Butler Women’s Track/C.C. Adds Versatile Recruit

Butler track and cross country coach Matt Roe added a top student and athlete to his 2011-12 roster with the signing of versatile Minnesota high school star Mara Olson.  The St. Louis Park High School standout earned all-state honors in three sports and ranked No. 1 academically in her suburban Minneapolis high school class.

“We are excited to Mara join our program,” said Roe of his newest recruit.  “She is an exceptional student, a tremendously well-rounded athlete and was a leader in high school.  Mara was able to run very quick off a limited amount of training.  We believe she has just begun to scratch her potential as a runner, and that she will transition well to running both cross country and track.”

Olson was a six-time state medalist in track and a State 2A champion in the 1600 meter run in 2008.  She finished in the top six in the mile at the state meet in each of her four high school seasons, including a fourth place finish this past season in a personal best time of 5:00.07.  She also placed second in the 3200 meter run twice, with a personal best time of 11:04.0.

Track was just one platform for Olson’s talents.  She was a team captain, team MVP and leading scorer on St. Louis Park’s girls basketball team in 2010-11, and she was a top performer on the school’s girls’ soccer team.  She earned honorable mention All-State recognition in both sports.

Olson, who was class Valedictorian with a perfect 4.0 grade point average, was named recipient of the 2010-11 St. Louis Park Athena Award, given to the school’s top female athlete.