Olivia Raya begins her sixth season at Illinois College in 2020-21, working primarily with throwing events.
In her first season, the throwers took away a conference title in the Women’s Hammer, Men’s Discus, and Men’s Javelin, totaling four All-MWC places. Additionally, the throwers recorded nine top-five distances in various events. Taylor Duffy set a school record in the women’s hammer with a throw of 157-7, beating the previous mark by 16 feet, and Brant Bess set a school record in the men’s javelin.
The success continued for IC throwers in 2017. Bess again set a school record in the javelin and was a MWC champion, while five others joined him in receiving All-MWC recognition.
In 2018, Bess, Anthony Flores and Jenna Kennedy all earned All-MWC honors at either the MWC Indoor or Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Bess won a third straight MWC title in the javelin while setting another new school record in the event with a throw of 195’10. MacKenzie Heinz also laid claim to the school record in the women's indoor weight throw with a toss of 46’11, breaking a 13-year old record.
2019 was another successful season for the Illinois College throwers. At the MWC Indoor Championships, Flores was All-MWC in the weight throw, setting a school record with a distance of 54'11.25. Jenna Kennedy was also All-MWC in the weight throw after setting a school record in the event earlier in the season. At the MWC Outdoor Championships, Flores was once again All-MWC in the discus and hammer. In the hammer throw, he took down an 11-year old school record with a distance of 180'9.
Though the 2020 season was unfortunately cut short, the accolades continued to pile up for IC throwers. Renee Hartman and Elizabeth Bowns earned All-MWC honors at the Indoor Championships in the shot put and weight throw, respectively. On the men's side, Anthony Flores was All-MWC in the weight throw and eventually would earn All-American honors in the event, finishing 16th nationally going into the NCAA Division III Championships. His distance of 59'3.50 at a last chance meet before the national meet set a school record in the event for the fifth time on the season.
All told, the Blueboy and Lady Blue throwers have combined for 58 top-five distances in school history in five seasons under Raya, and Bess has been honored as a USTFCCCA All-Midwest Region selection in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Raya graduated from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where she set a school record in the hammer throw and was Mountain West Academic All-Conference in each of her four seasons. Following her collegiate career, she began coaching with a graduate assistant position at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. While there, she helped guide two All-American Discus throwers, two school record holders and the second place finisher in discus for all of NCAA Division II. She received her Master of Science in Education with a concentration in Kinesiology in 2015 from Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
Following Texas A&M-Kingsville, Raya made coaching stops at Cal State Fullerton and at Orange Lutheran High School.
Raya is American College of Sports Medicine certified as a personal trainer and is Eleiko Strength Certified. She also holds a Throwing Event Specialist Certification through the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
