University of Minnesota Athletics
Rachel Nelson Olson - M Club Hall of Fame
Rachel Nelson Olson
Softball, 1993-97
HOF Class of 2007
A 1994 freshman, Mapleton, MN native Rachel Nelson Olson was All-Big Ten second team and NCAA All-Mideast Region first team, led the conference in hits and hit a team-best .365 with 22 multiple-hit games.
As a sophomore she was NSCA All-American third team, NCAA All-Mideast Region first team, All-Big Ten second team and Gopher MVP, leading them with a .380 batting average, 76 hits and 36 runs scored.
In the 1996 season, Nelson Olson was named to the NSCA All-America, All-Mideast Region and All-Big Ten first teams, and set Minnesota single season records in runs scored (65) and hits (93). Paced by her play, Minnesota made the NCAA Tournament.
Her senior season, the outfielder was NCAA All-Mideast Region second team, All-Big Ten second team and team MVP, and earned third team GTE CoSIDA Academic All-American honors. She posted a team-best 71 hits, 45 runs scored and 25 stolen bases, batting .382,
For her career Olson had 313 hits, fifth in the NCAA all-time and school and conference record-holder. Among Gophers, she was first in hits, runs scored (175) and at-bats (810), third in batting average (.386), and fourth in triples (13) and stolen bases (66).
The two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection earned a kinesiology degree and was inducted into the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame.