May 11, 2009

FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU head coach Darryl Anderson recently sat down with GoFrogs.com to give his thoughts on the Flyin' Frogs heading into the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Championships this week.

Opening Statement
"We have a great deal of confidence going into the Mountain West Conference Championships this week on the women's side. We feel like we will be in the top three as a team at the meet and should have a ton of conference champions and all-conference selections. The last couple of weeks, we have really changed gears in practice as a team, which is great. We are training really well right now and hopefully the weather allows us to do some good things in Laramie."

"On the men's side, we feel good about where we are at and what we have been able to accomplish the past couple of weeks. Mychal Dungey is running really well right now, while Otis McDaniel and Justyn Warner are starting to come around after being slowed by injury early on this spring. We feel that Tommy Killen has a chance to be very successful this week, while Matthew Love and Jordan Pitts are going into the meet in really good shape. All-in-all, we are extremely confident about our team right now."

Has anyone stepped up their performance level the past couple of weeks?
"I think the last couple of weeks our whole team has improved. I think as a whole we have had 15 really solid days of practice, which will help us here as postseason begins. A lot of people have stepped up recently. Jordan Pitts was in a little bit of slump going into the last couple of weeks, but he has really done some nice things in practice."

Does your preparation advance at all with postseason competition?
"It advances everything, but the stakes are higher. Everything that you train for the last 30 weeks comes to the forefront. There are a lot of possibilities that lay in front of us at this point, which is very exciting."

What is the difference between your team now compared to the early parts of the indoor season?
"It was a little shaky during the early parts of the indoor season, especially on the men's side because a lot of our leaders weren't competing because of injury. There was no one really for the younger guys to gravitate to during the indoor season and lead them. During the outdoor season though we have gotten those guys back, so it has been a complete turnaround from a leadership standpoint and with them being able to help the younger guys find their way on and off the track."

Have you ever been to Laramie, Wyo.?
"I have never been there, but I am excited to go to Laramie. Really, we could be in the Mojave Desert and it wouldn't matter for us, we just have to go compete."

Final Thoughts
"The last couple of weeks have been great. We have done a lot of different things and the effort has been wonderful from the kids. The coaches have done a good job of zeroing in on what our needs are to get us ready for postseason competition and the kids have responded really well. I think at this point we are pretty much ready for conference and I feel as good about our preparation for this team as I have about any team we've had since I've been here."