Ricky Quintana: [There were] seven or eight guys [up front] the whole way.
Ryan Deak: Yeah. I knew it was going to work out that way, and it did. I knew that (Galen) Rupp and (Shadrack) Kiptoo would take it out and they did. It worked out just like I thought it would. I just hung onto them as long as I could. I ran the hardest I could. I ran the best race I possibly could today. I'm happy with everything and how it worked out today.

RQ: Did you feel as good as you did in that 8:51 [3,200m race] in Gainesville?
RD: No, no. Definitely not. That race was magical. I felt extremely good that night. It was like I was floating. It was an amazing feeling.

RQ: With your race, where did it kind of get away from you?
RD: It got away from me at the two mile when they started to go around the pool. That's when they started to pull away. They overpowered me today. They ran a phenomenal race. (Matt) Withrow, Rupp and then (Ben) True and (Josh) McDougal. They all ran a great races.

RQ: Was it the downhill where they really started to put the pressure on?
RD: Yeah, they were rolling there. They were starting to move.

RQ: Did that kind of surprise you, that move? I know you were looking at the hill to determine the race.
RD: I knew they were going to move constantly. That's how Rupp races; he throws in surges. He tries to drop people if he possibly can. He did that the whole race. He took it out hard, he threw in surges, he recovered the second mile and then attacked the third mile. He ran the perfect race.

RQ: What do you look forward to after this race?
RD: Just pure fun. You work hard for this race and you run as hard as you can and then it's done. You did all you could in the race and now it's time to have fun.

RQ: Katelyn (Kaltenbach) won [the girls' race] race right before you ran. Did you get a chance to see her win?
RD: Yes, I did. It was inspirational. It gave me a little more energy in the race.