Summit High School senior Olivia Lyman knew when she hit the turf that something was wrong. 

In the opening minutes of Summit’s homecoming rugby match against Monarch on Sept. 25, Lyman suddenly found herself with room to run. As one of Summit’s most skilled and experienced players this fall, Lyman confidently put power into the pitch beneath her feet, growing closer to the try line with every step.

When Lyman reached the try line, however, the standout athlete was tackled on each side by two Monarch athletes. In a span of a few seconds, the excitement that was stoked from Lyman’s mad dash to the try line was replaced by stunned silence as she lay visibly hurt on the field.

“When I got tackled, I knew immediately that something was wrong, but I didn’t know to what extent,” Lyman said. 

Lyman was helped off the field by the high school’s athletic trainer, Rob Courtney, and was assessed on the sidelines. As the game raged on without her on the pitch, Lyman was soon transported to the hospital for further care where it was determined that she had suffered a spiral fracture in her leg.

Like any competitive, high school athlete, the news was heartbreaking to Lyman. Not only did the news cut her senior rugby season short, but it also threatened her ability to get recruited by universities.

“I was just worried about the game at the time, but after a couple weeks, I was worried about recruitment,” Lyman said. “I was worried about what it would look like for my last couple seasons at Summit.”

While trying to navigate the recovery process, Lyman had another issue complicate her return when an infection formed in her non-broken leg. Spending an entire week in the hospital in order to treat the infection, Lyman grew increasingly worried whether she would be able to achieve her dream of pursuing a sport at the collegiate level.

Lyman was eventually forced to have surgery on her infected leg, further stressing out the flourishing athlete.

“After I had surgery, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be the same player,” Lyman said. “I wasn’t sure if coaches would look at that and not want to recruit me. I also missed so much school, which set things back for certain schools.”

Lyman has been a mainstay in numerous Summit sports programs in the last four years. At one point, Lyman played five sports in a calendar year (rugby, basketball, swimming, soccer and track) before giving up basketball beginning her junior year.

“I moved up to Summit County when I was in the sixth grade and still had the opportunity to play all those sports,” Lyman said. “When I got to high school, it was even more of an opportunity to play those sports, meet new people and meet new coaches. Coming into high school, I didn’t even play rugby. I ran cross-country in the fall. It really opened up a whole new world for me.”

With so much passion for so many sports, Lyman worked tirelessly to recover from her broken leg and infection. Lyman’s hard work eventually resulted in her being in a position to be able to return to the pool this winter where she has excelled.

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It was while Lyman was recovering that her recruitment to a potential university actually began to pick up speed again. Although Lyman believed many teams would not be interested in her as an athlete after so much time off, Lyman resumed conversations with the coaching staffs of multiple collegiate rugby programs.

“This fall season I really started talking to Dartmouth, but it is hard because they are in season as well,” Lyman said. “Since they made it to the national championship, that extended their season. I really started to get in a lot of contact with them once their season had ended. That was when I was talking to multiple schools. I was talking to Sacred Heart and Harvard as well. 

It was eventually an official visit to Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire that solidified Lyman’s college recruitment process. 

“Honestly, it is the community that I felt there,” Lyman said. “I felt like on their team that everyone has their backs there. Everyone is very competitive, but also really considerate and caring. It felt like a close, family community. The school as a whole felt like that.”

On Saturday, Feb. 1, Lyman officially committed to Dartmouth for women’s rugby. Lyman will join two former Summit High School graduates on the Dartmouth women’s rugby roster next fall including 2023 graduate Paola Arredondo and 2022 graduate Jenna Sheldon. 

To be part of the pipeline from Summit to Dartmouth is an honor for Lyman.

“It is an incredible honor,” Lyman said. “I am really excited to get to play with some previous players that have gone to Dartmouth. They are all players that I look up to a lot like Paola and Jenna. They are some of the best athletes I know as well as the most hardworking and determined people I know. I am really excited to continue in that path.”

Over the last four years, Lyman has made numerous memories through sport, but she says that she will never forget the coaches she has had in her tenure at Summit High School.

“I will probably remember my coaches the most,” Lyman said. “They have really been so supportive and gotten me to where I am today. Like Coach (Karl) Barth — I couldn’t have gotten as far in rugby as I have without him. … I will obviously remember my teammates, the school and all the fun times, but I think all of that comes from my coaches.” 

At this time, Lyman is undecided in what she will study while at Dartmouth, but she is interested in pursuing the sciences and the health care field.

Lyman is set to conclude her senior swim season this weekend at the Class 4A state swim and dive meet in Thornton from Friday, Feb. 7, through Saturday, Feb. 8. Lyman will then turn her focus to the spring soccer and track seasons.