Citrus College women’s water polo’s Hunter Olivier was named Co-Female Athlete of the Year. The award is given to outstanding student-athletes who display excellence in both athletics and academics.
The sophomore driver ended the season with 60 goals from 100 shots taken, while dishing out 52 assists and earning 82 steals.
Olivier was named to the First Team All Western State Conference East for the second year in a row. Olivier led the conference in assists and ranked second in steals.
These accomplishments did nothing to prepare Olivier for receiving the award.
“I feel overwhelmed,” Olivier said. ”I feel joy, a little shocked because I didn’t know I was being put up for this award.”
Olivier’s overall GPA for the year was 3.18. She made sure to avoid missing class and procrastinating, and Olivier said she feels these habits helped keep her grades up.
Delaney Gappart, freshman co-captain has seen what Olivier is like in both her studies and in water polo.
“She’s the exact same person, inside and outside the pool,” Gappart said. “She carries it in everything she does. She keeps determination in her school work and through everything in the water.”
Olivier will graduate this spring with a kinesiology degree and transfer to University of Redlands.
Citrus College women’s water polo coach, Jennifer Spalding spoke highly of Olivier’s influence on the program.
“I think it’s a huge honor and well-deserved,” Spalding said. “She made such a huge impact on the aquatics program at Citrus. Citrus College is now on the map when it comes to aquatics. She led her team well and she put in the work.”
Updated: June 4, 7:44 a.m.: A previous version of this story misspelled Hunter Olivier’s name. This error was corrected to the correct spelling.
Updated: June 5, 5:58 p.m.: A previous version of this story stated that Hunter Olivier would be transferring to California State University of Redlands. This was corrected to University of Redlands.
