Service Credit Union Student-Athlete Spotlight: Lisa Olsson & Nick Guadarrama

By Cian McCormack
Special to UNHWildcats.com

This week's Service Credit Union Student-Athlete Spotlight features Lisa Olsson and Nick Guadarrama.

Lisa is a junior on the women's ski team and is a native of Stockholm, Sweden. She has had major success while skiing for the Wildcats as she was named to the NCAA All-American Second Team in 2019 by placing seventh in the giant slalom event at the 2019 NCAA Skiing Championships. Lisa is majoring in Business Administration, and with her great success in the classroom she was honored by being selected to the National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team in 2019.

Nick is a junior forward on the men's basketball team from Newington, Conn., and he is currently studying Sports Management and Leadership. He has been a huge contributor to the Wildcats as he played in 29 of 30 games in the 2019-20 season with 26 starts. Nick led the team in points, offensive rebounds, and field goal percentage. He finished top 10 in the conference for many individual statistics. He was also named to the 2019-20 All-Conference Third Team and was voted the America East Fans' Choice Player of the Year.

Now let's get to know both of these student athletes:

Q&A WITH LISA

What does it mean to you to represent your country of Sweden here at UNH?

I enjoy it. Sweden is not that big of a country so many people don't know too much about it. I'm always happy to talk about where I'm from when someone is interested. I also think it is fun that there are a couple of Swedes at the school, and a bunch of Norwegians on the ski team too. I feel like all of us are enjoying representing the Scandinavian countries together.

When did you start skiing? Did you always have the dream to ski collegiately in America, if so when did you begin to gain interest from the coaches here at UNH?

My first experience with skiing was riding along in my dad's backpack when I was one. I got to try for myself after I had turned two.

When I graduated from ski academy in Sweden I knew I wanted to keep racing, but I also knew skiing was not the only thing I wanted to do. That's when collegiate ski racing became a dream scenario for me.

I was lucky to know a member of the UNH women's ski team at the time. She helped me get in touch with our coach here.

What is your hometown like? Are there any similarities between Stockholm and Durham?

Stockholm is great, one of my favorite cities in Europe! Most parts of town are fairly old, so there are no skyscrapers or massive buildings. The climate is similar to here in Durham. We don't get as pretty of fall foliage as New England does but it's still nice.

My favorite part about Stockholm is that the city is more or less built on islands, so there is a lot of water around. The archipelago outside of Stockholm has over 30,000 islands and is one of the prettiest places I know of. I spend my summer there every year.

What are your favorite things about UNH?

Definitely the people here and the team spirit in the field house. I love that there is a mix of athletes from so many different sports at UNH. I was used to being surrounded by only ski-racers before I came here, so that was a big change for me. It is a lot of fun to get to watch our friends compete on campus during a normal year.

OFF THE SLOPES WITH LISA:
Favorite Color: Dark green
Favorite TV show: New Girl
Favorite Movie: Fast and Furious
Favorite Food: Poke Bowl
Favorite Snack: Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream
Favorite Musical Artist: Avicii
Favorite Pump-up song: On Top of The World, Imagine Dragons
Favorite Phone App: Instagram
Favorite Place on campus: Wildcat Stadium

Q&A WITH NICK

What has been your favorite memory of being on the men's basketball team both on and off the court?

My favorite memories are when we travel to other schools, because these guys are like my brothers. We are always laughing, smiling and having fun.

How has your team been practicing and preparing for this upcoming season? Are you excited about being an upperclassman and mentoring the younger guys?

We are taking it day by day because there is only so much we can control with Covid. We are practicing really hard and are ready for the season to begin. I am excited to be an upperclassman because I have to become a leader on this team and make sure the new players know how hard they have to play at this level of basketball.

When did you start playing basketball? Was it always your favorite sport, or did you play other sports growing up?

I started playing basketball when I was about five years old and I haven't stopped since. I also played football and baseball, but basketball has always been my favorite.

Who has been your biggest inspiration in helping you get to where you are today in your basketball career?

My biggest inspiration was my older brother. Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to beat him in one-on-one. He was older than me so it was tough but every chance we could play we would. It got to a point where I wouldn't want to leave the park until I beat him and sometimes I wouldn't be able to because it got too dark outside.

OFF THE COURT WITH NICK:
Favorite Color: Orange
Favorite TV show: The Office
Favorite Movie: Coach Carter
Favorite Food: Wings
Favorite Snack: Sunflower Seeds
Favorite Musical artist: J Cole
Favorite Phone app: TikTok
Favorite Pro sports athlete: LeBron James
Favorite Place on campus: Lundholm Gymnasium
What is your dream job: Professional Athlete

Check back every Monday to get to know two more Wildcats as part of the Service Credit Union Student-Athlete Spotlight. Thank you to Service Credit Union for sponsoring the Student-Athlete Spotlight.

Previous 2020-21 Student-Athlete Spotlights

Kate Bilyeu (Women's Volleyball) & Patrick Kenney (Men's Skiing)
Faith Bonett (Women's Basketball) & Angus Crookshank (Men's Ice Hockey)
Ava Boutilier (Women's Hockey) & Aidan Sullivan (XC/Track & Field)
Bloem van den Brekel (Field Hockey) & Jacob Gould (Men's Soccer)

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