Week of October 1-6, 2007
Chris Schwartz (Foothill, Bakersfield) CE


Chris Schwartz (Foothill, Bakersfield) Clovis Sweeps
winner in the fastest time of the day

Over the last couple of seasons, a young, lanky strider from the Bakersfield area has emerged from the pack a couple of times to show a special talent and competitiveness.  In the spring we saw him at the Sacramento Meet of Champions, where as a soph he raced away from a strong field near the end to record an impressive 9:08.30 winning clocking, and went on to record a second place finish in the Central Section Finals behind Erick Garcia (Parlier) in that event.  After a mostly local Fall season, Chris Schwartz of Foothill HS burst forth at the recent Clovis Invitational, racing along with a talented Championship race group before finishing strong once again, ending with the day's top clocking in his 15:21 win that ran down James Tracy (Del Campo) near the finish.  Chris brings an interesting and unique style of looking at his running to the sport, and as he gains further experience needs only to bring consistency to his big-race efforts to continue to challenge as the best in the Golden State.  We had a chance to talk to Chris after his Clovis run, with the following interview from that talk.

DyeStatCal - Chris we have not seen a great deal of you in the big meet results this Fall, how has the training been going, and how did you approach this race, and describe how it went for you?
Chris Schwartz - My training has really been going good because my coach is one of the best. He gave me a game plan and told me not to start out too fast like I usually do.

DSC - How did the race develop, when did you take the lead, and how did you feel running along with the pack during the contest? CS - I felt real good with the pack at the start, when I took the lead in I guess the last 400 I told the guy I passed (James Tracy of Del Campo) “good job,” and he said “good job” back and I took it from there.

DSC - What was it like to have more people around you than in your races so far this Fall?
CS - It was pretty cool.

DSC - After this race, what are some of your goals for the rest of the Fall.
CS - To try to get back into the 14's. I ran under 15 at the Bell-Jeff Invitational. (ed note - a fourth place 14:52 effort at the Bell-Jeff Invitational behind Jeremy Acosta’s 14:08 winner there).

DSC - What do you think of the Woodward Park Course here?
CS - I enjoy it a lot, and have fun running it.

DSC - How many miles per day have you been running in your training?
CS - At least six.

DSC - How much running did you do over the summer?
CS - A lot. I ran the whole summer at least five miles per day.

DSC - We know you have played basketball and some other sports along the way, are you still involved with any of them?
CS - I still do basketball and track. Last year I was on the JV Basketball team, and the Varsity team at school is all-right.

DSC - A big 9:08 breakthrough in track last spring, and a huge win here at Clovis, congratulations Chris.
CS - Thank You.

Thanks - Best of Luck
Doug Speck
DyeStatCal 

 

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