Klein takes third at NCAA Indoor meet
When writing about great runners, it is commonplace to compare their gait to that of a particularly fast or graceful animal, often a cheetah or a gazelle, for example. But that is not at all the style of Brian Klein.
Even to the untrained eye, Klein stands out from the pack in an 800- meter dash, and not simply because he is usually leading the race.
Klein runs with his back perfectly straight, perpendicular to the track below. His arms pump in quick, controlled, predictable motion. He runs less like a tiger or panther and more like a machine.
And Klein is a machine. Relentless in practice throughout the year, he is the primary exception to track and field Head Coach Ray Davidson's philosophy.
"I want to bring these guys along slowly and give them a chance to develop," he had said at the beginning of the indoor season. "But one exception is Brian Klein. You can push him as much as you want. You can push him constantly."
Off the track, Klein is confident, but it's anything but a quiet confidence. After he had won the 1996 Southwest Conference Indoor 800-Meter Championship, teammate Andrew Burrow proceeded to break both the school and conference record in the event.
Klein, however, was unfazed, and, in the tradition of Babe Ruth pointing during an at-bat to which part of the outfield he would hit the home run, predicted flatly that he would himself shatter the record at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the last opportunity to set a SWC indoor record. Klein delivered.
Two weeks ago, Klein and Burrow ran in the 800 at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The field was very fast, but Klein tore through the track in 1:47.09, a new Rice and SWC record.
He finished third overall in the event but was the top American. The winner, a Latvian national at Wichita State University, broke the meet record.
"I'm very pleased with the results," he said. "But I'm not too surprised by either the results or the time. I could feel from training that I could run that fast."
Klein did not break out too quickly in the finals and was in eighth place during the early going.
He maintained the distance between himself and the front-runners for the majority of the race.
"I had a hard time warming up," he said. "My shins had been spiked in the prelims, and my hip flexors were giving me trouble, too. I went at, basically, as slow as possible in order to still be competitive."
Nevertheless, the race developed as fast. With 200 meters to go, Klein felt that it was time to make his move, which amounted to running the final distance fast enough to post even splits.
"I really didn't speed up, but I didn't slow down either," he said. "I passed the seventh and sixth people easily, and then it started to seem that everyone in front of me was coming back in my direction. I finished strong; if the race would have been a little longer, I probably could have passed the second guy, too."
The bold predictions leading up to the race didn't increase the pressure, he said.
"When I said I would get the [SWC] record, I wasn't kidding. I don't have any problem telling people what I'm going to do ahead of time when I know I can do it," he said, adding that he went so far as to tell the other NCAA competitors his running strategy. "I didn't really didn't feel any pressure."
Burrow finished 11th, but because he was among the top eight Americans, his effort earned him All-American honors.
The 4x400-meter relay team also competed at NCAAs and finished sixth. The team ran 3:08.61 in the preliminaries and 3:08.79 in the finals. Both times the team was composed of Burrow, Derrick Small, Quinton Milner and Klein. Overall, Rice scored seven points to finish 25th.
The rest of the Owls stayed home for the 25th Annual Rice/Oshman's Invitational at the Rice Track Stadium. The meet featured several former Owls in competition, including Ivory Angello, Bryan Bronson and Chris Caldwell.
Carl Lewis of the Santa Monica Track Club also participated, winning the 100-meter dash.
Highlights for the current squad included Chad Kopp's 6-11 high jump, which won the event. Derras Wilmington took first place in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.05.
Among the others who scored for the Owls were Dan Brooks (second in the mile run), Arthur Terry (second in the discus), Drexell Owusu (fourth in the long jump), and Kodili Odimgbe (fourth in the shot put).
"It was basically a low-key meet," Odimgbe said. "We considered it a tune-up for some more major meets on the way, especially the Texas Southern University relays in a few weeks. But it was really cold, so there weren't any really great results."
It also signals the beginning of the outdoor season for Rice. The Owls are eager to compete, but expectations for the team remain realistic.
"I'm looking forward to the outdoor season," Burrow said. "Hopefully, we'll have the same success running that we had indoors."
The Owls scored 61 points at their own meet and finished fourth.
The team's seniors will be counted on to help along its younger members. "More needs to come from within the team," he said, "but I'm definitely willing to take on more of a leadership role.
"The seniors are doing a good job leading, but if it would help for me to lay out goals and help people reach toward their potential, I'll do that."
As the team tries to improve during the outdoor season, Klein's focus will be on the Olympic trials. He also wants to diversify, running the 800 sparingly and taking up the 1,500.
A miler in high school, Klein is characteristically confident about his chances in the 1,500.
"The coaches and I haven't really discussed it [the 1,500] yet, but if I take it up now, I'm pretty sure I could win it at Conference," he said.
This item appeared in the Sports section of the March 15, 1996 issue.
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