Husband and Wife Alums take Different Trails to Cross Country Coaching Success

Kurt Schultz '78 says he always wanted to coach. Even though he was well on his way to putting together an impressive running resume as an All-American at Keene State College, the Ashburnham, Mass., native supplemented his elementary education courses with coaching classes taught in the Physical Education Department.

After graduating, Schultz began his teaching career at Litchfield High, but the lure to coach was still pulling at his running shoelaces. Schultz eventually satisfied both cravings when in 1992 he was hired to teach social studies at South Side Middle School in Manchester, N.H., and was named head coach of the girls cross country team at Memorial High, which was conveniently on the same campus.

Several years later, his wife Paula (Johnson) Schultz '78 also wanted to coach. However, she, an education major at Keene State, had to go down a long and winding road before becoming the head girls cross country coach at Manchester-West in 2002.

Paula, who met Kurt at Keene State, was a late arrival to the sport. Like many girls of the pre-Title IX generation, she was never given the opportunity to compete in high school or college. Cross country and track programs for girls either didn't exist or were in their formative years.

Years later when coaching jobs opened up, they were given to people who had a background in the sport.

Originally from Salem, N.H, Paula, who began her teaching career at the Woodbury School in Salem, was well into her 30s before she got the running bug. "I was a walker," she said. "I read a story that claimed that you can accomplish more by running in half as much time, so I became a runner."

As her interest in the sport grew, so did her desire to coach. Paula joined Kurt as a volunteer assistant coach at Memorial and complimented his experience with her hands-on knowledge and a female runners' point of view. While acknowledging that "it's hard to be one mind when there are two people," Paula got involved in all aspects of the program. In addition to running workouts and coordinating schedules, she also brought uniformity to the program by having the girls attired in more feminine uniforms - a distinct alternative from the boy's shorts that had been issued to the girls in the past.

Unlike the past, Kurt says today's parents are much more involved with their kids. "I was very competitive, but it was a different era." A founding father of the Keene State cross country and track programs, Kurt fondly recalls his days running for Bob Taft, the Owls Hall of Fame coach who put the program on the map as a regional and national power.

Calling it a "bright spot" in his life, Schultz quickly learned about the perilous life of a KSC cross country runner training on the trails at Robin Hood Park. "It was dangerous. You took your life in your hands," he said. "There really wasn't a path, but a series of roots and rocks you needed to navigate to get through the woods."

Schultz's dedication paid off. A member of the first team from KSC to compete at a national championship in 1974, he had the distinction of becoming the first Owl athlete to earn All-Americas in two sports the following year, finishing fourth in the mile at the outdoor track meet and placing 14th at the NCAA cross country championships.

Current Keene State coach Peter Thomas, who was both a teammate and roommate of Schultz, called him "one of Keene State's most gifted runners."

Shultz added another cross country All-America plaque to his trophy case in 1976 before embarking on his teaching and coaching career.

After working with her husband for five years at Memorial High, Paula was ready to go out on a solo run and applied for the vacant head girls cross country coaching position at Manchester-West.

Impressing the search committee with newsletters and notes of accomplishment she had sent to the runners at Memorial, Paula was named the head coach of the Blue Knights.

Kurt and Paula Schultz became synonymous with cross country success in Manchester and state-wide.

Over the past seven years, Kurt has coached seven All-State runners, including a Class L champion. His teams were consistently in the running for the Class L title and qualified runners for the Meet of Champions eight out of the past 10 years.

Prior to stepping down as coach in 2007, Paula led Manchester-West to back-to-back State (Class L) second place finishes in 2005 and 2006. She was named NHIAA Coach of the Year in 2005.

Due to the close proximity of the two schools, Memorial and West would face each other in what Kurt and Paula called "friendly competition."

The two coaches would also team up and charter a bus to out-of-state meets.

Not surprisingly, both feel their coaching philosophies are the driving force behind their success. "Cross country is a sport that typically attracts dedicated students," said Kurt. "They're used to working hard in whatever they do. Talent plus hard work usually produces a very productive athlete."

Paula's philosophy stressed encouragement. "Cross country is a very hard sport," she said. "The runners need a lot of support, so I was constantly trying to come up with ideas to motivate them"

One of those ideas became a ritual at every race. Assembling her coaches, runners, and team supporters at the finish line, the group cheered as the remaining runners completed the course. "The runners sometime get embarrassed, but we actually honored them," she said. "The kids really tried hard and finished well, and they deserve the recognition just as much as the winner of the race."