Oliver sisters head to Cal Poly
Vaca High twins Aspin and Makayla both earn athletic scholarships
When Vacaville High School head track and field coach Darren Coleman saw the speed of Makayla and Aspin Oliver playing soccer as freshmen, he knew he wanted them on his team.
He convinced the twins, now seniors, to run track for the Bulldogs. Needless to say, he has not been disappointed.
“They are probably the best athletes I've coached in quite a long time, guys or girls,” Coleman said. “They are willing to practice constantly. Even when I want to give them a day off, they ask me when they are going to practice. They are very dedicated athletes.”
That dedication has earned them athletic scholarships to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which they will attend together in the fall. They participated in a signing event in the Vacaville High gym on Dec. 22, with social distancing due to COVID. They had their official signing that evening at home via a computer video hookup.
“I was the first one who decided that I wanted to go to Cal Poly,” said Aspin, who is minutes older than her sibling. “And it was mainly because we had gone on a visit and I just fell in love with the campus and we talked to the coach many times and we just had a great bond over the phone. At first I was like, ‘ Makayla I'm going to do it but there's no pressure. But of course I want you to go with me. Let's go together!'”
“I think I was more hesitant because I was nervous and it's a big decision,” Makayla said. “But once Aspin told me that she wanted to commit it eased me a little bit because I realized I could go to an amazing school with a great track program and be with my sister. So it was like a win-win-win.”
Coleman, who helped the girls during the recruitment process, said, “Cal Poly has a very good program. The girl that won the 100 meters in the state two years ago transferred
there. So they have a very young group of girls that should be very talented.”
The girls’ older sister Khiely Jackson ran track in high school.
“She decided one year to do summer club track and our mom kind of threw us in it so we could have something to do,” recalled Makayla, who was in sixth grade at the time. “And watching her run and running with her was really fun and that’s what made us decide to run track in high school.”
It also took a little persuading of their mom by Coleman to have the girls concentrate solely on track and leave soccer behind.
“Aspin ran freshman year, but Makayla was injured,” Coleman said. “Sophomore year Makayla ran, but Aspin was injured. And that’s why I had to go talk with her mom, I know they like soccer, but they have to get away from soccer because they are getting injured. Makayla played one more year of soccer because she didn’t want to leave her friends and she was one of the best players on the team. Last year was the first year they were going to run together, in the same meet, in the relay.”
Unfortunately, that never happened, as COVID shut down the high school track and field season.
“We didn’t grow up running track. We grew up playing soccer,” Makayla said. “And unfortunately we had a lot of injuries with soccer. So track was our outlet to safely push ourselves to our limits… And there is so much to learn. You’re never done learning in track, there is always something new to try and push yourself to do better.”
“Track is one of the ways that we get to spend time together because we are both busy people,” said Aspin. “And also our relay team are amazing people to be around. Plus we both enjoy the physical aspect of it, the challenge of pushing your body to the limits.”
If COVID relents, the two should be able to run together this spring. Makayla runs the 100 and 200 dashes and the 4-by100 and 4- by- 400 relays and also competes in the long jump. Aspin primarily runs the two relays and the 300-meter hurdles.
As a sophomore in the Monticello Empire League Championships, Makayla won the 100 in 12.06 and the 200 in 25.32. Since then she has turned in an 11.9 in the 100.
The two are so much alike that the only time they ever officially competed together they finished in almost a dead heat. They were 13 in that 100-meter meet.
“It was so close the officials were amazed,” Makayla said. “Everyone was saying our legs were in synch. I think because Aspin leaned forward more right before she crossed the finish line she won barely.”
And they both have 4.2 GPAs.
“They are really close. They support each other very well, and they push each other very well,” Coleman said. “They are very good with other kids. They are always supportive of everyone else.”
They have stayed in shape during COVID, working out with Coleman six days a week.
“For a while we weren’t able to do much except for little workouts at home,” said Makaytla, “We live right across from Al Patch Park, so we can just walk over and make up our own workouts. In the summer there was a meet in Las Vegas that we went to and we were joking because it was so hot, 114 degrees, With the new track at Vaca High we’ve been able to have practices there. We get a small group of people and we do workouts there with coach Coleman.”
The girls are excited to stay together in college.
“Our mom was saying that we should not room together because it would be cool to meet new people,” said Aspin.
But the girls, who are as close as twins can be, might have their own thoughts on that subject.