Nov. 11, 2006

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Individual women's champion, Susan Kuijken, Florida State: "It's a good feeling. As a freshman, I don't really know any of these girls, so it was kind of a surprise. I've never run regionals before, so I had no idea where I might finish or where I could end up.

"I've run well before and with some good teams in the ACC, but I didn't know what to expect today. I finished sixth at the ACC meet, so I never would have thought that I could win a regional race, especially for my first win in America. I always thought that regionals would be harder than conference, but I ran a good race today.

[On taking the overall lead] "I took the lead on the steep hill the second time (during the third mile), and I could see and hear that (previous leader Sarah Bowman of Tennessee) was getting tired. Right as I was about to pass her, I was worried that maybe it was too soon. There was still a lot of race left, but there wasn't anything I could do about it but run my race."

Coach Dave Hartman, Georgia (women's team champions): "I was really pleased with the way that we ran today. Our team came here with the objective of qualifying for nationals, just finishing in the top two, and we can't complain because we accomplished that goal. Now we have to get ready for the national championship next Monday.

"I don't know if we expected to come out and win. But everybody stepped up really well and our top group was able to stay up with the pack in the front. It was a great win, and this is a great region. It was a tough race."

Katie Van Horn, Tennessee: "This season I've usually been running third or fourth for our team, but I ran well today. I just got really up for this race. I saw Florida and Florida State (runners) and I just kept trying to pick them off. I knew those were teams to beat, along with Georgia, and every person counts. I just kept getting up for them.

"It's really nice to have this at home and have people supporting you everywhere you turn. It's very motivating to have somebody cheering for you every step of the way."

Coach J.J. Clark, Tennessee: "I thought we could win. I felt that we had a chance when we got out there. But Georgia ran very well, and I thought we were capable of doing that.

"Sarah Bowman did not have the race that we expected, and Felicia Guliford did not have the season that we expected. It's hard to beat people when you don't the caliber of athletes putting you in a position to win. We did have some bright spots with Katie Van Horn and Jackie Areson, who's a freshman, getting eighth and 10th. That's very exciting."

[On the possibility of an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship] "We're not used to waiting for anything. I don't know how it works, to be honest. We performed OK at the pre-meet and beat six ranked teams. I don't know how that will work. The top-two here go, and we were third so I don't know what's going to happen. I want to say that we'll have a good chance of going."