Oklahoma State University Athletics
Schultz Twins Emerging At Oklahoma State
April 21, 2009 | Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
By Jordan Lindley
Fans of the Oklahoma State women's cross country and track teams have been seeing double this season with the freshman tandem of Camille and Courtney Schultz.
The twins from Cloudcroft, N.M., came to OSU in the fall as a pair, and that is how they intend to stay.
“We have grown up together all of our lives; it was not even a question to attend different colleges,” Courtney said. “It would have been weird not having your best friend there. It has made the adjustment into college way easier.”
Growing up in New Mexico was a great experience according to the twins.
“One of the most amazing things we love about New Mexico is the diversity, rich culture, and wonderful food,” Camille. “New Mexico is truly the land of Enchantment. Where we went to school was at 9,000 feet. We would train in high elevation and other days, drive just 15 miles and train at lower elevation at 4,500 feet. We got the best of both worlds.”
Being a twin has its advantages, according to the sisters, including always having someone to train with.
“I have someone I can always talk to, hang out with, and also train with wherever I go,” Camille said. “I always have a friend I can trust and rely on.”
While the twins agree that they have many differences, people still get them mixed up.
“Everyone we meet will tell us that we look exactly alike,” Camille said. “We then tell them that once you get to know us, we have a lot of differences in our facial appearances.”
Some twins are bothered by similarities to their sibling, but Camille and Courtney have actually grown more similar over the years through their own individual development and choices.
“When we were younger, we competed in different sports and hung out with different people,” Camille said. “We have very different personalities, but now we have the same friends and clothes. We enjoy the same hobbies and have the same taste in almost everything.”
Whether it was when they were younger, or now at the college level, the sisters have done almost everything together.
“We have done everything together including pageants, volleyball, tennis, track/cross-country,” Courtney said. “On down time at our home, we enjoy painting beautiful New Mexican sunsets and southwestern scenery. Every assignment is done together. This enables us to have twice the mind power on a particular area of study. We were also involved with Big Brothers/Big Sisters where we were ‘Bigs' to twin boys.”
Although both twins embrace their bond, they also try to keep a sense of individuality.
“I try to dress differently from her,” Courtney said.
The twins' mother had them dressing alike until the third grade, and they still have trouble not matching because of their similar tastes.
“Even now, it's hard not to dress alike because we have the same taste,” Camille said. “There are times when one of us will have to change because we will walk out the door wearing similar outfits.”
Dressing alike isn't the only thing they do together.
While one of the myths of twins is that they can talk to each other through ESP, the Schultzes said otherwise.
“The closest thing we have to that is our similar thoughts,” Courtney said. “We are usually thinking the same things. One time I was in one end of the house and Camille was in the other. My mom said we started singing the same song at the same time and even the same words. It was pretty funny.”
The Schultzes even tried to pull a switch on people when they were younger to confuse friends and teachers on who was who.
“In elementary we would wear the same earrings every day,” Camille said. “One day we thought it might be fun to switch earrings so people would get us confused. It did not work however”
While teachers sometimes get them mixed up in classes, they aren't the only ones that get a little confused by their physical likeness.
“Courtney was talking with one of the coaches and shortly after leaving to get stretched I walked outside,” Camille said. “The coach then says ‘Courtney, Courtney!', thinking I was Courtney. I then said ‘I'm Camille, and my sister and I are wearing different colored shirts."
Both twins began running cross country during their junior year of high school and college coaches immediately became interested in the package deal.
“It's funny, part of the reason why we were recruited in high school was because we were twins,” Courtney said.
Head coach Rene Sepulveda started recruiting the twins in October of 2007, and was impressed by their work ethic.
“I watched them run in a cross country meet at Rio Rancho, New Mexico,” Sepulveda said. “They finished about one minute ahead of the rest of the field.”
While he understands their closeness as twins, Sepulveda says that the twins have grown this past semester.
“They are just now starting to become a little independent of each other,” Sepulveda said. “They are now in different training groups sometimes this spring. Courtney usually does most of the talking, but both are probably the most supportive girls I have coached.”
The twins redshirted this past semester for cross country due to surprisingly similar injuries.
“One thing that struck me as strange is that they both had the same injury on the same knee, at the same time this fall for cross country,” Sepulveda said.
The Schultzes considered many factors while trying to decide where they wanted to go, but a few things stood out more than others.
“We considered the quality of education, level of competition, the people, the coach, and the weather,” Camille said. “We had to consider the weather because we are from a place where the climate is dry and hardly ever windy, so we had to take the wind into consideration. There were too many positive things about OSU to turn it down.”
While they had some trouble adjusting to the college atmosphere, both twins are happy with their decision.
“It was definitely a challenge at first,” Camille said. “We were not used to the training. We really do love it now that we have adjusted. It is a whole different ballgame in college for competition, it encourages us to push ourselves and be the best we can be. It is blessing to have the opportunity to train with other athletes that love the sport as much as we do, if not more.”
