Is Linden’s Olivia Burke the Flint

CLIO, MI – Has there been a more successful female spring sports athlete in the Flint area this year than Linden's Olivia Burke.

It's highly unlikel.

Many local athletes play two sports at the same time but few if any have had the type of success Burke enjoyed this year.

In soccer, she helped the Eagles win the Metro League championship with an 11-0 record before the Eagles won a Division 2 district championship.

In softball she helped the softball team finish second in the Stripes Division with a 16-4 mark.

And just in case all of that isn't enough, she was named to the All-Metro first teams in both sports.

It makes you wonder when she has time to eat, sleep or study.

"It's definitely hard work, definitely making a schedule and staying on top of it and putting in the hard work for each sport," Burke said. "You have to make sure you’re putting 100 percent into every sport. So that's what I do.

"It's very, very cool (making first-team all-league in softball and soccer). Very big honor and awesome achievement from both teams. It's honestly great that both coaches put in the hard work so I could do that.

"They actually worked together very very well."

Burke plays the outfield and third base in softball.

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A year ago, she was honorable mention All-State after helping Linden finish second in the Stripes Division. She batted .525 with seven home runs, 63 RBIs and 51 runs.

This season, she batted .500 with six homers, 23 extra-base hits, 62 RBIs and only five strikeouts in 122 at-bats as Linden finished the season honorable mention in Division 2 in the coaches’ rankings.

She has committed to Lawrence Tech for softball.

Because she committed to Lawrence Tech before soccer season started, she didn't get any offers to play that sport although she said Lawrence Tech might be interested in having her kick for a couple of games for the football team next season.

Did we mention Burke was also on the Linden football team last fall, the football team that played in the Metro League championship game and won a district title?

She was the backup kicker and was 1-for-2 on extra points.

"Football didn't interfere with my spring sports and I absolutely love the team," she said.

Softball is Burke's favorite sport and when she had to make a choice between that and soccer, she chose softball.

Unfortunately, the Eagles’ softball season came to an end Saturday in a 6-2 district semifinal loss to eventual champion Goodrich.

The prevented her from winning three district championships in the same school year.

That's the bad news.

The good news is the soccer team is still alive and will play DeWitt at 7 p.m. today in the Division 2 regional semifinals at Linden.

Burke is in her first season playing high school soccer but she was a soccer goalie as a kid and when the Eagles needed somebody to man their net, she gladly stepped up.

She has backstopped the Eagles to a 16-2-1 record and is obviously one of the reasons Linden has allowed six goals all season.

Burke missed five soccer games when there was a conflict with softball but coach Kevin Fiebernitz said midfielder Nicole Horst filled in capably in goal.

Linden was No. 10 in the coaches’ final Division 2 rankings and Burke likes the Eagles’ chances of going even deeper into the playoffs.

"We are capable of going very, very far as long as we put in our work and everybody does their job and our defense stays in their own (end) and our midfield does all the moving around and the forwards do all the shooting," she said.

"As long as we’re working in harmony."

Flint-area regional soccer pairings

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