LEGEND-Ernie Schultz coached Royal's cross country team for 25 years. He continues to be a vital part of the program's success. It's been 14 years since Ernie Schultz has officially served as the coach in charge of the longdistance runners at Royal High, but today he's as vital to the school's program as ever.

Serving as coach for the Highlander athletes from 1968-92, the retired Schultz has been a frequent campus visitor, providing tips to the cross country and track team athletes.

"I'm a cheerleader for the kids," said Schultz, a Camarillo resident who will be 74 this month. "I go to the meets-to local cross country meets, CIF finals, state and, the last two years, the Nike meet in Oregon."

He attends most of the team's meets, the CIF sectional and championships, and has served the past two seasons as the coach for Royal cross country teams in the Nike Team Nationals in Portland, Ore.-in place of Ryan Luce, Royal's head coach.

For Schultz, the rewards come on race days.

"The only thing I really concentrate on when the kids are running is to encourage them," he said. "You can tell where they're running (in the race) and how their stride is, what their posture is, the gleam in their eyes, all of those kinds of things. But basically it's encouragement."

Schultz began running at 23 while at Ventura College after serving in the military in Korea. He went on to Fresno State and ran there and then ran for the Los Angeles Track Club.

His fastest mile was 4:26 in an Amateur Athletic Union meet in 1961. He ran a 9:20 in the 2-mile shortly thereafter.

"My strength was in distances," Schultz said. "I won a 30kilometer national championship in 1963 in San Bernardino. My strength was from 10 miles on. I was a real distance runner."

Schultz was hired by Simi Valley Unified School District in 1962 and was the assistant cross country coach until the district split high schools and he became the head cross country coach at Royal in 1968.

"We had sophomores and juniors and no freshmen at that time," Schultz said. "Our school district changed from (grades) nine-12 to 10-12, and that was disastrous for sports.

"You have all the ninth graders down at the junior high. It was changed," Schultz said. "They went back. It's nice to have freshmen on (teams) because they can emulate the juniors and seniors and it's a mental transition that's wonderful for young people to do."

Starting in 1969, Royal won the first of six consecutive Marmonte League championships. In the Highlanders' fifth year, 1973, Royal runners won the CIF championship with an undefeated season.

"All the hard races there ever were, we went against," Schultz said. "We didn't hide anything. We just went the best and won the sweepstakes down at Mount SAC (Mount San Antonio College) and then in the championship race in CIF, it rained."

Schultz said that in the first race at Mount SAC the kids kept slipping and falling on the switchbacks so the course was changed between that race and the rest of the races.

"We ran a rain course, and that started off the side of the track and went out on the roads and up through the parking lots all the way to the top of the hill," he said.

"Basically, it was an uphill race and a downhill race," he said. "That team did well. We won sixth, ninth, 11th, 18th and 22nd for the CIF championship, and I was really proud of them."

Luce, whose cross country teams also have won six consecutive league championships-the most recent in 2005-said that after he graduated from high school, Schultz took him under his wing.

"When (Luce) first came here," Schultz said, "we sat down and we went over the kinds of things I had spoken at conferences about. I had four or five pages of workouts and those kinds of things and thoughts. I gave these to Ryan to look over. From being a runner and then all of a sudden you're the coach, it's a big change."

Appreciative of the years of advice while he was an athlete, Luce said his favorite time was after a race when we would discuss how the event went and what he could do to improve.

"I believe it helped me to become a better racer," Luce said. "He always had confidence in me, even when I did not have confidence in myself. He said, 'Just remember who you are.'

"I can honestly say that I would not be coaching if it were not for my coach," Luce said. "I would not have the love I have for the sport today. I didn't really see it as a sophomore or junior, but by the time I was a senior, I began to realize what he knew and what he could teach me about the sport to get me to run to my potential."

Luce, who ran 4:20 in the mile and 4:01 in the 1,500 meter, said that Schultz always believed in him.

Schultz said at the beginning of each season, he'd distribute some printed pages about diet, sleep and the mental aspects of cross country and track. He'd stress these points and ask the athletes to follow along with him on the pages.

"Basically, what I like to do is analyze the pluses and minuses," Schultz said. "Do they get tired in the middle of the race and therefore do they slow up rather than using a more efficient, shorter stride? I try to do that. Arm carriage is important. Sometimes you see people whose arms come across their body versus out in front. It has to be a short stroke because the foot has to come down and they're in coordination with the arms."

Schultz said that when runners have a long stride, he shows them how important the arms are.

"I make them put their arms in their pockets or along their sides and I say, 'Go, run 50 feet.' They find out their body's going side to side. 'Oh, I see,' they say. It's a real coordination," he said.

Luce said it's always interesting to be around his former coach.

"When he talks to you about the sport, you truly realize how much he knows and how much of a help he still is," Luce said. "He has a unique perspective. The kids really enjoy that he comes out. They love that he's part of the history. It's just an honor for Royal High."