May 10, 2007

The South Carolina track and field teams are in Tuscaloosa this weekend for the Southeastern Conference Championship. Jussi Heikkila (Virrat, Finland), who won the Championship of America in the 400-meter hurdles at the prestigious Penn Relays two weeks ago with a time of 51.06 seconds and is scheduled to graduate on Saturday, sat down with uscsports.com to talk about the upcoming weekend.

USC: What events will you be competing in?

JH: At the SEC’s I will be competing in the 400-meter hurdles. I also have regional qualifying marks in the event. I have run 51.06 in the 400m hurdles.

USC: How has winning the Championship of America helped you as you prepare for SEC’s and Regional’s?

JH: I think it helped a lot. It always feels good to win, especially going into SEC’s and the post-season. I think it’s given me a lot of confidence, too.

USC: What are your goals for SECs and Regional’s?

JH: My goals are to win and build on what I accomplished at the Penn Relays. I feel that I can do it and I’m confident. I’m hoping that I will be able to do well at Regionals and advance to the NCAA Championship.

USC: How do you think the team is going to react at SEC’s after such a strong showing at the Penn Relays?

JH: The team is very confident. We have a lot of people who are running very well and we showed that at the Penn Relays and hopefully we’ll continue to do well.