Saints Peter & Paul School
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
8th Grader Tommy Paltzer
Cross country has often been referred to as a 'lonely sport." Runners don't get the spotlight, glory, and glamour often reserved for football players, for example. They don't perform in front of large crowds or have catchy nicknames like "Prime Time," "Sweetness," or "Megatron."
Whereas football requires certain physical attributes in terms of size and speed, cross country is considered by those who know little about the science of running 
or the physical demands endured by runners, to appeal to those who lack the ability and agility to partake of more demanding sports like football, basketball, or baseball. This attitude, coupled with the fact that outfitting a cross country team is relatively inexpensive leads to numerous misconceptions about runners. In fact, most athletes associate running with punishment as coaches admonish their teams by making them 'run' when they make mistakes in practice or during a game.
Nothing could be further from the truth as evidenced by a recent High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations. They reported that an average of 200,000 girls and nearly a quarter million boys run cross country annually in high school.
Eighth grader Tommy Paltzer has heard all of these comments and more. Yet it has never deterred him from seeking excellence in a sport he both loves and dominates. For the past four years, Tommy has been one of the outstanding runners in the Suburban Parochial League which consists of between 16-20 teams.
Running for Saints Peter and Paul School in both cross country and track, his accomplishments speak for themselves in terms of his dedication, conditioning, training, drive, and excellence. As a fifth grader, he finished second overall in the conference meet in the 1 mile. The following year, when sixth graders compete over a 1½ mile course, he took top honors. In seventh grade he fell to his longtime rival from St. Francis Xavier and came up second in the 2 mile. Tommy tied a league record this year when he captured first place honors at the year-end conference tournament held at Lewis University by finishing the 2 mile course in 11:19.
Tommy's coach since fifth grade, Jeannette DiGivone Gehrs '89, herself a runner at SSPP and Naperville North, praises her protégé's efforts and accomplishments. "Tommy was self-motivated," she offered, "as none of his teammates could adequately challenge him in practices. He's also become a great leader to our runners. He's level-headed, a hard worker, and treated everyone the same. He has put in the necessary time in the summer and throughout our practices to reach his goals, and I'm proud of his success."
Tommy attributes his breakthrough in being one of the best runners in school history to developing a strategy on winning. "I used to run as fast as I could for as long as my legs and lungs would allow," he said, "but coach Gehrs helped me learn when to pick the right time to give a strong finishing kick. Other runners may have been ahead of me but they always looked over their shoulders knowing I was lying in the weeds and had plenty left in the tank."
Although Tommy ran with the Naperville North cross country team last summer, he is not sure if he will continue running in high school. "I've also been to the Huskie soccer camp as I've played on a travel soccer team for the past four years as well. Hopefully one of these sports will provide me with an opportunity to receive an athletic scholarship to college. Since both sports are offered in the fall, I'll have to make up my mind before summer workouts begin."
While cross country might not be a mainstream sport, there are reasons that young athletes like Tommy are drawn to it. Runners develop a skill set that will carry them to success in life----the importance of endurance (never quitting), mental discipline (anything worth achieving comes with a price) and a high threshold for pain (don't listen to your legs a
nd lungs).
