The Republic-Times Athlete of the Week is Waterloo High School cross country runner Joe Schwartz. The younger sibling of past WHS running greats Jenna and Jake Schwartz continued his strong season by placing second Thursday at the Meteor Invitational in Marissa with a time of 16:26. He placed fourth at the Mascoutah Invitational on Sept. 19 with a time of 15:40, won the Pre-Mississippi Valley Conference Meet on Sept. 12 with a time of 17:01.80 and finished eighth (first in Class 2A) at the Granite City Invitational on Sept. 5 with a time of 16:10.21. “Joe has had a great summer of putting in miles, and I think he will definitely be someone to watch in the metro area,” WHS cross country coach Larry Huffman said earlier this season.