They're important pieces of our puzzle.

We keep improving-we've been improving all year. We're getting certain key people healthy that have been out for the last couple meets. That combined with the improvement of the rest of our team-we're hoping to do a good job.

We really loaded up this week, so I don't think we're going to be that fresh in the meet. It's like if you're going to build up and be the strongest in the end, you have to build up by the weeks.

(The invite) is not a really hard meet. It's like a dress rehearsal. However, the rest of the way is really important.

We are a work in progress. I am just excited to go back to the gym and work harder. We will be really good in a month.

Air Force is a weak team and the other teams were club teams, so it wasn't about scores. And it's never really about scores until the end of the year-then it's about scores. But right now, it's about performances.

We don't have all the pieces in place right now, but I feel that we'll be very strong by the end of the year. It will be a mistake to give up on us because we've had a slow start. I believe, when it's championship time, we're going to be there.

The bottom line is that if you're still competing by the end of the season, and you can make it into the NCAA team final, you have a chance. And I think we do.

I am proud of the guys. Now, we will just wait until Saturday to see how it all shakes out. This bodes well for us. The guys can come back feeling like they can compete with the Oklahoma's and Ohio's of the country. We will make a real nice trip back East in a few weeks.