[1][2] After having had an initial focus on the decathlon in his youth,[3] he won state titles and set high school records in the discus throw.

[2] In 2008 he ranked second in the discus at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Championships and was in the top ten of the NAIA shot put both indoors and out.

He set a new best of 59.20 m (194 ft 2+1⁄2 in) in Crete, Nebraska that June and made his debut at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships two weeks later, finishing 19th overall.

[4][6] He was a national finalist for the first time at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, ending in seventh place with a best of 60.28 m (197 ft 9 in).

[10] With no World Championships or Olympics being held that year, he instead made his debut on the international track and field circuit, coming fourth at the Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo in Brazil ahead of United States Olympian Jason Young.

[11] He earned his first national selection that year, being part of the team for the Pan American Sports Festival in Mexico.

His throw of 59.90 m (196 ft 6+1⁄4 in) at the meeting brought him a silver medal behind only Cuba's Jorge Fernández, the reigning Pan American champion.

[13][14] He made his IAAF Diamond League debut in 2015 at the Prefontaine Classic, coming seventh among an international field.

[15] Schuurmans had a throw of 66.10 m (216 ft 10+1⁄4 in) in June which, although set in a windy venue, placed him as the favourite for the national championships, having also gone undefeated by an American at that point of the season.