This is the year that I think we're finally putting it all together . . . get that gold trophy coming back to Iowa City.

Once we got (the title) locked up, we all joked about the hair. It was more about the bonding.

There's always been that one (rough) round in the past. We don't know what happens. We warm up the same, we do everything the same, and the team falls apart, and it hurts us in the team race. We still stay in it, but that's the round that always loses it for us. But this year, we haven't hit it, ... and I don't see us hitting it this year.

Honestly, we counted our finalists (on paper), and we never got close to having five. Even after seeing our draws, I don't think anybody thought we'd get close to having five finalists. I don't think many teams have done it, and I don't think many teams have dreamed of doing it.