A star is born in Schulz
Some kids hung out with friends most of their summer break.
Some went away with their families on vacation.
McKinzie Schulz won national championships.
Not exactly how your average high school kid spends their summer, but there is nothing average about the Benet sophomore girls cross country star. Schulz's freshman year highlights included four all-state performances, cheerleading on a squad that took sixth in state, singing in the school choir, getting elected as a class representative as well as being elected homecoming flower girl.
And while Schulz may be one of cross country's busiest runners, she is quickly becoming one of its best.
"She is amazingly talented. She is the most athletic runner I've ever coached and she also has an amazing work ethic," said Benet coach Scott Brooks. "I don't know that I've ever had to tell her to push harder on a workout and I've had to tell her to take it easy fairly frequently. Take that and combine it with the fact that she loves competition and hates to lose to anyone at anything and you have all the ingredients for a fantastic runner."
By Schulz's own account, her freshman cross country season was a bit of a roller-coaster ride as she struggled for consistency.
"Last year I was a little inconsistent and I wasn't really sure 'how to race,' but the state meet is when I finally came out and really went for it," said Schulz, who credits her 13th-place state meet performance to graduated teammate Abby Higgins. "At the beginning of the race, Abby told me to stay with her, which was a great motivation for me."
Schulz stayed with Higgins from the gun and never lost track her of her, finishing one second and one place behind the former Benet star. She walked into the state meet hoping to break 18 minutes. She walked out with a personal-best 17 minutes, 22 seconds.
Schulz built off of her success in cross country and turned in a historic first track season. She went downstate in four events and earned all-state honors in three, including the 3,200-meter relay and 1,600-meter relay. In the other event the 800-meter run, she finished one place and one second behind mentor and friend Higgins.
"Abby was a strong leader and a role model to me. She always worked hard and gave it 110 percent. She made me want to become a better runner," Schulz said.
Schulz's blistering speed (56-second quarter, 2-minute, 14-second half) isn't the only thing that sets her apart from most runners. It's her range of talents. The other event that she qualified to state in was the 300-meter hurdles.
"She's amazing. Her range makes her one of the most intriguing athletes anywhere in the state," said Naperville North coach Dan Iverson. "She also seems to be as dangerous as they come in big meet situations."
And no meet gets any bigger than competing in a national championship meet. Over the summer Schulz won the 2,000-meter steeplechase at AAU Nationals in Nashville and won the 1,500-meter run at USATF Nationals in Lisle.
She also competed in the U.S. Subaru Women's Triathlon, finishing 124th out of 1,884. Her time of 1 hour, 24 minutes, 51 seconds placed her in the elite division. And in between all of that, she also managed to lifeguard at the local pool as well as train for her sophomore season of cross country.
Schulz has all of the necessary ingredients needed to join cross country's elite this season. She has unmatched speed, she has mental toughness and, as her steeplechase national title proves, she has the endurance. She also excels on flat courses. The state course, Detweiller Park in Peoria, is primarily a flat course.
"On a flat fast course she can compete with the very best in the state, I think," Brooks said. "I wouldn't say that anybody is totally out of her league. Time will tell."
She may not win a state championship this year, but one thing is certain. There will be nothing ordinary about this extraordinary runner's sophomore season.