Culbertson earns All-Region honors

In a year already full of firsts, the Nevada High School varsity softball team has added yet another item to that list -- All-Region honors.

Olivia Culbertson may only be a sophomore this year, but she already has more experience under her belt as a softball player than some senior athletes. That experience has translated in a big way for her as she became one of five sophomores to make the 17-player All-Region first team roster.

Though several players in the history of the Nevada Lady Tigers softball program have received All-Conference and All-District honors, the Daily Mail was unable to find records of any other player being selected to the All-Region first or second team off of a Lady Tigers roster. McDonald County High School's Ashton Pratt was the only other sophomore outfielder selected to the 2009 All-Region first team that was loaded with mostly seniors.

Culbertson began her softball career as a fourth grader, playing on a traveling tournament team coached by Jim Novak. In the seven seasons she played on Novak's team, Culbertson has built up a number of different skills at nearly every position on the field.

"It just kind of depended on what team I was on," Culbertson said. "But I've kind of just played everywhere."

Culbertson stuck exclusively to her position in the outfield over the course of the 2009 season, but that was certainly not the case last year, when she played second base, third base, catching and even pitching under then head coach Brandi Thomsen.

"Part of it was where she (Thomsen) needed me. You know, she had Jessica (Davis) in right and Shawna (Alkire) and (Jessica) Neely would trade places in center and left. When I wasn't playing at third, I was pitching or doing something else, so it was just kind of whatever she needed."

Becoming a utility player and getting shuffled around the field as Culbertson has throughout her career can tend to make some players frustrated at their lack of a permanent "home" on the field, but Culbertson has openly admitted that, thinking back on the situation, it has made her a better player. That experience at so many different positions on the field has allowed her to develop a much more well-rounded skill set that is rare among young athletes of similar age.

Culbertson actually got her start as a basketball player on Novak's team, but gained a quick interest in softball when she and the rest of Novak's team began playing in the summer. The team aspect of softball that requires each player to rely on the other players around them have been a major contributor to Culbertson's continued interest in the sport.

"Softball is a lot of trust. You know, you have to trust everyone on your team to make a good play," Culbertson said. "It's not just individual play, it's really team-oriented."

That reliance on one another and the trust that the game requires to become a successful team allowed the teams that Culbertson has played for throughout her career to enjoy a lot of success and, she said, led to a major portion of her success as an individual. On top of that, Culbertson credits Novak himself with a large portion of her success as a player.

"He (Novak) kind of helped us out, you know, as far as recruiting and stuff with colleges and that really helps," Culbertson said. "And he got me into a coach down in Joplin who's trying to get me and a few other girls a little more exposure, trying to get us out there. So he's helping out a lot."

This year, along with a very large amount of exposure and attention from colleges, Culbertson led the Lady Tigers in a number of statistical categories. Her five home runs, 21 RBIs and nine stolen bases were all team highs for the season and she was near the top of the stat sheets with a .352 batting average, .800 fielding percentage and .676 slugging percentage as well.

Culbertson spent most of the year fighting to keep the team lead in home runs and RBIs, however, as she and senior Mary Ann Kennon stayed nearly neck-and-neck in both categories all season long. Despite that close race for the team lead in both categories, Culbertson said that the competition never got to either her or Kennon

"We had a lot of people ask us if we were getting any conflict or any tension between us and there definitely wasn't," Culbertson said with a smile. "We just kind of laughed at things like that. It was just fine, we didn't really care."

According to her father, Kent, she has already gotten a number of recruitment letters from colleges such as UCLA, Cornell, the University of Missouri, Ohio State and even Harvard. The "student" portion of the term "student athlete has been the biggest stress point in the Culbertson household and it seems to be paying dividends.

"Our primary focus is their grades and that's been probably the biggest challenge. She was ranked seventh in her class at the end of the year last year," the elder Culbertson said. "I think her GPA was 3.9795 or something. So she's working hard."

Culbertson's parents have both heavily stressed the academic side more than athletics to the point where participation in sports hinges on strong academic performances. This year, as she always has, Culbertson is taking a very heavy course load that consists of two college credit courses.

The nearly perfect GPA that earned Culbertson a ranking of seventh in her class at the end of the 2008-'09 school year has come to be what is expected in order to continue in her athletic endeavors, but Culbertson's parents have continued to make sure that it is a goal that she strives to meet, rather than looked at as a chore.

"We don't want to hold it over their head, but again I think we just come from a region where it's kind of like the old cliche high schools you'd see where sports came first and everything else got moved aside," said her father.

Culbertson is continuing her high school career in softball -- as well as basketball -- with high hopes of moving on to play at the college level while in pursuit of a career in pediatric medicine. Despite her individual successes, however, Culbertson continues to keep her team attitude and spirit about her, giving tremendous credit to her fellow Lady Tigers.

"It's great that we had the kind of talent come out of the group that we did have come out and want to work hard," she said. "We were just really fortunate to have girls that really want to be there. ...

"I think that we were just really well balanced. I definitely think that we all contributed."