Pampa Harvester Athletes of the Week (September 14 - September 20)

Photos courtesy of Cartershots and M2.Phrames

Olivia Owens is No. 5 and a senior on the Lady Harvester volleyball team. She also participates with the basketball and track teams.

Olivia Owens has been selected as this week’s Athlete of the Week after demonstrating strong leadership, determination and an aggressive approach to competition.

Owens said receiving the honor reassures her that her hard work is being noticed.

“I’m happy to be named Athlete of the Week,” Owens said. “That means that I must be doing something right.”

Away from athletics, Owens enjoys expressing her creativity through art.

“I enjoy drawing and painting when I can,” she said.

For the remainder of the season, Owens hopes to continue developing as a leader while helping her teammates succeed.

“My goals for the rest of the season are to help lead my team and continue to be aggressive,” Owens said.

Owens also competes in basketball and track. After graduating from high school, she plans to pursue a career as a fitness trainer.

In the classroom, Owens said English is her favorite subject because of her passion for writing.

“My favorite subject is English because I enjoy writing,” she said.

Lady Harvester volleyball head coach Kaylee Samulowitz praised Owens’ serving ability as well as her quickness.

“Olivia is such an incredible athlete,” Samulowitz said. “I put her in a position that was fairly new to her this year and she has handled it beautifully. She is such a strong blocker and hitter because of her quickness, and she is our most efficient server. Her serving runs have kept us in so many games this season. Liv is also just such a fun and coachable kid, and all of the girls love to be around her.”

Said Saldierna is a junior runner for the Harvester cross-country team. He has shaved 40 seconds off his time since August. He also participates on the soccer team and plans to run track this year.

Away from competition, Said Saldierna takes just as much pride in his work in the classroom.

“Something people may not know about me is that I am ranked in the top 10 of my class,” Saldierna said. “I also like to run just for fun.”

Saldierna said being selected as Athlete of the Week is an honor and a reflection of the effort he puts into improving each day.

“It is a real honor for me to be named Athlete of the Week because it shows how much hard work I put into every single practice,” Saldierna said.

His goals for the remainder of the cross-country season include continuing to lower his times and reaching another major milestone.

“My goal is to keep cutting down my time until I run under 16 minutes,” Saldierna said. “Hopefully, I can eventually get into the low 15s.”

Cross-country is not the only sport in which Saldierna competes. He also plays soccer and hopes to participate in track.

“I play soccer, and that is mainly my primary sport and the one I enjoy the most,” Saldierna said. “I am also planning to run track if I can. I would like to compete in the mile and two-mile.”

After graduating from high school, Saldierna hopes to continue his education and pursue a career that utilizes his strength in mathematics.

“I plan to attend a good university and maybe become an engineer, or pursue whatever opportunity comes my way,” Saldierna said. “My favorite subject is math because it comes easily to me, and I enjoy solving problems.”

Pampa head cross-country coach Otis Chunn praised Saldierna’s development this season, both as a runner and as a student-athlete.

“Said exemplifies what it means to be a student-athlete. He balances athletics and academics exceptionally well and represents Harvester Pride in everything he does,” Chunn said. “Over the summer, he showed tremendous growth, determination and grit. Said is quiet and soft-spoken away from the course, but when it is time to race, he is focused and driven. He competes not only for himself, but for his teammates.

“Since early August, Said has dropped around 40 seconds off his time and is getting closer to breaking the 16-minute mark. He started the season as someone on the outside looking in when it came to competing at district, but he has quickly developed into a strong competitor. With another year ahead of him, I’m excited about what the future holds for Said and this group. He represents his team, school, community and family extremely well.”

Congratulations to Olivia and Said for representing the Harvesters with pride, dedication and leadership.