A 14-year-old Lauren McDonald used to lace up her spikes and sprint through the curves on the track at West Essex High School.
The Fairfield, N.J. native went on to be a Division I pole vaulter and a school-record holder for Monmouth University where she captained both the indoor and outdoor track and field teams, winning eight-straight conference titles during her tenure.
Now, at 24, McDonald is back on the West Essex Knights track dripping blood, sweat and tears as she trains for the next chapter in her life – a dream to become an Olympian in skeleton or bobsled for the United States.
“After I finished track, I was kind of lost,” McDonald said from the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. “It was just such a mental struggle. (Being an athlete) becomes part of who you are.”
McDonald graduated as a decorated Division I athlete, holding the indoor track school record in pole vault, an individual indoor track MAAC Championship Title and several All-East accolades. She hoped to continue competitive pole vaulting with the Apex Vaulting club, but her track career was cut short when she suffered from four torn ligaments to her ankle. Despite trying to make a comeback, McDonald finally realized she wasn’t able to compete at a high level in pole vaulting anymore following her injury.
“At that point I stopped doing track, but I was like ‘well I don’t want to not be an athlete anymore, I’m not ready,’” she said.
Once an Athlete, Always an Athlete
It was Monmouth Strength and Conditioning coach Amanda Kuperavage who first encouraged McDonald to do the USA Bobsled & Skeleton Combine Test.
Kuperavage had previously coached former track star Kristen Hurley at Gardner-Webb University. Hurley went on to make the USA Bobsled National Team and Kuperavage, having seen similarities in the builds of Hurley and McDonald, thought McDonald could go on to do the same.
McDonald decided to go for it.
On June 15th she signed up for the July 15th combine in Geneva, Ohio where she would be tested on her speed and strength. Athletes must score at least 500 points in the combine to advance to a rookie camp for bobsled and skeleton.
She scored 501.
A Lifelong Dream
McDonald was invited to a rookie camp with the USABS at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. for a week in August. From there she was asked to come back one week every month for the rest of the year.
Being employed as a full-time history teacher at Bloomfield High School, McDonald was able to work with the school system on figuring out a schedule so that she could keep her job. Later, she was invited to come up for a three-month extended stay in Lake Placid as part of the Elite Development Team where she is currently training in hopes of making it the 2022 Olympics.
While she’s grateful to the Bloomfield High School system for working with her, she had to take a pay cut and knows full well that the school may not be able to continue to accommodate her situation in the coming years.
“The way I view it is that I’m never going to get this chance again,” she said. “I can be a teacher for the rest of my life. I love my job… but to possibly be on a National team for the United States, to have the opportunity to possibly one day make an Olympic team… that’s a life-long dream. Athletes chase that their whole life.”
As the United States doesn’t pay the members of the USABS National Team, the athletes must support themselves with part-time jobs and gofundme accounts.
“You’re basically on a whim and the love of the sport,” McDonald said. “It’s 100 percent worth it. It’s not comfortable to live on half a paycheck but if that’s what has to be done, then I’m more than willing to do it.”
Making the Sacrifice
As part of the Elite Development Team, McDonald has gravitated towards skeleton, a one-person sled, while also keeping her options open to compete in a two-person bobsled. The next step for her is to make the National team and complete both a North American and International circuit with hopes of being named to the Olympic team come 2022.
It’s not an easy life for the athletes as McDonald detailed that she generally trains a minimum of five hours a day, eats bland meals of grilled chicken twice a day and doesn’t have much of a social life.
“There’s a lot that nobody sees… you’re banged up, your body hurts… but for me I’ve just always felt like that was where I needed to be,” she said. “To not be working hard physically in a sport, I just have always felt an emptiness without that. That’s just where I always feel better.”
Despite being one of the top rookie females in the country for USABS, she still gets star struck training in the same center as Olympians, like Lolo Jones, who came from a track background just like McDonald.
The season ends March 11 and McDonald will come home to Fairfield, N.J. to return to her normal life of teaching all day. This time, however, she will be training all night with one goal in mind – representing USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
“Just being able to train and wear a USA jersey, there’s nothing better than that,” McDonald said.
To support McDonald’s Olympic dream, you can donate through her gofundme account here: https://www.gofundme.com/lauren-mcdonald-2022-olympics