McCallum High School senior and cross country captain Julia Lentz has broken the school’s girls’ 5K record four times this season, most recently setting a new mark of 19:21.1—a full minute faster than the previous record. The previous record holder was Josie Blackwell, who now attends the University of Portland for cross country, with a time of 20:22.9, which stood for three years.
Growing up watching her mom run half marathons, Lentz was inspired to follow in her footsteps and still aspires to run at the collegiate level. Lentz began running in seventh grade through track at Summit Christian Academy, and in eighth grade, picked up cross country. Now she runs in school and for Born to Run. Lentz highlighted that though it seems like an individual sport, she believes cross country is a team sport, and the McCallum community makes it all the better.
“Running is just something that pushes me to always try to be better, and it is a way that I can challenge myself,” Lentz said. “Running is a really connective sport, even though it is seen as a little bit more of an individual sport, there is a lot of team behind it. Everyone at McCallum works hard throughout the season, and the coaches really take time to invest in the team. Everyone shows up with a good attitude, which makes it a fun environment.”
Lentz began her senior season late due to an injury to her right ankle, which resulted from overexertion during summer training. Her first race back was the Austin ISD Invitational on Sept. 5, where she set the school record with a time of 20:17.8, breaking not only Blackwell’s time but also her own personal record.
“Before the season, over the summer, and back in track season in April, I really wanted to have a successful senior season, so I took my summer training a lot more seriously,” Lentz said. “I did end up pushing myself a little too hard and ended up injuring myself over the summer. Coming back from injury, I was really nervous about how my season was going to go, but it has been really amazing and I’m super happy with it.”
Only a week later, Lentz broke her own record, setting a time of 20:04.0 on Sept. 12 at the Hays CISD Invitational, and around two weeks after that, she broke it again with a time of 19:30.1 at the Georgetown East View Invitational.
“In the moment, I was super excited, and now, I’m still excited, but looking forward to what I can do in the future,” Lentz said. “Breaking the record has been something I have wanted to do since I first started here as a sophomore, and it’s amazing getting to hold that title.”
During the UIL district meet, where the whole McCallum team qualified and participated, Lentz finished second, automatically sending her to the UIL Region III 5A Championship. Lentz recalled feeling uneasy about the race but confident in herself and the team.
“I was nervous, but prepared, in both myself and the team,” Lentz said.
At regionals, Lentz ended up beating her own record for the fourth time, running a 19:21.1, placing twelfth out of 176 other runners. Only the top 10 runners are admitted to the UIL State Championship, with the exception of runners in schools that are already qualified. This allowed Lentz to move into the top 10, making her the single McCallum athlete to reach state for cross country this year. Freshman Lila Goldberg, the only other runner for the girls’ team to reach the Regional Championship, commented on how Lentz is an inspiration and role model for her and other runners on the team.
“Julia went out injured and didn’t run, and then her first race back broke the school record, I think that’s amazing,” Goldberg said. “She taught me that even when you are out injured, you can’t just lie around and say ‘This sucks,’ you have got to keep at it.”
Goldberg noted how Lentz’s achievements this season were a result of her work ethic despite injury and how she knew the limits of her body and listened to them.
“She didn’t let the injury bring her down,” Goldberg said. “She wasn’t able to run a whole lot, but she biked. Then, she got back into running for about a week until her ankle started hurting her again. She decided to run a mile in the race and then not run the other two because she didn’t want to hurt herself. I think that’s really cool, I don’t know if I would have the mental strength to say ‘No, I’m not going to do this, it hurts.’”
Head cross country coach Jennifer Warren, who has coached Lentz for two years, remarked on her leadership role on the team and how her efforts have rubbed off on others.
“Julia is a leader and she shows it,” Warren said. “The first day we had practice, she asked to get into the locker room. I thought she just needed to get something, but she cleaned it out and started decorating the locker room for the team, and I think it was just creating positive energy for the team. She really has shifted the mentality of the girls’ team, and the boys’ team saw that and began shifting their mentality, too. People are seeing all the hard work she’s doing and all the things she’s accomplishing, and I think it’s driving them to want to get up to that level as well.”
Lentz’s spirit, grit and raw talent stand out to Warren as traits that make her a reliable and impressive athlete. Her consistency and persistence are the foundation that have helped her attain this successful season and record.
“Julia is super driven,” Warren said. “You can just see it on her face that she is setting goals. At the beginning of the season, she came up to me and said, ‘I think the girls’ team can make it to state.’ I think that has always been in the back of her mind, and she is using that goal to drive her as far as she can get.”
Lentz attributes her determination and willingness to put in effort to succeed to her club team and competing with her peers.
“It’s really cool to be surrounded by people who are better than you,” Lentz said. “You want to be with people who make you want to work harder.”
On Oct. 31 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, Lentz was the only runner to represent McCallum in the UIL State Championship. She ran with a time of 19:38.0, placing 63rd out of 149 runners.