LSU junior cross country runner Morgan Schuetz didn’t plan on running competitively until she took the Presidential Physical Fitness test in middle school. Schuetz’s natural athletic ability caught her cross country coach’s eye, and she has been on the rise ever since.
Schuetz quickly won back-to-back Baton Rouge Metro Championships at Parkview Baptist in 2006 and 2007, showcasing her superior athletic ability against the area’s best talent.
But Schuetz’s promising career as a top distance running prospect was nearly cut short when she struggled with asthma during her junior year in high school. Schuetz said running 100 meters became an insurmountable task, and she began reassessing her long-term running career.
“I wouldn’t have just given it up because I am not a quitter,” Schuetz said. “It was really discouraging at times. Some days were harder than others, but I just kept running through it, and, luckily, it eventually got better.”
Schuetz’s career took off when she competed internationally in the Sports Down Under program.
Competing in the 2010 Gold Coast Bulletin 5K Challenge in Brisbane, Australia, Schuetz made a name for herself with a 15th-place finish out of 2,169 competitors. Schuetz also finished in 10th place in the 5,000-meter race at the 2010 All-American Down Under Meet in Queensland, Australia.
“[The feeling I get when I finish a race] is incomparable,” Schuetz said. “I feel like any hard workout or any doubts I have ever had are completely surpassed by having one great race.”
College coaches began calling after she returned from Australia and earned All-Metro recognition in each of her last three seasons for Parkview Baptist, including back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Class 3A state cross country meets.
After Schuetz’s asthma troubles were in the rear-view mirror, she began thinking about running in college again. But her ambitions were struck down again after the 2011 Class 3A cross country state meet.
Despite a seventh-place finish at the meet, Schuetz was diagnosed with a stress fracture that caused her to miss the indoor season as a senior.
Schuetz kept running and learned she could surmount any setback in a race after everything she overcame in getting there.
“I like cross country because it is so internally based,” Schuetz said. “I love the fact that I have to push myself.”
Schuetz’s ability to overcome various setbacks, matched with her superlative athletic ability, made ascending to the top performer on LSU’s cross country team an inevitability.
Schuetz accumulated two victories this season and has been the top finisher on the team in five of seven meets.
Schuetz said the only thing hindering her from becoming a top performer in the conference is her mind, though her 52nd-place finish in the Southeastern Conference Championships meet is a significant improvement from last year’s No. 102 finish.
“I definitely need to work on [my mind]. Cross country is such a long race so I have so much time to think,” Schuetz said. “But I will [figure it out] because want to do well for my teammates and for LSU.”