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Hudson High junior Erica Schultz hopes to set another school record and return to the state meet.
By JAMAL THALJI
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 19, 2000
HUDSON -- How does one become a hurdler? Erica Schultz didn't need a resume, a reference or know a friend who knows a friend.
She just showed up for track practice at Hudson Middle School, and the eager seventh grader tried the event out. A few seconds later, her destiny revealed itself: Schultz was born to hurdle.
"I guess in seventh grade I always wanted to go out for track," Schultz said. "The first time I ran it, the (coaches) said to me, I'm a hurdler. I had the form down."
Now, four grades later, Schultz has emerged as a top hurdler in Pasco County. In Thursday's Sunshine Athletic Conference meet at Gulf's Des Little Stadium, the Hudson junior won the 100-meter high hurdles in 16.45 seconds.
"It felt really, really good," the 17-year-old said. "I didn't expect to win, I just feel like it was a good victory. I know there was a lot of girls there who have fast times, and going in there, I hadn't been feeling really well. I had only been finishing second or third up to that. But I felt really strong, and when it was over it felt really good."
Hudson coach Keith Taylor said Schultz ran what he considered an ideal race.
"At the conference meet, she went in with the right attitude," he said. "She went in thinking about beating the clock, and went out and beat one hurdle at a time, and didn't really think about her competitors."
Her first SAC title was just another milestone for Schultz, bidding to return to the state meet this season.
Every grade after her introduction to hurdles, she has set a school record as an eighth grader, a freshman and a sophomore. As a junior, she tied the record with 16.32, her best run of the season.
Hudson has a fine tradition of hurdlers. Andrea Beltz set the school record in the 100 hurdles, 14.5 seconds, which earned her a state title in 1992. It was Beltz who helped coach Schultz as a freshman.
That season, Schultz qualified for state but didn't place. Last year, her sophomore season ended in the regional, when she came in fifth.
"She certainly could have gone," Taylor said. "I'd say she didn't run her best race that day."
The goal this season: Return to state. Even if the path will be far harder for any Cobra athlete than it has before. Attendance figures barely qualified Hudson to move up to the more competitive Class 3A.
Schultz realizes how much harder it will be.
"I want to get back to state, but right now I want to make it as far as regionals, because this is a whole new class we're in," she said. "But I really, really want to get to states."
Schultz likes to run, but only sprints. "I'm definitely not a distance runner," she said.
Taylor said Schultz has the natural talent a hurdler needs, as well as the intangibles.
"I think (she has) timing, and (is) getting (in) a rhythm in between the hurdles," Taylor said. "She's worked on maintaining a good rhythm in between hurdles so she's never out of step. We've watched video tapes of her hurdling, and she's really done some fine tuning. She's really spent a lot of time this year on technique. Every little fraction of a second makes a difference."
Frankly, Schultz said, she doesn't know what else to do with herself. "As far back as I can remember, I've been a runner," she said. "I've never been good at any other sports."