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Figures Adding Up For Gators' Cross Country Runner

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By LARRY BUGG Tribune correspondent

Published: October 13, 2007

Someone has to follow Felix Soto on the Land O' Lakes High boys cross country team.

Right now, it is sophomore Matt Schwartz.

Soto is usually going to be the top boys runner in races involving Pasco County teams.

However, Soto will graduate in 2008 and Schwartz may take his place at the finish line.

Kris Keppel, his coach, said Schwartz was the fastest freshman in Pasco County last year. His best time was an 18:20 in 2006 when he was the sixth runner for the Gators.

Last Saturday, Schwartz ran a 17:24 to finish 59{+t}{+h} in the McDonald's Race of Champions at Chain of Lakes Park in Titusville. His team was running in the Flrunners.com cross country race.

'That was not one of my better races,' Schwartz said. 'My abs were hurting in the second mile. I will do a lot of core strengthening exercises to fix that. I should have been 15 seconds faster. The entire course was wet so I was slowed down by that.'

Soto was 17{+t}{+h} with a time of 16:35.

Land O' Lakes finished 20{+t}{+h} in the race. The Gators were missing Jake Proudfoot, who competes with Schwartz for the No. 2 spot.

One day, Schwartz can hope to be running at least 16:35.

'Matt is very dedicated to running and wants to run in college,' Keppel said. 'He works hard at all practices and is determined to run 16:45 by the end of the year.'

Schwartz, 15, has some time to develop as a runner. For now, he just has to run his best to try to get the Gators their best place.

He was born in Cleveland, but lived in Orlando for 13 years. His family moved to Land O' Lakes in December 2005.

He is a superstar in the classroom. He has a 4.25 grade point average and would like to go to a school in Colorado and run cross country.

'I am most interested in aerospace engineering,' he said. 'With NASA not making any progress, I will probably be an electrical engineer like my dad, Paul.

Schwartz said that he finds himself thinking about numbers as he is pounding the miles.

'I'm a math geek,' he said. 'I think it's fun to play around with the drafting calculator. I always think about my mile splits and try out different combinations. I think about numbers during the race.'

There is only good camaraderie between Schwartz and Soto.

'We get along well,' he said. 'I know he is way ahead of me. There is no tension. We are very good friends. We encourage each other.'

Running means mile after mile often in 90 degree heat.

Schwartz has difficulties explaining his attraction to distance running.

'I don't know,' he said. 'It's hard to describe. It's not like football. You don't get a lot of headlines or attention at school.

'It's the satisfaction of knowing you gave everything at the race. It's the feeling you get when you cross the line.'

One of these days, Schwartz just may be the first to cross that line and he will have fun with the numbers of that race.

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