Pushing for representation in sports journalism

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Lindsay Schnell

By Katie Livermore, CLA Student Writer - October 10, 2025

Lindsay Schnell, ‘09, grew up living and breathing sports. She’s always seen the game—and reporting on it—as something more than just what’s on the field, court or mat.

In a male-dominated field, Schnell has used her identity as a woman to approach stories from a different angle.

When reporting for The Oregonian in 2011, every news outlet planned to write a profile on Kenjon Barner, then a star running back for the University of Oregon football team, leading up to the game against Washington State. 

The previous season’s matchup between the Ducks and Cougars had been a scary day in college football, with Barner leaving the field in an ambulance after being knocked unconscious while returning a punt. 

Instead of writing the typical athlete profile, Schnell asked: “what was it like for Barner’s mom to witness her son’s injury?”

“We know there's so much data about how dangerous football is, and there are a lot of parents who won't let their child play football because of the danger,” Schnell said. “So I called his mom.”

As it turned out, Barner’s mom was afraid of flying. So much so, she hadn’t been on an airplane in 25 years. When she witnessed the play on TV at home in California, she hopped on a plane and flew to Pullman. She was with him when he woke up in the hospital. 

“I wrote through her lens. She hadn't wanted him to play football, and she had tried to discourage it,” Schnell said. “I think that I came at that from a different perspective than a lot of men would.”

Over the years, Schnell has fought for representation of women sports reporters, lending her journalistic talents to The Oregonian, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and more. She’s covered sports in 42 states.

Now, she’s a reporter for The Athletic, a subscription-based sports journalism website owned by The New York Times. 

From humble Oregon beginnings

Raised in Sandy, Oregon, Schnell’s parents nurtured her learning and education. Her dad taught at Mt. Hood Community College and her mom taught at a local elementary school. 

Schnell practically grew up in a gym. Outside of their day jobs, her dad was the college’s basketball coach and her mom was an official. Whether it was playing or watching or debating the game, Schnell’s family, including her two younger brothers, loved all things sports. 

Above all, Schnell’s obsession was basketball. 

“When I was in middle school, I watched so much college basketball on TV,” Schnell said. “I initially wanted to be like a color analyst because I had some very strong opinions. But I also always loved reading and writing. Later in middle school I realized, ‘Oh, these two things fit together.’”

That’s when she manifested her dream of writing for Sports Illustrated, by etching it into her middle school yearbook like a prophecy of the future.

During her freshman year at Sandy High School, Schnell enrolled in an introductory class in journalism. From there, she knew exactly what she would pursue with her life, and committed with full force. 

She was all in. 

After writing as a reporter, Schnell became sports editor of Sandy High School’s student newspaper.

Senior year, she attended the National High School Journalism Convention, went to newspaper camp at Oregon State, and meticulously researched college journalism programs. 

“I knew what I wanted to do,” Schnell said. “I was super nerdy in a good way, and just really leaned in.” 

In 2005, Schnell was named the High School Journalist of the Year, and has started a trend at Sandy High School—three more Sandy students have won the award since.

With her love of journalism and a plan, Schnell was set on attending University of Missouri, considered one of the best journalism schools in the world. 

“I wanted to go so badly,” Schnell said. “I slept in a Missouri shirt every night, and my parents were like, ‘we're not letting you take out that many student loans.’ Obviously, I was 18, so I was very dramatic, and I thought they were ruining my life.”

Meanwhile, Oregon State University’s newspaper, The Daily Barometer, was named Best-All Around Daily Student Newspaper from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2002.

At most other journalism schools, like Mizzou, Schnell would be forced to wait until her junior year to be published in the student paper. The Daily Barometer was different; Schnell could write immediately. 

OSU became the obvious choice. She jumped into reporting for The Daily Barometer, focusing on sports. 

During that first year, Schnell and Leslie Davis, ‘07, KBVR-FM’s station manager, drove from Corvallis, Oregon, to Omaha, Nebraska, to cover OSU in the Men’s College World Series, which culminated in the Beavers’ first baseball national championship. This came after she’d traveled to Oklahoma City to report on the OSU softball team, which was making its first-ever appearance in the Women’s College World Series. 

The two drove through the night, napped in the car in Walmart parking lots, all to see OSU baseball crushed by the University of Miami, 11-1, in their first game. 

“I was like, ‘oh my God, we drove halfway across the country and they're gonna lose,’” Schnell said. “Instead, they won every elimination game. It was really incredible.”

They were there for two weeks. It was both exhausting and rewarding to see the dawn of OSU baseball’s transformation into the powerhouse they are today.

Schnell still remembers the half second of silence among the crowd, when outfielder Tyler Graham caught the final out in Game 3 of the championship series, cementing OSU’s 3-2 win over North Carolina. Disbelief washed over fans. 

“We had no idea what we were doing, but we were at every game, we were at every practice, we were in every press conference,” Schnell said. “It was a really good lesson in being persistent, in trusting your instincts. I was so adamant that we had to be there.”

From the beginning, Schnell was adamant OSU baseball would win the whole thing. And they did. 

At the same time she covered OSU’s CWS run for The Daily Barometer, Schnell also wrote for The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon, and The McMinnville News, bringing news back to local communities from Omaha.

Getting her start

After graduating, Schnell moved on from student journalism to explore freelance work. She covered Oregon sports, particularly the Beavers, and pitched profiles on student-athletes throughout the state. 

By 2008, Schnell was the number two beat writer for Oregon sports for The Oregonian—as a freelancer. 

“I had worked really hard to become better,” Schnell said. “Anytime I was in a press box, and there was a professional journalist there, I was trying to make friends with them, get their feedback. All of those things really helped.”

As a woman covering sports in a male-dominated field, Schnell said the greatest positive is “at halftime in the press box, there’s never a line for the bathroom.” 

All jokes aside, it’s challenging. 

“I was fortunate in that growing up in Oregon, being an athlete in this area, I knew a lot of the people who would eventually become my colleagues and co-workers,” Schnell said. “They knew my family and I as athletes, so I think that did give me a foundation of respect.”

Schnell has always leaned into her unique lens in sports reporting. And it’s paid off. 

“As a woman, you move through the world differently, and so you see things differently, and then you bring that perspective to a newsroom, just like if you're a person of color, a person of the LGBTQ+ community,” Schnell said. “We need more diversity within our industry, especially because we cover a very diverse group of people in athletics. The reporters in the locker rooms and in the press conferences don't always reflect that diversity.”

In late 2009, Schnell ran her Corvallis apartment complex for reduced rent, was a part-time employee at the Hattie Redmond Women’s Center, and worked as a receptionist at a nearby therapy clinic.

All while freelancing for The Oregonian. 

When she finished her day jobs, Schnell headed out to report on OSU’s football practice.

In winter 2010, ESPN hired Schnell as a full-time freelancer, where she focused on high school girls’ basketball recruitment. 

By September 2010, The Oregonian hired her full-time to report on football, baseball and women' s basketball. 

After four football seasons, Schnell would fulfill her dream—working for Sports Illustrated. For the next three years, she built connections, won multiple awards, and refined her craft. 

Then came the lay offs, a common experience among journalists. Schnell describes it as an “unfortunate rite of passage.”

“I didn't have a backup plan,” Schnell said. “All I wanted to do was be a journalist. Within this industry, journalism in general, but in particular sports journalism, it is not nine to five. You work so much. So many weird hours, weekends–and I'm not complaining—but to go from that to nothing was very jarring.”

Four months later, however, Schnell found herself back on her feet. Originally hired to cover men’s college basketball at USA Today, she deviated from sports and moved to the national news desk for three years, covering topics such as domestic violence in Alaska, Catholic Church sex abuse scandals, and more. She moved back to sports full time in July 2022, just in time to cover the World Track Championships in Eugene, the first time that meet had ever been held in the United States. All together, she spent seven years at USA Today, covering national stories and women’s sports.

Calling the shots

Earlier this year, Schnell became a reporter at The Athletic, which has opened a new world for her reporting. 

“I really think The Athletic set the standard within sports journalism,” Schnell said. “They steer the conversation. That's when you get better, is when you're around people that are better than you.”

The biggest change from USA Today to The Athletic was moving from women’s sports to primarily men’s basketball. Still, she finds ways to explore sports through her own lens.

While covering the College World Series this year, Schnell received a phone call informing her she’d won the Billie Jean King Award for Excellence in Women’s Sports Coverage by the Associated Press Sports Editors. This award, created in 2024, aims to elevate journalism in the field of women’s sports reporting, according to the A.P. 

Stories in her portfolio highlighted topics of race, motherhood, mental health, and body image in women’s sports. 

Next, Schnell looks forward to covering more college hoops, and the Winter Olympics in Italy for The Athletic. For now, she resides in Portland and primarily writes remotely for The Athletic. She also teaches the next generation of journalism students at Linfield College. 

"I know it's unorthodox or unusual to work as a national reporter if you don't have a journalism degree or 'traditional' background. In college, my CLA adviser, Polly Jeneva, once told me 'You can create a world-class education for yourself no matter where you go to school.' I really bought into that, and I think my career is proof she was right. I'm really proud to be an Oregon State alum — and die-hard Beaver women's basketball fan, of course."