Alena is a powerhouse for this team every time she steps on the pitch. She was our lead scorer and conversion kicker this year as well as Big 10 Back of the Year. Off the field she is always goofy and has a smile, but also knows when it is time to get serious. Her experience at high level development camps has improved her as both a player and leader for our very young team. This is her fourth year on the team and we will miss her so much when she graduates this month.

Year: Senior

Major: Musicology & PITE

Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI

why rugby?

Because it makes you feel some type of way! There's nothing like it. The people, the game. You can be whoever you want and let everything out! It's a form of personal expression and it changes your life forever!

where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Maybe returning from the Peace Corp. There are so many options who really knows. Playing rugby? If everything (body) holds up.

favorite place in Ann Arbor?

The 5th floor bathroom of the Bell Music Tower. It's beautiful. Or the center of the Law Quad.

who is your biggest inspiration?

This is always the hardest question. I really don't like answering it. It's really just everyone, and everything, and seeing yourself in the context of history and the world. People are amazing.

what is your favorite food?

Mangoes. Not mango flavored anything, or mangoes in anything or mangoes with anything. Just the mango, specifically Philippine mangoes.

favorite Michigan memory?

Late team swimming after our Kent State game in a random public lake at like 9pm early November or something like that! Heat blasting on the way home. But also my first CRCs, we were there to show all our hard work and have fun, and WE HAD FUN, also came out on top of all the challenges that came.

if you were an ice cream flavor, what would you be?

My favorite is green tea ice cream by far!

#alena #olsen #playerofthemonth #december #sisu