One last hurrah on track for the Schuhs

Twin sisters Aimee and Kellie Schuh love each other, of course, but c'mon already.

"We've been together 24/7 since we were born," Aimee said with an exasperated smile before a Crystal Lake South track practice this week. "We've shared rooms, we did gymnastics together, we've done everything together. It's like, 18 years... I'm done."

Thus, the Schuh sisters were prepared to make their marks separately next year in college, or so thought Aimee, who had already accepted a track offer from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Kellie seemed destined to compete for a Big East school that had been courting her, but she came away less than impressed after an official visit. She instead joined her sister in committing to UIC, a school Kellie had visited, too.

"I looked at other schools, but I liked UIC the best," Kellie said.

Said Aimee: "I told her 'OK. As long as we don't room together I'm fine.' "

The ultra-competitive sisters will bunk together once more this weekend, however, when they double-occupy a room in Charleston while competing at the Class AA girls state track and field meet.

Gators coach Christy Tenopir wasn't certain the Schuhs would go for the sleeping arrangements. "I had to approach them and say, 'Now, are we still going to be able to compete if you guys are rooming together?' " Tenopir said with a laugh. "They said they were cool with it."

The 18-year-old seniors are so competitive with each other, in fact, that their parents, Pete and Cheryl, kept them from competing at the same level of gymnastics during their 14 years of training in that sport.

Likewise, they don't compete in the same track events for good reason. "We're too competitive," Aimee said. "Our freshman year we'd be running in practice, just the two of us, and Tenopir would hear us fighting. We'd be saying, 'I'm going to beat you!' 'No. I'm going to beat you!' Then we'd race each other down the stretch."

The good news for Tenopir and the rest of the CL South track team is that the Schuhs' competitive instincts translated to four qualifications apiece at last week's Class AA sectional in Huntley, setting the stage for their final state track meet, which begins with preliminaries today at O'Brien Stadium.

Aimee will compete in the 100-meter high hurdles (seeded 15th), the long jump (34th) and the 800-meter relay (32nd).

Kellie is seeded second in the triple jump. "It's fun and it's something my sister can't do because she's not coordinated enough," Kellie said, taking another jab.

Kellie is also tied for the seventh seed in the pole vault (10-6) and is seeded ninth in the 300-meter low hurdles.

The sisters do compete in one event together: Each will run legs of CL South's 1,600-meter relay with their teammates, senior Chelsea Tyllia and freshman Marianne Collard. The 1,600 relay team is seeded seventh in Illinois, thanks to their sectional winning time of 4:00.17.

Whether they were asked to run a leg of a relay or jump in field events, the athletic Schuh twins have excelled in their four seasons in track no matter the assignment.

"Kellie and Aimee are the most versatile athletes I've ever coached," Tenopir said. "Aimee picked up long jump and Kellie picked up the triple jump in the middle of last season and they're both state qualifiers in those events. In that short time they've come a long way."

The girls point to their gymnastics training as to why they are able to adapt to new events quickly.

"Our bodies are completely built from head to toe. It's not just that our legs are strong, our entire core is strong," Aimee said. "That's what makes us so versatile. We basically have complete control over all the muscles in our bodies from gymnastics. It teaches you coordination of all the muscles, not just hand-eye coordination or eye-foot coordination."

Two years ago Tyllia and the Schuhs teamed with then-senior Diana Stec to medal in the 1,600 relay, a sixth-place finish. She says the Schuhs have an advantage due to their lifetimes spent training.

"Flexibility is a big part of running," Tyllia said. "Since they were gymnasts and they are flexible it does help, especially with hurdles and jumping, which they're basically professionals at."

That's why Aimee says hurdling is like second nature. "I've been tumbling and running down beams all my life," she said. "Sprinting over fences is no problem."

While Aimee and Kellie each hope to medal in their respective individual events, they would also like to return to the medal stand in the 1,600 relay after a year's absence due to injuries that sidelined Tyllia and Aimee Schuh as juniors.

"Everyone expects we can do it," Aimee said. "We just have to prove them right."

Despite their pit bull-like determination on the track, the girls say their final weekend of high school competition is one they intend to enjoy, win or lose, medals or no medals.

"I just want everyone to have fun because it's such an awesome experience, especially since we're taking down a bunch of freshman and sophomores who have never gone downstate before," Kellie said.

"It's my senior year. I don't want to worry about where I place. I just want to go and have fun. I do want to place, but I just want to have fun and not put a ton of pressure on myself."

Of course, this isn't really the end. The girls have four more years of track ahead of them.

"It's like this is the ending of the middle," Aimee said. "Now, it's time to go on to bigger things."