Cary Olson faced a familiar situation when his youngest daughter, Grace Olson, decided to explore new opportunities after three successful seasons playing soccer at St. Cloud State University. Cary himself had once left his hometown in Wisconsin for college in Texas, motivated by the chance to play baseball and study engineering.
Reflecting on his own journey, Cary said, “It just felt like it would be an adventurous thing to do. I got the opportunity to play baseball. That was a big part of it, then I wanted to study engineering.” He met his wife Shelley at LeTourneau University, and together they eventually settled in Iowa, raising four daughters: Daisee, Hannah, Emelyn and Grace.
Grace Olson developed her soccer skills at Valley High School in Iowa before initially deciding against playing college soccer. However, as her high school career ended, she reconsidered and joined St. Cloud State. Her time there was marked by team milestones: the Huskies reached the NCAA Division II national tournament for the first time during her freshman year and continued making progress over the next two seasons.
Olson’s performance earned her repeated second-team All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honors as well as regional recognition from United Soccer Coaches. In 2025, she scored a decisive overtime goal that sent St. Cloud State into the NCAA regional final.
After coach Gretta Macdonald left St. Cloud State for St. Thomas University following Olson’s junior season, Grace began considering other options for her final year of eligibility. “That evening I was thinking, it would be really fun to go somewhere else for my senior year, switch it up from St. Cloud,” she said.
Her father supported her decision: “It was kind of a shock to me,” Cary recalled, “but when I thought it over, it was, go for it, see what happens.”
Montana’s women’s soccer program had also undergone changes with head coach Chris Citowicki departing for Washington State and associate head coach J. Landham stepping in temporarily with a depleted roster. Landham contacted Olson after seeing her name in the transfer portal.
“I showed up in the portal one evening. The next day, J. reached out,” said Olson. “I had other schools reach out but I was super interested in Montana. I really liked my phone call with J.”
She committed to Montana even though the program did not have a permanent head coach at that point and had only 12 players training during spring semester sessions led by Landham.
In February 2026 Stuart Gore was named Montana’s new head coach—a familiar name for Grace’s family since he previously coached at North Dakota during Hannah Olson’s tenure there.
“She said they all liked him a lot and that he had given them a lot of confidence,” Grace recalled about feedback from her sister regarding Gore’s coaching style.
Gore noted similarities between the sisters: “Her sister was a big personality, a great athlete. Grace has the same athleticism… Quiet but deadly… She’s very cool, calm and collected.”
Grace Olson switched majors from nursing to business after transferring to Montana and is now pursuing dual degrees in business management and marketing with plans to graduate in May 2027.
“This has been my favorite semester of school,” she said of attending UM College of Business—recognized as top-ranked among Big Sky Conference universities—for its engaging faculty.
