Posted: January 9, 2006

Athletics: Lagat, Stuczynski teleconference excerpts

On Monday, January 9, USA Track & Field hosted a media teleconference with three-time Wanamaker Mile champion Bernard Lagat, and 2005 USA indoor women's pole vault champion Jenn Stuczynski. Both will compete Friday, February 3 in the 99th Millrose Games at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Below are excerpts from Monday's call.

Bernard Lagat

Lagat feels right at home at Madison Square Garden, where last year in the Wanamaker Mile he broke the Millrose Games and Madison Square Garden records with his time of 3:52.87. It was Lagat's third career Wanamaker title and earned him the Fred Schmertz Trophy as the outstanding performer of the meet.

In addition to his Millrose victory, last year Lagat also won indoors at the Powered by Tyson Invitational, where his 3:49.89 in the mile and his 1,500m split of 3:33.34 both set American indoor records. He broke the American 1,500m record outdoors in 2005 at Rieti, Italy, with a time of 3:29.30 and ended the season world-ranked #2 in the 1500m/mile by Track & Field News.

The defending world indoor 3,000-meter champion, Lagat will face a strong field at Millrose, headlined by Kenenisa Bekele, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist at 10,000 meters and eight-time World Cross Country champion.

Lagat called in from the Tucson Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz., where his pregnant wife, Gladys, was undergoing a non-stress test. The couple were due to have their first child, a son, on Friday, January 6.

Q: Tell us how you feel about this year's Wanamaker Mile

A: I'm excited. When my manager called me and said Kenenisa Bekele was added to the race, I thought that's really going to be a good race. You can never predict what he will do, especially in the mile or the 1,500, which he doesn't really run. You can look at what he does in the 5,000 and 10,000, though. I don't know his strategy. He is a really superb athlete and runs really great. Coming to the mile is going to be different for him. I'm going to run smart and run the race like I've always run - run tough and run hard, because I want to win again. ...

I haven't run with (against) him, and I always want to run with a strong competitor wherever I go. Last year we had Laban Rotich and Alan Webb, and it was a great race. I like running against new people. I can't focus on one athlete only. It's going to be my first time against Bekele, and I'm really excited. The only way for me to win is to go hard, then Bekele has to really run hard, himself. If he wants to win, he's not going to win easy. It reminds me when I run with Hicham el Guerrouj, a great athlete. Bekele, he's a great athlete, but I'm always up for a challenge.

Q: How have you been able to master the track at Madison Square Garden?

A: There are two things I've been able to do in New York. It's a really short track. The way it can be fast is if you make the race go fast from the beginning, you're going to run a good time. And, of course, maintaining the pace you set. Last year we went out really good. I wanted to get the record, and I just kept on going, kept on going. In 2002, we didn't even run under 4 (minutes). But if you go hard and follow the hard pace, that makes the race fast.

Q: Does your Waterford Crystal (Fred Schmertz trophy as 2005 athlete of the meet at the Millrose Games) have a place of honor in your house?

A: Definitely. Everybody who comes to my house looks at the crystal and asks where I got it. I tell them, "The Millrose Games." Every time my neighbor has friends come to town, my neighbor brings them over to look at the crystal.

Q: Who is going to do late-night feedings with your baby?

A: I guess it's going to be me. The other day we went to the furniture store and got a nice rocker chair. My wife said "the chair is for you, not for me. At 3 o'clock you'll have to get up and feed the baby."

Jenn Stuczynski

The 2005 NAIA champion for Roberts Wesleyan, Jenn Stuczynski has been hot in the early going of 2006. On Saturday, January 7, she set her fourth consecutive personal best at the Nike Sharon Anderson Memorial Track & Field Meet at the University of Toronto with a clearance of 4.62m/15 feet, 1 ¾ inches - higher than any American woman jumped in 2005, indoors or out. The clearance also puts her as the second American on the all-time indoor list after Dragila.

A latecomer to the pole vault, Stuczynski is an all-around athlete and is the all-time leading scorer for women's basketball at Roberts Wesleyan, with 1,733 points. She is a 2004 graduate of the school.

Below are excerpts from Stuczynski's call.

Q: Tell us about your season so far.

A: So far, this season is going well. We're pretty much on schedule with what we wanted to be. We wrote up what we wanted out of the season. The ultimate goal is the American record this year. It's something that, if I keep perfecting the model that we get to, becoming more of a technician, it's attainable.

I started (vaulting) a little over a year and a half ago. I tried it once when I was in college, when I was injured. I did not like it at all. I pretty much focused on basketball. Then my senior year, I was competing in track and was healthy. My coach, Rick Suhr, saw me and convinced me to try it.

Q: Why did you get so good so quickly?

A: Honestly, it's where we jump and the system I'm in. I don't have to think too much - everything is handed to me in terms of technique.

Q: Rick Suhr has a mysterious reputation in pole vault circles - East European style and training facility. Can you tell us about that?

A: It's a metal, steel hut (training facility in Rochester, N.Y.). It opens into an area where the pit fits with maybe 10 feet on each side of it. The temperature is pretty much whatever it is outside. We have two propane blowers. We stand there and get warm. When it's our turn to jump, we get out there and jump.

Q: Tell us about how you vault and what you work on in training.

A: We do different things with our pole carrying, and being efficient through take-off. We try to carry our energy through the pole and go above it.

Q: What do you know about what it's like to compete at Millrose?

A: I don't know very much about it. I know what Rick has said, he had Mary (Saxer) there last year. I can't imagine it. I think it's something I'm going to have to be at to understand. I'm excited to see people and jump in front of people. I'm a little nervous, but it will be great.

Q: Is Stacy Dragila a role model for you, going into Millrose?

A: Stacy Dragila, I have never met her. I've heard things, I've seen pictures. I've seen her vault on a DVD, but she's just someone that I realize is very calm. She seems like she knows who she is and does everything she can do within herself. She doesn't try to be someone else. That's what I've seen from her and something I respect about her. She's very collected and knows how to handle situations.

Q: Do you think world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva is catchable?

A: Yes I do. For instance, I think the girl from Poland (#2 world ranked Monika Pyrek) is a very good vaulter and if she improves, she can vault with her. If I improve on stuff, I can vault with her. It's just a matter of time. I have to learn more and get better, and get used to meets. I'm a long way from her in terms of experience.

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