Johanna Olson

By Katie Velebir
UW-RF Sports Information

Johanna Olson is a captain for the 2006 Falcons women's cross country team. Her four-year career has been filled with many career highlights and memories.

She is a senior and will be graduating in May with a degree in horticulture with the landscape design option and a minor in crops and soils. Olson is a Dean's List and WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll recipient.

Olson is originally from Taylor, Wis., and attended high school there.

When she is not busy running or studying she enjoys deer and turkey hunting, as well as camping. Cross country is not the only sport Olson enjoys; she pretty much loves them all. "I love anything outdoors; basketball, ice skating and especially going to the beach," she explains. Her favorite movie is Return to Me, and as far as her musical tastes are concerned she loves all kinds, although she favors country quite a bit.

Olson has been running cross country since 7th grade and she wasn't planning on running at the college level. That is, until one day during her freshman year she was out for a routine jog when Falcon Head Coach Don Glover approached her and encouraged her to run for the Falcons. She met the team and "the rest is just history," Olson jokes. Now a captain four years later, the enthusiastic runner describes the position as her most memorable career highlight.

Olson's role models include her parents and her two older brothers, who taught her a lot growing up. She loves her yellow lab, Jewel, who is an excellent running partner and keeps her company. One thing that she misses from home is her mother's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The secret is in the homemade strawberry jam -   store-bought simply won't do for Olson.

As a freshman, Olson appreciated the immediate group of friends that she acquired when she decided to join the team. "We are very close. We can always count on each other," Olson explains.

Glover is amazed at her constant enthusiasm and pleasant moods. "I have never seen her crabby," Glover jokes. "The team means a lot to Johanna - she is a leader and positive influence on the younger runners," Glover adds.

After Olson graduates in May, she is interested in possibly moving out west. Once there she looks to pursue a career in the horticulture field with an emphasis in landscape design.