Schulz will compete at the NYSPHSAA nordic championships at Bristol Mountain on Feb. 26 and 27, and is favored to hoist the individual trophy again this year. But while Schulz focuses on the state meet, he also has his eyes set on higher goals.

“I think I was watching in the biathlon today that a 20- or 21-year-old got on the podium, and that’s incredible to see,” he said when asked about Olympic dreams. “I was watching — I probably shouldn’t have been watching — on my laptop in Government [class] today, last period of the day, and I got goose bumps just seeing young people skiing against the greats.

“I don’t see why not. I’ll go as far as I can with the sport just because I love it.”

Before and after Thursday’s high school race, Schulz was skiing around in a Team USA jacket, and said he thinks he is in the Olympic pipeline.

From left, Scott Schulz, Kai Frantz and Mike Skutt will represent Lake Placid at the NYSPHSAA nordic ski championship Feb. 26-27 at Bristol Mountain in Canandaigua. (Enterprise photo — Justin A. Levine)

“I’d like to hope so,” he said. “Starting it out this winter with the Finland trip overseas was a super big incentive just because it was so much fun. I just want to continue that and see where it goes.”

Schulz said he’s undecided what he’ll do after graduating this coming spring, saying he had applied to Montana State and the University of Vermont, where his older brother Karl is already on the ski team. He also said he may take a year off to ski and train.

Schulz, after a commanding performance in Alaska earlier this year, went to Finland to race against skiers from all around the world. He said meeting and spending time with a national team, as compared to his high school team, was a life-changing experience.

“It was exactly what I thought it would be,” he said. “All the guys were awesome; I can’t wait to see them at Junior Nationals. It was just so much fun, we bonded super well.

“Through racing hard and some of us having bad days and some of us having really good days, it was just awesome. We kind of turned into brothers on that trip, just because we spent every hour together.”