Every minute matters

The fastest runner in school history seeks return to state meet before joining Yale in Ivy League




BORN TO RUN—Rebecca Schultz is the fastest girls’ cross country runner in Westlake High history. The senior scholar athlete, who sports a 5.0 GPA, will run at Yale University next year. Photos by MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

BORN TO RUN—Rebecca Schultz is the fastest girls’ cross country runner in Westlake High history. The senior scholar athlete, who sports a 5.0 GPA, will run at Yale University next year. Photos by MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

Every few minutes, Rebecca Schultz’s digital watch beeps.

Without looking, and without breaking stride, she pushes a button to turn off the alarm.

Every minute matters to Schultz, the greatest long distance runner in Westlake High history.

Schultz ran the fastest cross-country race in school history in 17 minutes and 15 seconds at the Woodbridge Invitational in 2018. The senior has established program records at multiple courses during her decorated prep career, which includes a trip to the CIF State Cross Country Championships last fall.

A scholar athlete with a 5.0 GPA this semester, Schultz will continue excelling in athletics and academics at Yale University next year.

She didn’t stumble into success.

The Warrior certainly didn’t push a button on her wrist.

“I couldn’t be lazy if I wanted to be—and I’ve tried,” Schultz said. “I’m always working my hardest.”

Schultz propels Westlake into the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 finals on Saturday morning at 7:45 a.m. at the Riverside Cross Country Course. The top-seven teams, among 24, will qualify for the state meet Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno. The Tribe, which captured section titles in 1979 and 1990, intends to be one of the seven.

Rebecca Schultz

Rebecca Schultz

The Warriors are calm and confident.

“We’re really underdogs this year. We have so many amazing teams in this area. We’re just relaxed going into each race. We’ve steadily increased our intensity mentally and physically,” Schultz said. “It’s been a fun season so far. It’s an extra bonus if we can make it as a team (to state).”

She made two recruiting visits to New Haven, once in the summer and an official visit in late September.

Two days after returning home from her second trip to Yale, Schultz committed to the Ivy League institution.

“I got on campus and it was a great environment,” the 17-year-old said. “Then I met the girls, and they’re like me. They like studying and running. . . . This is the one place I wanted to be at. I had other (college) visits planned and canceled them.”

Follow sports editor Eliav Appelbaum on Twitter @EliavAppelbaum.

Follow sports editor Eliav Appelbaum on Twitter @EliavAppelbaum.

The Warrior will reunite with her friend and Westlake grad Maya Sharp, a sprinter for Yale’s track and field squad. Schultz gallops in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races in track.

Schultz, who placed second individually at the section prelims last weekend, missed three months of the off-season with a stress reaction in her left leg. She started this fall relatively slow, but she’s in a groove now.

“She looks better than she did last year at this time,” co-head coach Troy Burns said.

The Warrior could break her own personal and school record this weekend. A shrewd and smart racer, Schultz said she will modify her strategy at the section finals.

“This race, I will give it everything I have and finally take that risk and see what I can do,” she said.

The Warriors look up to the senior star, on and off the trails.

“She motivates us to try harder all the time and to stay focused,” said Ashley Gonzalez, the only other senior in the starting lineup.

“She’s a fantastic person,” co-head coach Chad Scott said of Schultz. “She is nice, down-to-earth, personable and a great teammate. She’s intellectual and athletic, and she’s just a great person.”

The daughter of Marisa and Andrew, Schultz has one sister, Emily, 20, a Westlake grad who’s a pre-med and economics student at Cal. Schultz’s mother ran cross-country and track at Los Gatos High in the Bay Area; her dad grew up swimming and playing basketball in San Diego.

Schultz takes AP courses in calculus, economics/government, literature and art history, and an honors class on world issues. She’s an English and science tutor who’s active in the Green Alliance club, and she volunteers at the Conejo Valley Veterinary Hospital.

The Warrior started running competitively when she was 9 with the United track club in Agoura.

“It was where I was supposed to be,” she said.

The alarm is ringing again.

Rebecca Schultz will answer the bell.

“I will put forth my best effort,” she said, “and run has hard as I can to try to make it to state.”

CATCH UP WITH THE WARRIORS

The Warrior girls want to qualify for state for the second straight year.

Gonzalez could be an Xfactor. The senior missed a month of the season with an injury, and she’s still not where she wants to be, but she’s due for a breakout performance.

“Hopefully, this will be a big-season PR,” said Gonzalez, who ran a personal best 17:50 during the 2018 section finals.

Gonzalez, a 4.3 GPA honors student, has spent the past two years volunteering with first grade students at Conejo Elementary School, helping Spanish-speaking youngsters learn and improve their English. She also volunteers at the Conejo Valley vet clinic. Gonzalez wants to run at Moorpark College, transfer to a four-year school, possibly Chico State, and eventually become an environmental science high school teacher.

Junior Ruby Sirota-Foster and sophomore Sydney Covington bolster Westlake’s lineup. Kali Traversa, Ava Basile and Alyssa Wood are talented freshmen.

“I’m very grateful for the freshmen,” Gonzalez said. “Without them, we wouldn’t even be thinking about going to state.”

Owen Kobett leads the boys’ squad into the section finals. The junior bolted to a PR of 15:07 during the Riverside Invitational on Oct. 26.

“My dream is to go to state,” said Kobett, an honors student with a 4.6 GPA.

Kobett is active in the YMCA Youth and Government and the Boys Team Charity, and he’s a staff writer for The Arrow student newspaper.

Brothers Adam and David Burroughs, junior Kevin Cruz, sophomores James Sutton and Ben Hefner and freshman KC Barber fortify the varsity lineup. Adam Burroughs is a junior while David Burroughs is a rookie.

IN A NUTSHELL

Rebecca Schultz, 17, is a senior star for the Westlake High girls’ cross country team. Schultz, an honors student with a 5.0 GPA, will continue running at Yale University next year. This weekend, she leads the Warriors into the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 finals for a shot at qualifying for state on Nov. 30 in Fresno.

Rebecca’s favorites

• Team: Golden State Warriors

• Athlete: Jenny Simpson

• Book: “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak

• Song: “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus

• Food: Spaghetti

• App: Instagram

She said it

“When I’m running, I can really test my limits. I always strive to be the best version of myself.”—Rebecca Schultz