CRAIG LUTZ – ONLY SOPHOMORE

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY coach John Hayes is staging a Texas-sized coup. While tanks aren’t rolling down San Jacinto and across the 40 Acres, a pack of runners gliding across Austin’s streets turns more heads than a set of armored vehicles. And anyone with interest ….

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in cross country or track knows that several notable A-list cruisers lead the pack charging around downtown.

The men’s cross country 2012 roster includes runners Ryan Dohner and Mark Pinales — who both have the credentials to be a top runner at any university. And then your eyes land on the name Craig Lutz and only one question comes to mind: How did Hayes recruit that much talent? Texas is a renowned global exporter for many resources. And while people tend to fixate on oil and cattle, they overlook the exodus of young athletes that leave the Lone Star State every year.

While football has better luck keeping the talent in state, the situation for runners is very different. The best high school distance runners head to the East or to the Pacific coast after graduation. But Hayes completely bucked this trend two years ago, and the perspective of Texas’ cross country team is drastically changing. Anyone from the Austin area is familiar with the Marathon Kids program. Started by RunTex and working with local elementary schools, the program motivated children to start running.

At 6 years old, Lutz became one of the original Marathon Kids at Mills Elementary School. “When Craig was in first grade, the school district organized a meet,” Lutz’s father, Brad recounted. “The meet was a 1K race and he beat the teachers.” That day sparked a passion within the young Lutz. “He wanted to run his first 5K when he was 7, so we let him. He ran a 25:04.” When Lutz was in the seventh grade, Brad started the Lake Cities Cross Country Club. Leaving his restaurant business behind, Brad placed all of his efforts toward building the program. Eventually the club grew from one athlete — Lutz — to a group of runners that competed at the national level.

As a student at Flower Mound Marcus High School, Lutz competed in the cross country state championships all four years. And he didn’t walk away with participation ribbons. He finished fourth his freshman year and moved up to third the following year. As a junior, Lutz won the state championship, with future teammate Mark Pinales finishing second. He defended his state title his senior year, demonstrating his dominance over the Texas running field. His final high school victory marked the time when most long distance runners packed their bags and headed east. “I initially rejected the idea of staying in Texas,” Lutz admitted. “I didn’t know Coach Hayes yet and what he had going on. I didn’t even consider Texas or A&M because I saw them as sprinter-oriented schools and I didn’t want to live in Waco or Lubbock.”

Lutz set his sights on several schools in the Midwest and out east that the nation deemed as powerhouses for distance running. But then he attended Texas Relays weekend. Lutz attended the meet his senior year of high school and the experience changed his mind about where his journey to the next level would begin. “Coach Hayes got my attention and we talked for a while. Then I met coach [Bubba] Thornton and they opened my eyes to Texas and the program’s development. I was set,” Lutz said. “I knew Ryan Dohner, and Hayes was pulling in more Texas guys to join the team.”

Capturing Dohner in 2010 was a major recruiting victory for Hayes, as local quality runners continued to leave the state. The following year, when Hayes added Lutz and Pinales to the Texas roster, he created a commotion. Lutz and this group of all-star runners changed how the nation viewed cross country at Texas. “Two years ago, our vision was to be exactly where we are right now,” Hayes said. “At the time, we said that if we get this group of guys, we’ll need to change our goals.” That time is now.

At the end of the 2010 season, the men’s team — led by Dohner — finished 26th place at the National Championship meet. Despite the recruiting gains throughout the following spring and summer, the Longhorns weren’t expected to perform at the national level during the 2011 season. “We didn’t face any pressure going into last season. No one picked us to be in the top 30,” Hayes said. Come October, a shift occurred thanks to Lutz. At the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational — one of the premier meets on the college racing circuit — he finished first among the Longhorns and 15th overall. The then-freshman made a statement with his performance, and Hayes realized that something special was happening. “When you go up to Wisconsin and get a 15th place finish, you get optimistic,” Hayes admits.

Lutz retained the No. 1 position on the squad for the remainder of the season, leading the team to victory at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships. Nine days later, Lutz capped his freshman season with a 33rd place finish at the National Championship meet. Dohner and Pinales finished second and fourth for the team, respectively, and Texas finished with an 11th place national standing. In fact, several of the schools that pursued Lutz during his senior year of high school placed behind Texas at the national meet. “The schools in my first group of choices haven’t lived up to their potential or their squads have fallen apart,” Lutz conveys matter-of-factly, “It’s been great to stay in Texas and keep running with guys that I raced against in high school.” Lutz’s freshman-year performance earned him a position on the All-American team — an honor for any freshman athlete. Lutz has a sense of purpose that drives his running, and he knows what he wants to accomplish. “Earning the All-American title my first year opened the door for me to do something no one at Texas has done before — to be named an All- American four years in a row.”

The 2012 cross country season is now underway, and Lutz is ready. “When I’m not running, I build up this fire. I want to toe the line with hundreds of other guys and all-out race.” Perhaps the question on how Hayes assembled the team is no longer relevant. He completed his goal and the team will continue to build. The new question is, ‘How far will this team go?’ This is a Longhorn team hunting for a top- 10 spot in the nation and Lutz is leading the pack. In one year, he went from being the new recruit “getting [his] butt kicked day in and day out” by the merciless 12-man running group to a team leader on a quest to make Texas history. And with the conclusion of this year’s Olympics, Lutz does think about Rio from time to time. “We’re an Olympic development program,” Lutz says. “Whether we’re thinking about it or not, we’re all training at that level.”

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