Caledonia — Standing outside Ralph E. Meyers Memorial football stadium, Caledonia High School alumna Alena Olsen said she didn’t remember being as young and small as the students she saw walking around the parking lot.
“High school can be such a hard experience for some people, but I did enjoy it and I loved coming to football games,” said the class of 2014 graduate.
A few hours before serving as honorary team captain at the CHS Homecoming football game, Olsen said she remembered wishing she could play football, but ended up discovering her talent for a different sport.
Known back home as a smart student, talented musician and Fighting Scot, Olsen became known to the world this summer as an Olympic bronze medalist from the USA Women’s Rugby Sevens in Paris, the first medal in history for the U.S. Olympic rugby team.
‘She always wanted the ball so bad and she was fearless. When she picked up rugby, we were like, ‘Yeah, that tracks.’
— Carlie Cook, Alena Olsen’s former CHS assistant soccer coach
Coming Up Caledonia
Wearing red, white and blue Nike sneakers on her feet and her bronze medal around her neck, Olsen recalled some of her favorite memories about growing up and going to school in Caledonia.
“I think freshman year was the most fun,” she said. “I think of all my best friends and the shenanigans we got into. I also spent a lot of time in the orchestra room.”
Oslen played violin in the CHS orchestra all four years, in addition to being a featured soloist in the Grand Rapids Youth Orchestra.
She attended football games every Friday night as a student, as it was the “most ‘Caledonia’ thing to do.”
After school hours, Olsen could be found in the gym playing volleyball or outside on the soccer field.
Retired CHS girls soccer coach Steve Sanxter said Olsen was a top-notch student and violinist and a tremendous team player, who played “a bit aggressive” from time to time.
Carlie Cook — Sanxter’s assistant coach, daughter and CHS science teacher — praised Olsen for her compassion and how well she stayed true to herself while achieving success.
“Alena is so tough. She always wanted the ball so bad and she was fearless,” Cook recalled. “When she picked up rugby, we were like, ‘Yeah, that tracks.’”
The Road to Rugby
Olsen said she began her rugby career while a student at the University of Michigan, thanks to meeting the right people at the right time.
“The men’s rugby coach at the time was a USA scout and took me under his wing,” she said. “He brought me to camps and competitions, and gave me the opportunity for national coaches to see me and to start being in the environment of the national team.”
She went on to earn Collegiate All-American in 2015 and 2016 and a nomination to the Collegiate Rugby Championship Dream Team in 2016.
In 2018, Olsen helped the San Diego Surfers claim a Club Sevens National Championship.
Her Olympic rugby dreams seemed lost after not getting selected to compete on the U.S. women’s rugby team in Tokyo in 2021. But they just needed a few more years to come true.
“The years leading (up to) Tokyo, I was training every day … a long two years of putting my head down and doing the hard work,” she said. “It is a long road, but I just remember it is all a part of the process.”
Olsen said it took a long time for her feelings about being selected to play scrum half in the 2024 Paris Olympics to fully set in.
“I felt a lot of pressure going into Paris, and when I read the email (saying she had been selected) I didn’t feel it immediately,” she said. “You don’t really feel like you’ve made it until you step on the field for the first game.”
In the final rugby sevens match, the U.S. women’s team beat Australia 14-12 with a late try by first-time Olympian Alex Sedrick in the final seconds.
Olsen said it felt like she and her teammates cried for 48 hours straight after their final win.
“With rugby, it’s not uncommon that you win a game at the last minute with a big play, and (our last big play) just happened to be in the Olympics. It was so emotional.”
‘Always be a good teammate’
Cheering Team USA from the stands for all six rugby matches were Olsen’s own family, plus former coach Sanxter and his family.
“It was a lot of fun,” Sanxter recalled. “We stayed close to the rugby venue, so we saw every match and got to see her between some of the games and spend time with her and her family after she won the medal.”
Olsen called Sanxter and Cook “amazing people, and I’m so lucky to know them and to have them in my life.”
To aspiring athletes, she offered a few pieces of advice: “No matter what you do, just try your absolute hardest, aim with every ounce of your body and every part of your life toward that goal.”
Also, know “It’s competitive and you’re going to face rejection (and) failure. Resilience is so important, and aways be a good teammate; raising the whole is going to raise you up.”
Read more from Caledonia:
• ArtPrize exhibit honors veterans & their stories
• Former football star from the 1940s takes the field at Homecoming game
