Bruder Gets 2nd, Waltz 8th At Ncaa Championships

NCAA track and field

Louisiana State’s women and Arkansas’ men, long the dominant teams in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, have plenty of catching up to do if they are to keep their respective winning streaks alive.

Meanwhile, Idaho’s Frank Bruder and Ian Waltz from Washington State, via Post Falls, earned All-America status on Friday.

Bruder, a senior, finished second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, lowering his school record to 8 minutes, 31.93 seconds.

Waltz, a sophomore, finished eighth in the discus, throwing 190 feet, 10 inches.

“On one side I’m pretty happy, on the other I’m disappointed,” said Bruder, who finished .25 seconds behind Wisconsin’s Pascal Dobert (8:31.68).

“I ran the best possible race that I could run, but I was a little bit short,” Bruder said.

Bruder held the lead near the finish, but Dobert passed him with 35 meters to go, he said.

Still, Idaho coach Mike Keller said, “It was a nice race to end the collegiate season, to go along with the All-American academic awards he’s received.”

Keller said Bruder has a 3.7 GPA and has won two academic All-America honors.

Bruder, from Neubulach, Germany, said he hopes to compete in the upcoming World University Games. The business major has turned down a job offer to work as an international consultant, planning instead to train for a chance to compete in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

He said he has enjoyed his time at Idaho.

“Everything is great here, the facility, the program, the coaches,” he said. “Mr. Phipps (Bruder’s coach Wayne) did a brilliant job this year.”

Waltz, the Pac-10 champion in discus and shot put, was ranked sixth entering the meet.

Cougars senior Heidi Shultz (White Salmon, Wash.) is 16th after the first day of the heptathlon competition, with 2,930 points.

Waltz can earn All-America status again today in the men’s shot put competition.

Also today are the finals of the men’s 1,500-meter race with Washington State teammates Bernard Lagat and Eric Kamau. In addition, the Cougars’ Hilary Mawindi will compete in the men’s triple jump.

Idaho’s Chris Kwaramba will compete in today’s triple jump final.

LSU, which has won the team title the past 10 years, defeated Texas by more than 3 meters in the 400-meter relay, giving the Tigers their first points of the championship.

UCLA, seeking to end LSU’s team winning streak, placed sixth in the relay, and had 38 points after five events. Texas and Vanderbilt were tied for second with 11 each.

After 11 men’s events, Texas led with 28, followed by SMU with 28 and UCLA with 21. Five-time defending champion Arkansas was sixth with 16, but Texas coach Bubba Thornton said of the Razorbacks, “They still have a lot of bullets left.”

With eight points, Idaho is tied for 19th place in the men’s team standings. Washington State’s one point from Waltz’s eighth-place finish puts the Cougars in a tie for 53rd.

The Idaho and Washington State women have not scored.

, DataTimes