Double the Drive

Practices, meetings, team-building activities, and, of course, the games and meets themselves are enough to keep a student-athlete busy, at least until the offseason. But for students who participate in more than one sport, there is no offseason. When one sport ends, another begins, with a whole new training regimen and goals.

Olivia D’Aulerio ’26 somehow makes this balancing act look easy. She’s a forward on the Haverford women’s soccer team in the fall and a sprinter in track and field in the winter and spring. What’s more, earlier this year, the New Jersey native broke the College’s record in the 400 meter, which has stood since 2011. D’Aulerio, a psychology major, manages to excel at both sports while balancing school work, extracurriculars, and a sophomore year that included being a Residential Community Advisor (RCA) with first-year students as part of the Customs program.

D’Aulerio spoke to Haverford magazine about how she finds balance, the challenges she faces, and why she’s so passionate about staying in both sports.

Soccer was her first passion before she discovered a love of running: 
I started running track in high school as training for soccer. I was always told I was fast, and I thought maybe I’d be good at it because of my speed on the soccer field. But then I fell in love with track. I can’t say which sport I love more. Soccer is more fun, but in track and field, I get to see results more tangibly. I can see my hard work pay off in my improved times or by how much easier practices get.

The training for one sport doesn’t necessarily translate to the other:
In my freshman year, I finished my track season in the spring and the soccer team had a trip to Costa Rica in May of 2023. I got to play, but it was the first time I told my coach that I needed to sit out because I was out of shape. I had been focusing on my speed in track, but I realized how much endurance really matters for soccer. So I had all summer to get my endurance back into shape for the fall when soccer season began. In track, we focus more on technique and form rather than distance.

Juggling offseason team bonding and the sport that’s in season is a challenge: 
It was harder to balance everything in high school, where I’d go from track practice in high school to my house for dinner, then to club soccer at night. My approach at Haverford is to prioritize the sport that’s in season. During track season, there are offseason events the soccer team holds like meetings, team dinners, or our spring training program. I have to miss some of those because I have practice or need to do my training. It’s all about communicating with my teammates so they know that my priority is whatever sport is in season. They understand and no one gets upset. But I also make sure to carve out time to have a separate dinner with them or to show support at an a cappella concert they’re singing in so I’m not isolating myself away from the team. Luckily, Haverford is a small school, so I’ll see my teammates around campus and in the Dining Center, which helps.

The key is focus: 
I’m a very determined person and I’m competitive, in general. You should see me on game night with my family. When I visited Haverford, I saw the indoor record for the 400 meter posted and I thought, “I can totally get there.” I was a few seconds away from it. Even though I had my doubts and might have felt out of shape at certain moments, I put in the hard effort in every workout and trusted my coaches and the training program, and I also trusted myself to give my all. I could see myself getting closer and closer to that record, which I tied at the conference meet. Then, at a meet at Tufts, I did it. My next goal is to break the outdoor 400 meter school record and to make it to the national championships.

Why not concentrate on one sport? There’s a good reason for that: 
When I was younger, my mom and dad put me in some different sports, and I also acted in plays, learned the piano, and did Irish dance. I was able to do so many things and they were so much a part of my identity. I see myself as a soccer player, a runner, and a musician, and I’ve worked so hard to maintain those parts of myself that I really enjoy. Track and soccer feel like they give me my purpose. [They are] why I’m here at Haverford. I can’t stop now.

— Charles Curtis ’04