Post Falls’ Waltz Sails Discus 203-9 Trojans Star Also Wins Idaho A-1 Shot Put Title

Post Falls weight specialist Ian Waltz rebounded from the disappointment of not breaking the state-meet shot put record by setting a state mark that could stand as long as the one he most coveted.

It was a day of roller-coaster emotions for Waltz at the State A-1 track meet Friday, but by midafternoon at Boise State University’s Bronco Field a mindboggling throw of more than 200 feet in the discus brought a smile back to Waltz’s face.

Earlier in the day, Waltz fell 5 inches shy of the A-1 meet shot put record of 62-6, a mark set 25 years ago by Ken Monroe of Pocatello.

Since November, Waltz had spent countless hours training and driven by the desire to erase Monroe’s name from the record book.

Many athletes would have suffered a letdown and allowed the disappointment to affect their performances in other events.

Not Waltz.

“I guess it’ll give me a little more incentive in the discus,” he said shortly after receiving the gold medal in the shot.

Incentive to say the least. Waltz proceeded to shatter the state discus record by 15 feet, 8 inches.

Officials had to find another measuring tape to certify Waltz’s throw of 203-9; the measuring tape officials had been using extended just 200 feet.

The previous state best of 188-1 was set by Ryan Butler of Idaho Falls in 1991.

Waltz’s first throw in the preliminaries was 178-9, his worst against a steady, stiff headwind. He chose to take his second throw immediately and that’s when he launched the record. Waltz gave the platter plenty of height and it seemed to find a pocket in the wind.

His final throw in the preliminaries (188-8) also would have broken the meet record. His series of throws in the finals - 187-4, 195-8, 192-7 - were equally impressive.

Waltz also became the first athlete to reach 200 feet at state and the mark ranks as the best overall for all classifications. It may rank as the best mark all time in the state - though nobody likely would know since all-time records aren’t kept in Idaho.

Post Falls assistant coach Dan Nipp said the throw ranks Waltz first in the nation. Nipp said the previous top throw this spring was 196-11.

“It ended on a good note at least,” said Waltz, who has signed to attend Washington State University. “I guess I can’t complain, I’ve had a good career.”

Consider Waltz’s accomplishments the last two weeks in the discus when measured against his personal best of 159-10 last year.

He increased his top discus throw by 13-2 last weekend with a heave of 196-0 at regionals. Interestingly, the state-winning mark last year was 149-9.

Waltz said he’d take consolation in knowing he threw the shot 63-0 at regionals.

“I wished I could have done it this weekend, but I guess you can’t have a good day every day,” Waltz said. “I just left it up to the Lord as to what would happen.”

And the Lord apparently replaced earlier disappointment for Waltz with a feat that will be talked about for years to come.

A crowd estimated at 200 gathered near the shot and discus rings to watch the athlete who was the talk of the state going into the meet Friday.

All of Waltz’s throws in the shot were 60 feet or farther.

In the non-mortal competition, Thomas Weeks of Capital took second in the shot (52-3) and Beau Butler of Rigby took second in the discus (173-6).

Brian Smith of Sandpoint (51-7) and Austin Lee of Post Falls (51-1) were third and fourth, respectively, in the shot.

After seven events, the Post Falls boys were in fourth with 24 points. Centennial leads with 40 followed by Capital (32). Defending champion and heavily favored Highland (30) is expected to pile up the points today as the meet concludes with several running finals.

Rigby took the lead in the girls meet through seven events with 38 points and defending champ Pocatello is in second with 33.

There were a handful of other placers Friday from the Panhandle.

Led by the strong finishing leg of Brian Trenholm, the Sandpoint medley relay team took second in a time of 3:35.64 behind Highland (3:33.98).

Sandpoint’s Mike Miller took fourth in the high jump (6-2).

Lewiston’s Michelle Wimer finished runnerup in the discus (123-7), while Lindsay Owen of Post Falls (118-1) finished fourth, Deanne Raiha of Sandpoint (114-0) fifth and Kim Pearson of Coeur d’Alene (110-10) sixth.

Post Falls’ Shannon Siverson had a pair of fourths, in the long jump (16-4) and triple jump (34-10).