By Hayden Swope

Andover’s Olyvia Pugh knows a lot about putting in work over the offseason. The second team all-league athlete spent countless hours training for the upcoming season.

“I train all year round to push myself to be at my highest level,” Pugh said. “I would train throughout the week for Kansas Rush Wichita 05 and then I would train at Ultimate Academy two to three times a week. I also have been focusing a lot on strength training at Optimal Performance to work on getting stronger.”

While every athlete looks to grow and improve throughout the season, Pugh is also looking to bring it all home in the postseason.

“My biggest goal this season is to win state before I graduate,” Pugh said. “It’s my last chance and I really want to go out strong. I think achieving this goal starts with focusing on one game at a time. When it comes to stats I try not to get too tied up with them. Obviously I love scoring goals and I love assisting almost just as much, but I also love winning.”

Being a stud on the soccer field isn’t the only thing Pugh has accomplished at Andover.

“I played tennis for Andover my freshman to senior year,” Pugh said. “Freshman year was my first time playing tennis and I put in quite a bit of work that summer to prepare for tryouts. I think tennis is an amazing sport to pair with soccer because you have to have so much footwork.”

Pugh plans to continue her soccer career after graduation while also preparing to head into the medical world.

“I will be attending college at the University of Missouri Kansas City where I am going to play soccer and major in biology on a pre-med pathway,” Pugh said. “My career plan is to go into some area of medical research or engineering.”