Recent Timothy Christian graduate Olivia Hoekstra is the school’s 2016-2017 outstanding senior female athlete. She finished sixth in Class 1A in the 400 dash last month.
Finished career with medal at state track meet.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
Recent Timothy Christian graduate Olivia Hoekstra went out on top in more ways than one.
Hoekstra, a three-sport athlete, recently capped her track and field career at Timothy by earning a sixth-place medal in the 400 dash at the Class 1A state meet.
She also recently was named the school’s outstanding senior female athlete, joining fellow recent grad Joey Davidson, who won the male version of the award. The Independent will have a story on Davidson’s accomplishments in next week’s paper.
“I was really happy to have won that,” said Hoekstra. “All my hard work paid off. I certainly didn’t expect to win it though. There are so many good athletes at Timothy.”
Hoekstra competed in volleyball (2 years varsity), basketball (3 years varsity) and track and field (4 years varsity) at Timothy.
“Track would have to be my favorite sport,” she said. “I love the coaches and the team always is fun. I did get nervous in meets and practices all the time because I wanted to do well, but the outcome always seemed to end up pretty well. I knew the coaches always would be proud of me no matter what happened.”
Hoekstra said her favorite event in track and field has been the 1,600 relay. “I’m able to compete with my friends and my sister (Valerie) and that makes it less stressful because I have more people to run with and other people to rely on. It’s not just me out there by myself in the 400.”
Hoekstra is a four-time track-and-field state qualifier, having qualified in at least one different event a year.
“When I took sixth this year I ran a PR (personal record) in the prelims and then another one in the finals at state,” she said. “It was the best way I could have imagined my senior year ending at Timothy and my track career at Timothy.”
Hoekstra said juggling the rigors of three sports with schoolwork never was a chore for her. “It was never very difficult,” she said. “I tried to get a lot done in school during the day and then I would do some stuff at home. You get used to it. My work always got done. There were some late nights, but that comes with it. It was a lot of fun.”
Hoekstra is headed to College of DuPage where she is hoping to run track, “if it all works out,” she said. After COD, she has her sights set on a four-year school with a dietician degree program.
“I want to find a school with a dietetics program. I’d like to be a dietician and pair that with personal training,” she said.
Hoekstra said she’s appreciative of her time at Timothy. “It was amazing,” she said. “I’ve always loved the Timothy community. It helped me excel in sports because I had such good friends and teachers who understood how busy we get. So many people there helped us excel in so many different ways.”
Hoekstra also earned the school’s outstanding band director award. She played French horn and also was part of the orchestra for the school musical.
“I’m definitely going to miss Timothy, but I think I’m ready for the next step,” she said. “I’ll always come back for my siblings (Valerie, a senior-to-be, and Caleb, a sixth-grader-to-be).”
