TURNER Hannah Schanz had a conflict, but she wasn’t conflicted.
Last fall Schanz qualified for the OSAA state cross country meet in Eugene – the third time in three years of high school she had done so – and had a legitimate shot to place in the top 20.
But Crosshill Christian’s volleyball team, for which Schanz was the star player, advanced to the second round of the state playoffs and was scheduled to play a game at Trinity Lutheran in Bend the same day.
The two events were 120 miles apart and the times were close enough together to force her to make a choice: Run cross country for the individual glory or play volleyball and play for the team.
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Hannah Schanz, a senior volleyball player, stands for a photo at Crossbill Christian School in Turner on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016.
Schanz – now a senior and still the star athlete for Crosshill Christian – says it was an easy decision to withdraw from the state cross country meet and play volleyball.
“She’s a great leader on the court and in school or wherever she goes,” said senior teammate Sarah Stoddard. “And so when I do see her make that kind of sacrifice I’m like, wow, my heart really jumps.”
To excel in two sports at the same time is difficult, but the way Schanz does it is remarkable.
Yes, she makes sacrifices and puts in the time and energy to be successful, but she does it in a way that makes everyone want to root for her.
“Did we emphasize to you, what she does she does excellently?” Crosshill Christian volleyball coach Julie Bennett said. “But she has a lot of fun with it.”
Schanz’ progression in volleyball directly correlates with how the Eagles have done throughout her years at the school, and it’s not by coincidence.
In her freshman year of 2013 – the first year of the program – the team was 1-15 then improved to 9-8 in her sophomore year in which she was second-team all-Casco League, and was 17-8 in her junior year when she was first-team all-league.
The abstract of Schanz playing volleyball well for Crosshill Christian works, but the details of how she makes that impact is harder to define.
“It kind of depends on when you ask this question during the season,” said Schanz, also an all-league basketball player.
Generally speaking, she plays setter for three spots in the rotation, middle blocker for two spots and outside hitter the final of six spots.
But there also are times when she will set for an extra rotation on serve-receive.
It can get confusing.
“I don’t even know where I’m going half the time,” said Stoddard, who won a state championship on South Salem’s basketball team in 2015. “I just have her tell me where to go.”
The 5-foot-9 Schanz is a solid blocker at the net, a smart setter who distributes the ball well and only on occasion displays her remarkable power from the outside.
One factor in how Crosshill Christian makes it work with having Schanz play multiple positions is her sister, Ellie, is the other half of that equation.
Ellie Schanz, a sophomore, plays opposite to Hannah so she sets when Hannah is hitting and she is setting when Hannah is hitting.
“Having a sister as a setter, who gets to go home and practice setting with their sister who is a setter? Nobody. Nobody gets that,” said Hannah Schanz, who placed seventh in the 1A state track meet in the 3,000 as a freshman, but missed most of last season after an injury.
The commitment for Schanz to run cross country while playing volleyball is tremendous and requires a lot of motivation on her part.
During her eighth grade year at Crosshilll Christian, Schanz was at the school’s awards presentation and there was one girl who had run cross country that year. That’s when she made up her mind then she would run in high school.
Because of her schedule with volleyball, Schanz trains for cross country separately from the rest of Crosshill Christian’s runners.
“She has to balance quite a bit, and I frequently have to tell her you need a day off this week,” Bennett said. “She just manages her time amazingly well.”
When she gets home after a volleyball practice or on a weekend day Schanz will go for a run with her father, or have her mother ride a bicycle along with her.
She runs in a handful of cross country meets each season and only when the meets don’t conflict with volleyball matches.
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Crosshill Christian’s Hannah Schanz sets the ball during their game with Eagles the Country Christian Cougars on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, in Turner, Ore.
Despite it being a mostly lonely pursuit – there is one other girl running cross country for Crosshill this season – Schanz has excelled at cross country.
She has placed fourth, third and third in the district meets her three years of high school and 55th and 32nd at the 3A/2A/1A state meet her freshmen and sophomore years.
“Cross country compliments her position in volleyball tremendously because setters, because of the requirements of a setter, it really is an advantage, I think,” said Becky Schanz, Hannah’s mother and an assistant coach for the volleyball team.
Schanz is almost positive she will go to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia next fall – both parents went there and her older brother, Danny Schanz, attends the school – and she wants to find a major where she can work with children.
“In my church I get to teach (children),” she said. “This is where my passion for little kids definitely comes from.”
When you consider that along with the fact she is a 3.9 grade point average student, you realize Schanz is pretty much perfect.
“Actually she’s the person who cleans our room, generally, and makes our bed,” Ellie Schanz said.
The most dirt you’re going to find on Hannah is when she and her sister argue about who is taller.
“I would just like to say … I am still taller by a quarter inch as of this weekend,” Hannah Schanz said.
“That is the most normal sibling rivalry because that’s the best and the worst as it gets,” Bennett said.
There is a legitimate chance Schanz will have another conflict between cross country and volleyball again.
The state cross country meet is Nov. 5 in Eugene and the state volleyball tournament is Nov. 4 and 5 in Redmond.
As Crosshill Christian’s volleyball team is having its best season yet – the team is 8-1 overall, 5-0 and in the outright lead of the Casco League and No. 7 in the OSAA’s power rankings – the conflict could arise again.
Her decision, if she has to make one, is at least predictable.
“Our team this year, we work so well together and God has been so amazing,” Schanz said. “Every single girl belongs on our team, all nine of us.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, 503-399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler
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Hannah Schanz, a senior volleyball player, stands for a photo at Crossbill Christian School in Turner on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016.