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Monroe High School girls track team members Olivia and Hilary Pierce have dabbled in a wide variety of extracurricular activities over the years.

It all began with peewee cheerleading when Olivia was in second grade and Hilary was in kindergarten. Since then, they also have participated in basketball, soccer, gymnastics and swimming.

"We've tried it all," Hilary said.

The sisters have competed in multiple events for the Monroe track team this season — Olivia does the 200 meter dash, 100-meter hurdles, 400- and 800-meter relays and, occasionally, the high jump. Hilary competes in the high jump, 400-meter dash and the 1,600-meter relay. Both gravitate toward the relays, as Olivia's favorite event is the 400 relay and Hilary's the 1,600 relay. Olivia usually is the third leg of the 400 relay team and said that she prefers it because she "likes running the curve."

"I can't run in a straight line, so I like running the curve," Olivia said.

Olivia, a senior, and Hilary, a sophomore, were both members of this year's varsity cheerleading squad. It was the first time they got to be on the same squad.

"It was neat because it was my last year," Olivia said. "We've both cheered since peewee, and we never cheered on the same squad."

It is tradition at Monroe for the seniors to come up with the routine for tryouts and teach it to the younger squad members. With the other two seniors busy with prior commitments, Olivia was left as the only one to teach the routine at this week's clinicals.

"She did a nice job," Monroe cheerleading coach Carol Kelley said. "She's very organized, so that helps a lot."

Olivia was given the title of the "great compromiser" by Kelley.

"She had a way of bringing them together," Kelley said. "She is always the one that is smiling and upbeat. People tend to follow her because she's always positive. She was good at tying the whole squad together."

Hilary added her own dimension to the mix.

"She's the perfectionist," Kelley said. "She's the picky one, which is something you need as well."

Olivia, ranked in the top five of her class with a GPA of more than 4.0, is heading to Otterbein College next year where she plans to study art education. Hilary also is carrying a GPA of over 4.0 and wants to attend Ohio State after high school. The pair's father, Jamie Pierce, is an Ohio State graduate, and the two are big Buckeye fans.

"They're both quiet leaders," Monroe girls track coach Dave Donohoe said. "They're the lead-by-example kind of girls."

Contact this reporter at dgedney@coxohio.com.

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