race: I thought, I did pretty good. My indoor season was really awful so I just had to work a little harder to get back out here for outdoor season. I made some big changes, they're working.
On the crowd and atmosphere at Texas Relays: The crowd is huge. I love the crowd. Everybody, no matter where they're from, is like 'go Longhorns, go Texas,' and it's an amazing atmosphere.
Kimberly Williamson (Central Arizona), high jump
On winning her first Texas Relays: I've only been to Penn Relays so I told my coach that I wanted to go to Texas Relays this year. Coming here and winning that was my initial goal, no matter the competition. So coming here and winning, it's a great feeling. I'm ecstatic for that.
Carlyle Roudette (Texas A&M), 800-meter relay
On winning the event at Texas Relays: It feels great. It's my senior year, so I'm ready to go out with a bang. It's an event I don't usually do; I'm mostly a 400 (meter) guy so it felt good to try something different to better my team.
On how it feels to improve and do better than last year: It's always great to do better. That's my main goal to get better every time. I can't even be mad as long as I'm getting better.
Ashley Spencer (Texas), 800-meter relay
On how it feels to win her first event of the afternoon: It feels good. We put in the work, we knew this was going to be a big meet, especially coming off Indoor Nationals. It feels great to get the day started this way.
On how it feels to win and compete in her first Texas Relays as a Longhorn: It feels awesome. It is our home meet. It's expected for us to dominate as best as we can in all of our events, being able to contribute to our success is a blessing.
On what was key to victory today: The key to victory today was chemistry, trusting our teammates to just to run fast and have fun.
High School
Desiree Freier (Justin Northwest), pole vault
On how it feels to break the national record her during her senior campaign at Texas Relays: It's great. I mean this was my goal to come out here to break the national record. I was fortunate enough to come out here and break it.
On what she improved on this year to get her to where she is: I'm just on bigger sticks gripping higher on the pole than I was last year so that helps a lot!
Alexis Duncan (Desoto), 100-meter hurdles
On what her first time at Relays feels like: I'm happy to be here! I've never been here before. There are a lot of people!
On how it feels to win her race as a sophomore: I'm really proud of myself. I didn't even think I was going to make it this far.
Kami Norton (Albany), 100-meter hurdles
On being at Texas Relays: It's kind of like a warm up for state, so I really like it. Coming down here, being in the atmosphere, and watching college athletes is really inspiring. You feel the adrenaline pumping.
On winning: I'm happy that I won. I've been working hard all year, so I'm satisfied.
Chevis Armstead (DeSoto), 100-meter hurdles
On being at Texas Relays: This is my second time here. I made a PR today, so I'm excited. It's been kind of slow for me here over the past year and at state, but I'm hoping to keep getting better.
On winning: I'm ecstatic. My goal was to just get a medal so I'm excited that I won.
Keenan Ivy (Lancaster), 400-meter relay
On winning at the Texas Relays: It was good. Good first time experience.
On thoughts about the race: It was good. [Reggie] Garner ran a good first leg. Gabriel Walker ate them up in the middle. Elijah Boyd - he did good to get a good push.
Jade Lewis (Long Beach Poly), 400-meter relay
On running fastest time in the country: It was so good to break 46. We've been trying to do that. After what happened in 4x2-meter relay; we were really angry, we really had to come out here to win. We said that before we got on the track.
Reese Thompson (Argyle), 100-meter hurdles
On thoughts about winning: I have wanted to win here for the last couple of years. I usually clip one but, this year I really prepared well coming into this Texas Relays. I've been practicing to execute perfectly.
On being at the Texas Relays: It's such an amazing opportunity just to sit in the stands or warm up; you see Olympians and awesome D1 athletes. It's just like a dream of mine to see them, especially here.
Malcom White (Katy Taylor), 100 meters
On thoughts about his race: I came off the blocks pretty well. I had a pretty good finish. I was just trying to get to the finish-line but, I started stumbling at the end. 10.57 seconds is a pretty good time.
On being at the Texas Relays: It's good. It's my third year here, it feels good to be back in the finals.
Teahna Daniels (First Academy), 100 meters
On thoughts about her race: I just ran my race. I just wanted to keep my race, get in a draft.
On winning at the Texas Relays: This is amazing. I'm in shock. Coming from Florida, there are a lot of big athletes in Texas, I just wanted to put Florida on the map.
Sierra Peterson (St. Mary's Academy), 1600-meter relay
On Texas Relays: It's pretty big for me. I look up to a lot of elite and collegiate athletes so it's good to see how they compete so I can try to learn for myself.
On about her race: I felt pretty good. At about the 200 mark after he said we had a 30-meter lead, I said "Ok I got this." I started tightening up at the end but I pushed through it and helped us get a better time.
Isiah Pittman (Taylor), 1600-meter relay
On Texas Relays: Feels really good. We are from pretty far away so it's really cool to be here.
On thoughts about race: I knew I had to push hard and I saw how close they were to us so that's what I did. It started hurting at the end.
Eric Age (Lancaster), 1600-meter relay
On thoughts about his race: We just went out there and won. Our coach told us to go 3:14 and that's what we did.
On Texas Relays: It's a good feeling. It makes you run faster. When I came out here, I was scared but I called my mom, she told me to just go out here and do what you do best - win.
Felipe Valencia (La Joya Palmview), Shot Put
On the level of competition and his last shot: It's great competition here at the Texas Relays and just happy that I won. That last shot felt good through the back, it was just in the middle where I kind of stumbled a little bit. It wasn't a good throw but I won and that's all that matters. I hope to be back here next year.
Akeyla Mitchell (CC West Oso), 100 meters
On how it feels to come out on top: Great, especially because I'm a senior. I feel awesome. Last year, I got third place, the year before that I didn't place. So I ran with a chip on my shoulder, I really did. I was scared, but I blocked everyone out when I ran - it was just me and the finish line.
Leon Powell (Kennedale), 100 meters
On thought about his race: This is my first time winning at the Texas Relays. It's truly a blessing. I can say that my hard work reflects my success. My teammates and I have been working pretty hard. The Relays have been a great preparation for the 100s. But, I'm not happy with my time right now, I hope that by the end of the season I improve to a 10.2 or 10.3. I can definitely improve on my start.
Devin King (Jewel Sumner), pole vault
On winning his first Texas Relays: I came in and the wind gave me a good push the whole meet. I got my 16 feet poles about two weeks ago, I'm still getting used to them. I felt great and cleared 17'4. It was just a matter of trusting the 16 foot poles.
On the Texas Relays crowd: It was great. There's a bunch of people and the wind was great for pole vaulters. Ever since my sophomore year, I've wanted to come to Texas Relays, I finally came and it was great. I wasn't prepared like I thought I was but I still did good.
Kaitlin Rodriguez (Canyon), 1600-meter relay
On the emotions of winning at the Texas Relays: It's very nerve wrecking, especially during the race, plus we don't usually run 800's. The crowd gets you pumped up, we got very excited. We blocked out everything. We didn't really pay attention to anything else but the race.
On the close finish: I don't even know what happened. I didn't want her to beat me. We won at the very end, we kicked in and we were ready to go. It's so unreal. We can't even process it right now. We feel very blessed.
Lawson Belcher (Keller), 1600-meter relay
On performing at the Texas Relays: It's great to come out here in front of all these fans and show everyone what we are made of. Show that we work hard and we compete. It's cool to be out here on this fierce competition track, especially to come out on top.
On the preparation leading towards the event: We are working hard, running hard every day and doing all these repeats. That is what it takes. It feels good. We didn't get enough sleep but I think we ran pretty well. We are proud of what we did.
Daja Gordon (Dal Hampton Prep), 400-meter relay
On her thought process during the race and the crowd noise: I saw that we had a lead, but I know that a lead shouldn't put you at rest. I was pushing it throughout the whole race to be able to finish strong. I don't really hear the crowd when I'm racing. I just focus on my running. We work really hard every day, getting consistent. We are still working to become better and making our times better.
Tyreik Gray (Episcopal-Bell), 400-meter relay
On the thrill to win at the Texas Relays: I was pretty good. We won last year, so we repeated the same thing. We work hard every day, even if it's on weekend.
Dennis Bain (Clafin), 110-meter hurdles
On being back at Texas Relays: It feels good. I redshirted last year, which was supposed to be my senior year. With a year off and no competition every other weekend you get a little rusty, but I'm glad to be here and win my senior year.
On winning: My first time here I think I got third place so it feels good to come back and take the win back to Clafin University in South Carolina.
Kendall Ellis (St. Thomas), 1600-meter relay
On getting to run the Relays and setting a national record: It feels great. I'm a senior, it's my last year with these girls. When I say I have some amazing teammates, I really do mean - I have some of the Nation's best on my team. It's just a great opportunity to run with them. I'm really excited. We showed up today. We represented St. Thomas and South Florida very well.
Invitational
Logan Cunningham (Olympic Development), pole vault
On how it feels to be back at Relays: It feels awesome. I've got a lot of people to thank for it.
On having all the people in the stands cheering him on: It's great. I've had a lot of support and I've worked really hard for this so it's definitely a dream come true. I thank the Lord for these days.
On what his next plans are: Keep jumping, keep training and stay healthy. Isolate my weaknesses and improve on my strengths and keep staying on my grind and trusting and thanking everyone who has helped me out.
Trey Hardee, 100 meters
On what made him pick the 100 meters: Relays, it's awesome! I'm never going to have the opportunity to run in front of the home crowd with this many people and this much adrenalin until this time next year so I try to make the most of it while it is here. I got to pole vault the other day, threw some stuff yesterday and I've trained hard this whole month so it's nice, 10'44 not bad.
On how it feels to be back: I never left, man! It's hard leaving this place. I hope I never have to leave! It's special. It's a special place. I mean I know y'all feel the energy. The energy is here on the track. Saturday, high noon, sun is beating down on you, the wind is blowing, and everyone is running fast, there is nothing else like it.
Jessica Beard (Pretty Girls), 400-meter relay
On being back at Texas Relays: It feels good to be on the other end. I get to watch some of the alumni compete and get to come out here and have fun with everyone.
On winning: It feels good. It's good to embrace the atmosphere, to test where you're at as far as fitness – that's what we really came out here to do and we did it.
Brittany Ogunmokun (Team Alum), 1600-meter relay
On how it feels to be at Relays: It's fun! For most of us, it's one of our first outdoor meets so it's fun to get out there and get after it. All of us are alumni from college so it's just cool for us to all come together to run at a fun meet.
On how it feels to be the anchor: Actually, it's kind of funny because we were just discussing it. We just threw together the order last minute; I'm glad it worked out.
On thoughts about today: I just love this meet. There is always a lot of people and a lot of pros coming to watch so it's really exciting.
Ameer Webb, 200 meters
On Texas Relays: It's always awesome. The crowd is huge, that gives you a boost. Being out here is a great feeling it always makes you want to bring out your best.
On thoughts about his race: I felt great. I tightened up at the end a little bit so I kind of didn't push it too much at the end. I just wanted to maintain all the way through.
Wallace Spearmon (Flynn's Flyers) 400-meter relay
On his thoughts of his 10th Texas Relays: There aren't too many places in America where you find a crowd like this. There's high school kids, college kids and then there's us, so it's just a chance to give back. There's no proceeds for us, we're just running because we love it.
On his thoughts of the race: We got a win. Anytime you win, you've got to be happy. There was a strong headwind but my team put me in a position to strike and I finished it off for my teammates.
