Lewis University alumnus Bob Schultz is in his third season as the Flyers' men's and women's cross country head coach.
In 2003, Schultz coached All-GLVC performer Braulio Benitez and GLVC Freshman of the Year Andy Tremble. His first Lewis men's team captured the 2002 Great Lakes Valley Conference title and finished third at the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Championship. Mike Cropper qualified for the NCAA Division II Championship, and the Flyers produced three all-region and three all-conference runners.
Schultz also is Lewis' men's and women's track and field head coach. Flyer athletes have won six national championships, collected 34 All-America awards and earned All-GLVC honors 154 times in his three seasons at the helm. Lewis captured the 2002 and 2003 GLVC men's indoor titles and the 2003 GLVC women's outdoor crown, and the Flyer women placed 10th in the nation outdoors in 2002.
Schultz came to Lewis in January 2002 from Elmhurst College, where he was men's cross country head coach eight years and women's cross country head coach six seasons. He had just begun his sixth season as men's track and field head coach and had served the previous five seasons as women's track and field head coach. Schultz was track and field assistant coach his first two years at the NCAA Division III school.
The Elmhurst cross country program enjoyed considerable success under Schultz's guidance. He coached 26 all-conference runners and eight all-region runners and also produced the Bluejays' first women's conference champion, first women's national qualifier and first men's and women's All-Americans.
In track and field, Elmhurst produced one national champion, three All-Americans, 12 national qualifiers, 12 conference champions and 102 all-conference athletes during Schultz's tenure.
Schultz lettered four years in cross country and track at Lewis. He earned All-Great Lakes Valley Conference cross country honors in 1987 by finishing ninth at the GLVC Championship, was a member of the Flyers' 1988 and 1990 GLVC championship teams and was named the 1990 team's Most Improved Runner.
Upon graduation, Schultz began a three-year stint at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, as cross country/track and field graduate assistant coach. He earned a master's degree in physical education with an emphasis in athletic administration at Loras in 1994.
Schultz is a 1987 graduate of York High School in Elmhurst, where he was a member of the 1986 Illinois High School Association Class AA cross country state championship team.
"Returning to Lewis to coach the cross country and track and field teams is a great opportunity for me," said Schultz, who earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at Lewis in 1991. "I had a positive experience here as a student athlete.
"Obviously I would like to maintain the success Lewis has enjoyed the past few years and possibly establish some new things," Schultz added. "I also have a goal of increasing the number of athletes in our programs."
Schultz and his wife, Jennifer, reside in Plainfield with sons Joseph and Justin.
