By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
T.J. Schiltz has accomplished a great deal during the 2011 cross country season.
The NRHEG sophomore has set the school race record, won several meets and cracked the 17-minute mark more than once.
On Thursday, he made school history again.
Schiltz finished fifth in the Section 2A meet at Montgomery, becoming the first NRHEG boy to earn a spot in the state meet.
“Tonight, all the work T.J. has done came to fruition,” said Panthers coach Mike Weber.
Schiltz finished with a time of 17:05, emerging among a group of runners battling for the top 10 places and a shot at state.
According to Weber, Schiltz started the race strong, and that’s how he finished.
“It was tense down the final stretch, as there always seemed to be a clump of runners vying for those final spots to get to state,” said Weber. “T.J. hit the gas on the final turn and didn’t look back. He left the pack behind and nearly passed a couple runners at the tape. As the saying goes, he done real good. It was exciting for his teammates, our fans, and the traveling parents, to watch T.J.’s advancement into that state meet.”
Following for the NRHEG boys were Jade Waltz, 101st, 20:15; Raece Johnson, 110th, 20:56; Tyler Holz, 122nd, 21:44; Gunther Olson, 125th, 22:18; Dustin Burshem, 121st, 23:26.
Waseca won the boys’ meet with 58 points. Martin County West was second at 101. The Panthers totaled 464 for 17th place among 21 teams.
“As a team, having run on the Montgomery course for the first real meet of the 2011 season, this was a nice way to end the team’s season by running the same course and looking at the times in that first race,” said Weber. “Gunther was our lone runner not in that first meet, but he did set a PR for his season. Dustin took a minute and a half off his course time. Tyler took a whopping three and a half minutes off. Raece took three minutes off his time. Jade took a minute and a quarter from his time. The boys continued improving all year, and it was enjoyable watching the times creep down. Jade provided some excellent leadership this season and we’ll miss him next year, along with senior Tyler Holz.”
Katharine Lewer led the NRHEG girls with a 45th-place finish, clocking 17:14. Following for NRHEG: Melissa Malakowsky, 79th, 18:34; Shantaya Olson, 88th, 19:08; Crystal Olson, 92nd, 19:22; Kimberly Narvaez, 118th, 22:17.
The girls finished 17th out of 21 schools with 425 points.
“The girls can really be proud of how far they came as a group over the season,” said Weber. “Kimberly was our lone girl runner not in that first meet; however, she did record her second best effort of her season. Crystal took two minutes off her first meet’s time in Montgomery. Shantaya was two and a half minutes better. Missy was a minute better. Leading the Panthers girls all season, and recording a very nice time, Katharine dropped a minute and a quarter. Not only have they been an easy group to coach, but also, we really have a great group of people to work with. A person might define a season by the athletes’ quality of character; and if so, I say the Panthers had a perfect season.”
Schiltz is the second NRHEG cross country runner to advance to state. Crystal Schutrop qualified in 1993 and 1994, finishing 24th as a freshman and 22nd as a sophomore at the state meet.
Schiltz will run in the state meet Saturday, Nov. 5 at St. Olaf College in Northfield.
