From ice tracks to exam tracks: Park City’s Macey Schomaker retires from luge to pursue medical career

Park City luge athlete Macey Schomaker and her dad, Kevin, now a luge official, at the Utah Olympic Park at one of her early races before earning a spot on the Jr. National Team. Photo: Rhea Schomaker

PARK CITY, Utah — Park City High School alumna Macey Schomaker announced on April 30 that while she’s thrilled to begin medical school at BYU, her competitive luge career has come to an end.

“I’ve dreamed of becoming a radiologist or a radiation oncologist since I was in elementary school, and that dream is now in closer reach. This was always my path, but now I get to focus exclusively on my education instead of dividing myself between two passions,” Schomaker said on social media.

She went on to express her gratitude for all of the experiences and opportunities the sport of luge brought her having forged friendships, traveled the world, and gained experiences that will be invaluable in her future life.

Following is a list including but not limited to her athletic accomplishments: 2023-24 Junior World Cup Results:

• Park City 1: 12th place
• Park City 2: 13th place
• Winterberg, Germany: 13th place
• St. Moritz, Switzerland: 18th 
• Lillehammer, Norway: 22nd place 

More recently she slid in Riga, Latvia where she celebrated her 20th birthday.

“Macey is a dedicated athlete who put in the time to hone her sliding skills, is a great teammate, served as the athlete rep on the club board and always had a smile,” Wasatch Luge President Pete Gillwald told TownLift. “Luge is a tough sport as the number of spots available in the upper echelon is limited and many athletes just can’t break through. I have no doubt that Macey will succeed in life and hope she she stays connected to the luge family.”

She inspired her younger sisters to get involved as athletes themselves and her mom, Rhea, and dad, Kevin to go through the trainings becoming volunteer luge officials. Rhea posted on social media just how proud she was of Macey’s maturity and grace in achieving her accomplishments calling her, “my pride and joy.”

Good vibes aside, both mother and daughter brought up the fact that they are saddened at the sporting having to come to an end in order to make space for the schooling to forge forth.

Schomaker’s status speaks to countless Park City families who share the experience of a lack of proven paths to and through the college years balancing school and sport.

Park City boasts world class venues and programming to excel in individual sports like luge and its sister sliding sports of skeleton and bobsled. In addition, ski disciplines like moguls, aerials, ski jumping and nordic combined, along with speed skating and snowboarding.

At the high school level, administrators of multiple schools bend over backwards to successfully accommodate year-round rigorous training and racing schedules which wonderfully wind around the globe. Beyond that though, tougher choices get made on which direction to go seem to fall upon certain sport families as compared to more traditional American team sports notably football, baseball, basketball, soccer and the like.

Alpine skiing and Cross country skiing enjoy robust recruiting processes as well as NCAA level scholarships and competitions, journey which Park City student-athletes embark on all the time. They can be some of the lucky ones as their counterparts competing in the more obscure sports struggle through complex corkboard choices resembling pinned red yarn mysteries.

Choices being made each semester by Parkites include:

• No college and straight onto national teams
• Delayed college until after reaching Olympian status
• Gap year strategically placed within four-year Olympic cycles
• Ivy League online
• Community College online
• State Colleges online
• In-state Universities online
• Out-of-state Universities online
• International colleges online

It’s no secret that these smaller sports garner smaller podium placement purse payouts compiling complications as to how college can be affordable while maintaining monetary availability to travel the world representing their country. 

Despite the stresses of a sport-school balancing act, many people are making it work and making it look easy, however such stories are not necessarily the norm.

Schomaker’s retirement from luge comes with great understanding and great respect as she continues to be a role model for her local and global community.