Bruins second after day two of meet

Friday, June 5, 1998

Bruins second after day two of meet

CHAMPIONSHIPS: Surprising sweep of 10,000-meter vaults Stanford
to lead

By Donald Morrison

Daily Bruin Contributor

All it took was just one race to change the entire complexion of
the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Buffalo, N.Y. After two
days of competition in the four day meet, Stanford is one of the
favorites to bring home the NCAA title.

Stanford, with a seventh-place finish at the Pac-10
Championships, lead the meet after two days with 34 points thanks
to the Hauser twins.

In the 10,000-meters, Brad and Brent Hauser, and Nathan Nutter,
upset and spoiled four-time NCAA Champion Mebrahtom Keflezighi’s
bid to win a fifth individual NCAA title.

The Cardinal runners stopped Keflezighi’s quest of the becoming
the first track and field athlete to win the 5,000-meter and
10,000-meter titles in two consecutive seasons.

Keflezighi placed fourth with a time of 28 minutes, 39.58
seconds. Brad Hauser won his first ever 10,000-meter crown in a
time of 28:31.30.

Brent and Nutter followed with times of 28:32.39 and 28:32.62,
respectively. By finishing in the top three places, Stanford earned
24 points.

The race looked as if it could have been won by either
Keflezighi, Nutter or the Hausers. However, the Stanford three
pulled away from Keflezighi and the rest of the field.

"I had two strategies," Keflezighi said. "One with wind and one
without wind. I went with the no wind strategy. I wanted to push
early and stay relaxed but toward the end of the race, Stanford
went out one, two and three. They put too much of a gap between
us."

Brent Hauser led the nation in the 10,000-meters coming into the
race, followed by Keflezighi. Both runners were beat at the Pac-10
Championships by Abdi Abdirahman of Arizona, who finished sixth at
the NCAA meet.

Keflezighi, a senior, will get one more shot for a fifth
individual NCAA crown on Saturday when he competes in the
5,000-meters.

As a team, UCLA is in second place with 16 points so far in the
meet. UCLA’s head coach, Bob Larsen, was pleased with the first day
performances from the athletes, especially All-American Josh
Johnson’s.

Johnson finished fourth in the javelin with a personal best of
248 feet, 6 inches.

"It was a great meet for Johnson," Larsen said. "He was real
strong.. "

Scott Slover grabbed third place in the pole vault on Wednesday
with a vault of 17-10 1/2.

"Slover, being third, was a strong finish for him," Larsen
added. "A lot of guys weren’t vaulting well. The wind was
strong."

Today, the 400-meter relay team will compete along with Jess
Strutzel in the 800-meters.

MARY CIECEK

Meb Keflezighi sprints towards victory in an earlier race this
year.