Staying the course

SARASOTA — Kyle Lantz sat at the finish line clutching a stop watch. 

Click. Click. Click. 

With each pair of passing feet, the then-third grader noted the time and relayed it to the head coach. 

Lantz repeated the process throughout the workout interval before lunging from his seat and joining the his older brother, Trevor,  older sister, Taylore, and the rest of the high school cross-country team for an afternoon run. 

It was there, while serving as a team manager of sorts for Pettisville High, in Ohio, that Lantz got his first taste of running. He learned the dedication it takes to be successful in the sport and the thrill that comes from trying to beat the person racing alongside you. 

“I had so much energy, and I just liked seeing if I could run faster than other people and beat them in a race,” Lantz says.

He went on to compete in numerous local road races every summer; but it wasn’t until his freshman year at Pettisville that Lantz began taking the sport seriously. 

With teammates serving as mentors and inspiration, Lantz began dropping seconds off  his time rather quickly. 

“I just like competing against other runners and testing myself,” he says. “I put in all the work, and I like to see if it paid off.” 

After three years of running for Pettisville, where Lantz advanced to the state track and field meet as a sophomore, he moved to Florida two weeks before the start of his senior year. 

Lantz immediately joined the Sarasota Christian cross-country team with which he has battled Florida’s notorious summer elements to become the Blazers top runner. 

“It was a little different at first because it’s not what I’m used to,” Lantz says. “I thought the heat would be really hard because I have asthma, but I haven’t had a problem at all. I feel like I run better here.” 

Lantz won his second meet of the season Sept. 26 at the Holloway Park Jamboree in Lakeland. He crossed the finish line in 17 minutes, 5.10 seconds, more than four seconds ahead of Frostproof’s Antonio Gomez on the course that will be the site of this year’s Class 1A-Region 2 cross-country meet. 

“There were a lot of kids there, so it felt good to win that race in a decent time,” Lantz says. “It also gave me a chance to compete against some of the schools that I’ll see down the road.

“I know the course a little more now, too, which is good,” he adds. “For three years, I knew all of the courses. It’s nice to be able to run it once because then you know the hills and terrain a little bit more for the next race.” 

Lantz opened his season Aug. 29 with a seventh-place finish at the Lemon Bay Invitational, which featured the area’s top athletes across all four classifications. The following week, Lantz posted his first win of the season at the 23rd annual Canes Cross Country Classic, at GT Bray Park. 

On Sept. 19, Lantz posted a season-best time of 16:54.71 en route to a seventh-place finish at the North Port XC Invitational. Lantz’s personal best time is 16:31, which he set last year in Ohio. He's determined to eventually break 16 minutes. 

“I was hoping to do well,” Lantz says. “It’s similar to what I ran in Ohio, so I’ve been happy with it so far. I like competing against the bigger schools during the year. If you get used to the competition, then it doesn’t surprise you later on.” 

After the cross-country season, Lantz plans to play basketball for the Blazers before this spring hitting the track on which he excels in both the 800-meter run and the mile. He had advanced to the state track meet as a sophomore, but was unable to compete last season due to illness. 

“I hope to do well again and make up for it,” Lantz says. 

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected]