Rudy Haluza

Rudy Haluza was a walker who won 10 AAU championships over various distances between 1957 and 1966. He competed initially for Queens College and the Southern Cal Striders. Haluza competed in two Olympics in the 20 km walk, placing 24th in 1960 and almost winning a medal in 1968 when he finished fourth. Haluza was in the US Air Force in the early 1960s and ended up at the University of Nebraska at Omaha via the Air Force Bootstrapper program.

By the time of the 1968 Olympics, Haluza had left the military and was a pilot for United Airlines for 25 years. In 1970 Haluza moved his family to Villa Park, California, where he was active in the California Rare Fruit Growers, specializing in cherimoyas, and he introduced a new variety of cherimoya, the El Bumpo. After his retirement from United in 1998, Haluza maintained mixed groves of avocado, various citrus, cherimoya, and other subtropical fruits in Temecula, California.

Personal Best: 20kmW – 1-34:12 (1960).