Girls' Athlete of the Year: Menlo-Atherton's Tatum Olesen

Those three teams all won Peninsula Athletic League championships, with Olesen being a key component. She would lead the Bears to the 2022 Central Coast Section Division I cross country championship, winning the individual title in the process. She was part of a soccer team that captured the PAL Bay Division championship and earned a first-ever title game appearance in the CCS Open Division tournament, which gave the Bears their first-ever berth in the Northern California regional tournament. She then capped her year by helping lead the track team to the girls’ title at the PAL championships, which she parlayed into a second-place finish at CCS and a seventh-place finish at the state meet in the 800.

And between the cross country and track seasons, she set several personal and school records, all of which leads to Olesen being selected as the San Mateo Daily Journal’s Girls’ Athlete of the Year.

“I don’t know if I would have expected [all the success I had],” Olesen said.

Her coaches, on the other hand, definitely expected it. After a rough start to her high school career, one that began with the COVID-impacted 2021 season, Olesen has evolved into one of the top runners in Menlo-Atherton history.

“She did all the work running in the summer and that set her up for a big year,” said M-A cross country coach Eric Wilmurt. “She seems unflappable at time. She’s always ready to race. She always seems to be able to run the fastest times in the biggest races.”

Focus turned from soccer to running

And to think, Olesen was not really a runner when she got to high school. Her focus for the longest time was on soccer. When she got to M-A, older sister Brooke was already an established cross country runner and Olesen started training with her.

“I was focusing on soccer,” Olesen said. “But my sister ran, so I started.”

But she still wasn’t a runner.

“She had a hard time committing to running. She knew how much work it took,” Wilmurt said. “I don’t think she was into it yet. She still enjoyed soccer.”

But as Olesen started to experience success on cross country courses and tracks, her mindset started to change. She quit club soccer after her sophomore year and was determined to put forth her best running effort heading into the 2022-23 school year.

“The summer (after my freshman year), I had tried to get in some runs, but it definitely wasn’t as consistent,” Olesen said. “This past summer, I wanted to focus more on cross country and we trained more serious throughout the summer and it came together.”

The work paid off. She set personal bests at four different distances — 2.9 miles, 2.95, 3 miles and 3.1 miles — and that culminated with the PAL and CCS individual championships.

She won both titles at a familiar course, Crystal Springs Cross Country Course in Belmont. She captured the PAL crown in a time of 19:24.8, which was a new PR for her. She was a bit slower at the CCS championships, posting a time of 18:33.5 as she led a 1-2-3 M-A finish.

But Wilmurt said the goal in that race was simply to qualify for the state meet. At the 3.1-mile course at Fresno’s Woodward Park for the state championships, Olesen put together her fastest time of the season on the longest course she ran. She finished seventh with a time of 17:45.9.

A soccer champion

Olesen then went straight to the soccer field for her third year of varsity soccer. A wing who would burn down the sidelines, she was responsible for stretching the field and opening things up for striker Val Latu-Nava to do her thing offensively.

The Bears would go on to post an unbeaten PAL Bay Division record of 7-0-3 as they finished the regular season 16-0-5. The Bears finished their season 16-2-5, with their two losses coming in the playoffs to eventual Nor Cal champion St. Francis. They lost to the Lancers in the CCS Open Division final and again in the semifinals of the Nor Cal tournament.

Quick turnaround for track season

There was no rest for the weary, however, as Olesen swapped out her soccer cleats for track spikes. She had only a couple days of training before John Hale, M-A middle distance track coach and assistant for the cross country team, entered her in the first invitational of the track season, the Rust Buster, hosted by Monta Vista.

She ended up winning her signature event, the 800-meter race, in a time of 2:20.11.

“She played soccer all winter when all the other top girls are getting ready for track,” Hale said. “I put her in middle of one of the relays just to get her legs a little bit and she kept on getting faster.”

With a goal of running in the 2:10s by the end of the season, the seconds started melting off her times. Training for the 1,600, the occasional mile and the 800, Olesen would go on to win the PAL title in the 800 and 1,600 and was a member of the 4x800 championship team.

And as the competition ramped up, Olesen’s times continued to fall. She won the PAL 800 in a time of 2:22.86. At the CCS finals two weeks later, Olesen finished second with a time of 2:10.47 for a new PR. She went even faster at the state championships, taking seventh with a new PR of 2:10.25. At the Nike Outdoor Championships last month, she set another personal best, clocking a time of 2:09.28 to finish seventh.

“This was my first year I had done nationals,” Olesen said. “I was definitely nervous, especially being with such high competition. But I think it also helps me to get in a race mindset.”

Teammates pushed Olesen

Olesen can thank the rest of the distance-running teammates for putting her in position to be successful. The competition she got in practice got Olesen ready for big races.

“In my mind, (the team has been) absolutely critical,” Hale said. “These girls love each other. I’m never seen quite the chemistry these girls have.”

Said Olesen: “We all know we can stick with each other. It’s super helpful (having teammates to push me). … I think I definitely (run better) when I’m running against people who are pushing me.”