RUSTON, La.,--This past weekend at the WAC Championships, Louisiana Tech\'s own Zach Schuler, a member of the men\'s cross country team was awarded a position on the 2nd team All-WAC cross country team. Schuler\'s 10th place overall finish was good enough to snag him a spot on the team, and was something that he expected of himself.
"I knew I could get in the Top 14," Schuler said. "When I found out I got 10th, I was really excited."
This year\'s finish was an improvement on last season\'s 17th place finish, and a big improvement from two season\'s ago, when he finished somewhere between 35th and 40th. Both Schuler and his head coach, Gary Stanley, were very proud of the finish, and the hard work that went into it.
"Zach has continued to work harder and more diligently during his career, especially this season," Stanley said. "It\'s really been an inspiration to not only me, but the entire team. He is always learning from his mistakes or bad outings, always improving on those and thats the sing of a winner."
"It feels good," Schuler said. "I improved on last year and coach did a great job to get us ready for the WAC Championships."
Coach Stanley had nothing but good things to say about his star runner. It\'s very obvious that Schuler, a junior from Metairie, La., where he ran at Archbishop Rummel, has really had a positive impact on both his team and his coach.
"I\'m very proud of him," Stanley said. "He\'s been through so much, losing his house in Katrina, but he\'s never let that get him down. As a coach, I look at the traits that make him who he is; his tenacity, his belief in the coach\'s system and it\'s so good to see it pay off for him."
Schuler\'s biggest performance of the season, arguably, came at the Auburn Invitational, where his 18th place finish helped Louisiana Tech to a 3rd place finish overall, beating such big names as Florida State, Miami (FL), Ole Miss, Auburn and in-state rival, LSU. Schuler however, pointed to the WAC Championships as his biggest race of the season.
"Time wise, Auburn was the best race for me this season," said Schuler. "The meet that means the most however would be the WAC Championships because conference always counts more than the rest."
Schuler will get one more chance to leave a positive mark on this season on November 11, when he and the rest of the Louisiana Tech men\'s cross country team will travel to Baylor University in Waco, Tx., to compete in the NCAA Regional Meet. Stanley and Schuler both hold high expectations of what the team can do and are looking forward to getting the chance to run.
"I expect to be able to compete with everyone there, I expect to beat LSU" Schuler said. "We\'re trained and ready, we just have to run well as a team."
Coach Stanley also had this to say about Schuler heading into the NCAA Regionals.
"I think he\'ll run well," Stanley said. "It\'s 10,000 meters and that should play into his favor because he\'s so mentally tough. It\'s also so rewarding to coach him because of his willingness to race bigger names, bigger competition on a bigger scale."