Jim Schlentz, who built Colts Neck into a state and national powerhouse since he started the program 27 years ago, was recently inducted into the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
It's a very well deserved honor for Schlentz, who has carved out a legendary coaching career as one of NJ's top distance running minds of all-time!
Check out what Schlentz has accomplished!
In 1998, Schlentz became the first ever cross-country coach at Colts Neck High, which had just opened. Since then, he has coached all three seasons (XC/indoors/outdoors) at Colts Neck.
During his illustrious career, Schlentz's athletes have won three relay and five individual National Championships. The national individual titles - Ashley Higginson won national titles in all three seasons in the 2006-07 school year (XC/2-mile/2-mile), Craig Forys won the two-mile national title in 2007, and Matt Bogdan captured the 2001 Steeplechase National Championship. The relay nationals titles all came indoors (boys DMR in 2005) and girls 4xmile in 2006 and 2007.
Schlentz has also coached 82 All-Americans; one team, one relay and 19 individual NJ State Meet of Champions winners, 11 team, 17 relay and 41 individual State Group Championships; and his teams have set 15 state records as well as numerous state class records.
The girls cross-country team under Schentlz has been ranked as high as 4th in the nation (2006), and the boys 13th. He was also named Eastbay National Coach of the Week in 2007, has won the NJ Coach of the Year award from three different papers/organizations in four different years.
In Dec. of 2018, Schlentz was enshrined in the New York Armory Coaches Hall of Fame, the home to the National Scholastic Championships, the Millrose Games and the National Track & Field Hall of Fame. He was also honored by the Penn Relays when he was named an Honorary Referee at the 2022 meet.
Coach Schlentz was an All-Shore runner for Freehold HS and was on the team that won the Shore Conference Cross Country title in 1970 as the 10th ranked team going in.
Schlentz ran barefoot in cross-country. He competed in cross country and track in college at Springfield College, MA and continued to compete after graduation.
He started his coaching career as assistant girls coach at St. John Vianney in the spring of 1977. He would move up to head cross-country coach of both boys and girls that fall and would coach the distance runners through 1982. He had three state championships teams, and his cross-country teams finished as high as 2nd (boys) and 3rd (girls) at the Meet of Champions.
In 1982, Schlentz moved on to LaSalle University where he was the assistant coach for cross-country and track and field, specializing in the distance events. In his two years of coaching at LaSalle, he coached the track the first female NCAA Division I qualifier in school history.
Schlentz also coached elite athletes as head coach of the Reebok Mid-Atlantic distance team from 1985-87, where two of his athletes (a male and a female) qualified for the Olympic Trials in the marathon. They also set a team record at the prestigious Philadelphia 1/2 marathon as the five male runners averaged 1:05:40 per runner for the 13.1 miles (5:01 pace).
Schlentz moved back to college coaching as head coach of the women's cross-country and track teams at Wagner College in 1988. They won two conference cross-country titles and had the school's first female NCAA Division I qualifier. He also started coaching elite athletes on the side, including Kate Fonshell.
In 1995, Schlentz left Wagner College to focus on Fonshell's Olympic dream. In their 3rd year together, Fonshell won the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 10,000 to make the 1996 Olympic team. He continued to coach Fonshell as well as the Asics Club East distance team, who finished 4th in 1997 and 3rd in 1998 at the U.S. National Cross-Country Team Championships. Two runners from that team, as well as another runner Schlentz was coaching, all qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials.