It takes a special, talented and smart teen to compete in three sports at the state tourney level in high school. Olivia Evanson sure fits the bill.
The 18-year-old senior at Maple Grove Senior High competed in the girls’ state gymnastics meet as an all-around contestant before she made it to the state track and field meet as a triple jumper in 2010. Then she signed with the University of Minnesota swimming and diving team on scholarship, after she finished fifth in the one-meter dive at the girls’ state meet last fall.
But that’s not all. Evanson is one of the top students in her class academically (we’re talking 4.0 GPA) and ponders a major in biomedical or chemical engineering. Between calculus and high-performance physics courses, Evanson’s focus balances the intricacies of playing violin in MGSH’s symphony orchestra, too. “The No. 1 thing about [Evanson] is discipline,” says Stacey Benjamin, Evanson’s diving coach since she started in ninth grade. “I see that in everything she does.”
“It's all about time management,” Evanson says when it comes to balancing life. “Sometimes it does get overwhelming. Even when I feel like there isn’t enough time in a day, I know that I can make things work out.”
Evanson says that she’s fairly nervous about the fall, but she didn’t do gymnastics last winter so she could focus on training with the Minnesota Diving Academy. Now armed with more experience, she hopes to make a big splash in the pool as a Golden Gopher. Benjamin is confident: “This is just the start of her success.”
