Thirty years ago, Stacey Schroeder-Watt was the best high school discus thrower in the United States. But she lived in a world not yet ready for a woman of her traits. She plowed through anyway.
Powerful, athletic and intelligent, Schroeder-Watt grew up in a society still breaking free from thousands of years worth of ideas about what the role of a woman should be and how they should look.
As a senior at Grand Island in 1992, Schroeder-Watt obliterated the New York state record in the discus and had the best mark in the country, albeit to little fanfare. Yet her throw of 172 feet is not only still the state record, but it hasn’t been sniffed.
Encouraged by her parents to be inquisitive and adventurous and instilled a confidence from Grand Island coaches and teachers that helped offset some of the stigmas of being a muscular woman in hormone-filled high school hallways, Schroeder-Watt capitalized on her talents.
She was awarded a full Division I athletic scholarship — the NCAA limits women’s track and field programs to award only 18 scholarships per year to fill an entire roster — to the University of Florida, where she was a two-time All-American and placed in the U.S. Olympic Festival and Pan-American Games.
That opened doors for medical school and is now the chief of service in the department of anesthesiology at Kaleida Health and a professor of anesthesiology for the University at Buffalo. Still, she is pushing younger athletes and speaking out to clear the remaining barriers left in women’s athletics.
“It took me a while to realize that was a gift I used,” Schroeder-Watt said. “I promote it so hard because I know the struggles I went through with body image, with confidence, with celebrating who you are and the gifts you’re given and trying to impress that upon girls now who want to go into the throwing events and want to do well, but have this negative image of a female thrower.”
Curiosity, or perhaps an arrogance that comes with childhood, first drew Schroeder-Watt to track and field. Her mother, Andrea, was then playing semi-pro softball and a young Stacey saw athletes awkwardly heaving a ball.
She still doesn’t remember who the team was, but does recall meandering over to ask if she could try. The 11-year-old impressed the coach enough that he implored her parents to bring her back to train. She never returned, but came back to track and field as a middle schooler.
Once joining the Vikings, it was clear that Schroeder-Watt was a prodigy. She was an all-league performer in basketball and volleyball, but she was a superstar in the discus and shot put.
Schroeder-Watt went on to win five Section VI shot put championships and four in the discus. She won state championships in both events in 1991 and 1992, earning All-American honors both seasons.
“We didn’t come from a background with a ton of resources,” said Schroeder-Watt, who was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. “That was my ticket to a full scholarship, a career and access. I had to take it from there, but the doors opened as a result of the hard work I put in during high school.”
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Memories of the most memorable day of her high school career return vividly for Schroeder-Watt. On May 9, 1992, the Jamestown Classic was graced with perfect throwing conditions. She was creeping up, but was still more than 7 feet shy of the record of 162 feet, 1/2 inch, set by Amityville’s Diane Pugh in 1979.
She surpassed 161 feet on an early throw at the meet and eventually uncorked a throw that has yet to be matched in the state, and at the time, was 11 feet shy of the national high school record. SHe never achieved a better throw for Grand Island, but her state-winning toss of 166-5 a month later is still a state meet record.
Schroeder-Watt, whose shot put mark of 49-5 was also top-five in the country in 1992, received some recognition at the time, but the internet was in its infancy, social media wasn’t thought of and track did not receive the notoriety of popular team sports like baseball, basketball or football.
“Being a woman, being powerful physically and mentally, at that time 30 years ago, wasn’t popular,” Schroeder-Watt said. “I didn’t have a following in high school. My coaches, my teachers celebrated it, but among the other athletes, I don’t think the respect for the events was there. I don’t think the respect for women in those events was there.”
Respect for female athletes has grown rapidly over the years. When Title IX was passed in 1972, only 294,015 girls played high school athletics. The number grew to 1.9 million when Schroeder-Watt graduated from Grand Island in 1992, still far less than the 3.4 million reported by the National Federation of State High School Associations in 2019.
Females accounted for 42.9% of high school athletes and had more than 62,000 fewer opportunities than men to compete in NCAA sports, despite women accounting for nearly 51% of the country’s population. But nothing will stop Schroeder-Watt from stumping for women’s athletics, particularly power sports.
Since 2000, Lancaster’s Melissa Kurzdorfer is the only thrower in the state to come within 10 feet of the discus record, throwing 162-8 in 2010. Still, Schroeder-Watt not only believes the record will be broken, but she yearns for it to happen.
“There is someone out there that is young and looking forward and is a powerful, effective young lady who is just roaring to go and is just going to destroy this record,” Schroeder-Watt said. “She’s out there or she’s going to be out there. I don’t know when it will happen, but I hope I’m around to see it and I’d love to be there when it falls.”
Nick Sabato can be reached via email at nick.sabato@gnnewspaper.com or on Twitter @NickSabatoGNN.
