Senior Murphy Schuster has been surrounded by family and friends his entire life. After attending St. Ignatius School in Portland, Oregon, where many of his cousins, uncles, and aunts attended, he discovered a love for running and has been a track athlete since middle school and a cross country athlete since high school.

His first experience running on a track was during an impromptu race at Cleveland High School, where he said he placed first in an 100-meter dash. While his first run was by no means perfect — “I went in the other person’s lane,” he said — “I just thought it was really fun to just run.” 

After that, in 5th grade he decided to join the track team at St. Ignatius School. Schuster recognized a passion for long-distance running specifically, and this is an activity that he still competes in as a senior. Schuster has participated on both the track team and the cross country team throughout all four years of high school.

Schuster was first brought to La Salle by his mother, Ms. Debbie Schuster, who works as a Physical Education and Health teacher for La Salle. “I wanted to have her as a teacher this year,” Schuster said, but his schedule did not end up aligning with her classes.

Now, Schuster runs the 3000-meter dash, the 1500-meter dash, the 800-meter dash, and the 4×400-meter relay for La Salle, as well as the triple jump, which is something new that he is trying this year. Schuster appreciates this “individualized” aspect of track, because it is “unique” to other sports. “You can pick whatever event you want,” he said. 

Another aspect of track that Schuster appreciates is how it has helped him make friends throughout high school, including senior Ethan Baker, who he said inspires him to “do better.” Many of his memories with friends were made on the bus rides that the team takes to their meets — “it was just fun to have music playing and laughing with all of your teammates,” he said. 

However, a challenging part of track for Schuster is the “mental block,” especially when running long distances. Despite the challenge, Schuster said that track is “really rewarding” once you get over this block, especially “when you finish a race and you get the time that you want.” 

In the future, Schuster plans on attending a four-year college, likely either at Saint Mary College of California or Oregon State University, he said, and then find a job that suits his personality and interests. “I know I’m going to run for a long time after this,” Schuster said — in college, he plans on joining a running club, but does not intend to run competitively at the collegiate level.