Interval Session #75 - Craig Lutz By SteveU - October 16, 2008 It’s not uncommon for girls as freshmen to become outstanding runners, even national class, but you usually have to look a little deeper to notice the best freshmen boys.  They might be someone in 4th or 5th place, at a state meet or a big invite, who’s pulled to a really fast time.  Those outside of Texas might not have picked up on Craig Lutz early in his freshman year at Marcus HS in Flower Mound, Texas, but by the time he took 4th in the 4A state meet, fans around the country were beginning to notice.  Then when he ripped a 9:14.09 to win the 3200 at the Texas Relays, the word was out. When fall rolled around, many anticipated Lutz would contend for the state title, but not many could have foreseen that he would reach this stage of the season unbeaten, with victories over just about every top runner in the state.  The highlight to date was his Nike South victory, with Paul Snyder, Reed Connor, Zach Ornelas, Alex De La Garza, and C.J. Brown in his wake.  Right now, he is at the head of a very strong national group of underclassmen that are having a big impact on the U.S. scene.

1) First, congrats on your successful season thus far.  While a lot of people outside of Texas have noticed your performances since last year, probably a lot don’t know about your start in grade school and middle school.  Can you tell us about how you became interested in and got started in the sport? I became interested in running while my family lived down in Austin.  There was a local kids program called marathon kids that I participated in while I was in first grade.  I also ran in some local 5ks with my mom and soon found that running was something that I loved. 2) I’m told you started having some considerable success already in those years.  Tell us what some of your PRs were in the years before high school.  Was there a race or other time when you began to realize that this was really a significant talent you had and were excited to develop it? I ran a few races before my 7th and 8th grade years, but once I got into 7th grade, that’s when I really started to develop my training.  My PR in the mile coming into high school was 4:45 and my PR in the 5k was about 16:20. 3) Tell us about what it was like for you when you first started running varsity last fall.  Did you feel many nerves or pressure, or were there things that helped ease the transition for you into the higher level of competition? I don't think there’s been a race so far that I haven't been nervous for, but last year I came into every race thinking that I was a freshman and didn't have anything to lose.  Also, it helped to have a great group of guys behind me every step of the way for the training and emotional support. 4) I heard your family didn’t necessarily have a running background when you started, but they’ve become more and more interested in the sport – even to the point where your father is now a middle school coach.  Can you tell us about their support and how they came to embrace the sport as you have? They are always proud of the things I do and show concern for me when I’m down.  My parents and my coach are my biggest help in all of the training that I do.  It’s always funny before a big race because my mom will usually get more nervous then I will. 5) What was it like for you as a freshman when you started hitting some times and running some races that really started attracting attention?  Was it hard at all to remain focused and not get the big head? It was hard to stay focused, but Coach T, my parents, and the team all stood by me and helped to keep me humble. 6) With Colby Lowe gone this fall, a lot of people I think considered the Texas boys scene kind of wide open, with you, of course, being one of the top contenders.  But you’ve been able to come out and beat the other top kids each time you’ve faced them and stayed unbeaten.  Can you tell us some of the improvements you made in training to reach this new level?  What has winning Nike South and some of other big invites been like for you? For training, the only difference is running a few more miles than in my freshman year.  There’s also a lot more maturity in my daily routine so I’m getting more out of it.  Another big thing is that the guys are all getting faster and pushing me to go faster in workouts. Winning the bigger meets is always great and a confidence booster, but it’s all in the regular season and the bigger races aren't until District rolls around. 7) Coach Telaneus said that one of the key things for you has been learning good pacing and strategy.  Talk about your racing style in the past and what Coach did to help you even things out. We found that I excel off of a negative split format to where I run with the pack through the mile and then push harder through each 1000. This season, though, every weekend we try different race strategies.  One strategy we do a lot is to go out as hard as we can in the first mile and then keep pushing for the rest of the race.  We change up a lot to learn and prove to ourselves that we can win races in different situations. 8) Coach Telaneus also told us you guys have a really young team this year at Marcus.  Can you tell us about your team and if you’ve been comfortable taking on a leadership role as someone who is young, but not on a team with a lot of seniors? This is the second year where we only have one or two seniors in the top nine of the guys team.  It’s very cool to think that we still have a few more years with the same guys.  We’re only losing two guys this season from our top ten. 9) With most of the invitational season over, how has this fall so far reshaped your goals?  What are you hoping to be able to do the rest of the fall in terms of the Nike or Foot Locker meets? Coming into the season, my goal was to be a contender for a state championship and that has not changed with the amount of depth in the state.  However, we’ve set another goal and that’s to make it to Nike Cross Nationals and to hopefully place high in that.  Also, as a team, were pushing to make it out there and to contend for a state championship. 10) Tell us what some of your favorite subjects are in school and some of your major interests outside of running? World History is a favorite of mine, and Ultimate Frisbee is a favorite activity of mine outside of running. Photos: From Andrew Ornelas from Nike South 08; by John Sullivan from Texas Relays 08.

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