She can race down the soccer field with the speed of a sprinter, leap for headers with the spring of a high jumper and keep going with the endurance of a cross country runner.
In fact, Torrey Pines High senior Ashlin Yahr is all of those.
Add the soccer skills of someone who's played the game since her youth, and the result is the San Diego Section's reigning Player of the Year.
First and last, Yahr is a soccer player and expects to focus on that sport once she heads for the Ivy League and Columbia University later this year. Still, she's had good reason for pursuing other sports while also playing club soccer in the fall and spring.
“I love all my sports,” Yahr said, “and I couldn't give up one.”
Yahr has reaped the benefits of cross training at a high level. Last spring she placed fourth in the section track meet in the 400 meters (57.77 seconds) and the high jump (5 feet, 4 inches). Last fall she helped the Falcons cross country team claim a section championship.
“Cross country and track help me a lot to stay in shape for soccer,” Yahr said. “Soccer also helped me for track because I was sprinting so much for soccer that I gained sprint muscles.”
Yahr has aptly balanced sports and studies. She holds a 4.17 grade-point average with plans to study premed in college.
“It's pretty hard sometimes because I might go straight from cross country practice to soccer practice (for club) and then home to do my homework,” Yahr said. “So it takes up a lot of my time, but I try to manage it well.”
To open this season, Yahr recorded four goals as the Falcons, two-time defending section Division I champs, won their first six games, including a repeat title in the Barons Tournament.
“She's very versatile, just a very good athlete,” Torrey Pines coach Dennis Costello said. “What I like about her in soccer is that she's not only fast, but also she's not afraid to tackle. That's for sure.”
The 5-foot-9 forward, who joined the varsity at the end of her freshman season, enjoyed a breakout campaign a year ago with 20 goals and 12 assists.
“I matured in my play from my sophomore year,” Yahr said. “I just had more experience, so that made me a better player. But I didn't think that I would score that many.”
Yahr topped off the season by scoring a golden goal five minutes into overtime to lift the Falcons past Granite Hills 4-3 for the section title and an unbeaten record (22-0-3).
“That was really exciting,” said Yahr, who converted a bouncing midrange shot. “That game was really nerve-racking because it was back and forth, back and forth. In overtime, I really wanted to win. When I finally got the goal, I was just so happy.”
In addition to the section playoffs, the Falcons this season will bid to advance in the new Southern California Regional tournament with a veteran cast that includes Caitlin Allen, Catherine Cabot, Kate Cutting, Kayla Rahon and Siana May.
“We really hope to go to state,” Yahr said. “Personally, I hope to improve my game, just become a better player.”
She certainly has the athletic background to do so.
