PACWEST Best in Class - Cara Dunlop
Cara is a third year Bachelor of Education student athlete at VIU will hopes of becoming a teacher
The last time the VIU Mariners women's soccer team played a game, was the CCAA national championship gold medal match in November of 2019. In the snow and cold temperatures in Edmonton the PACWEST champions fell 3-0 to the Dynamiques de Sainte-Foy and finished with a national silver medal.
Since then the Mariners and the rest of the PACWEST have focused on their studies and keeping in shape socially distanced from teammates. One of those Mariners is veteran Cara Dunlop.
On the field, the middle, is a decorated student athlete winning the PACWEST Rookie of the Year award in 2018, was named the championship tournament MVP that year and is a two-time PACWEST gold medalist. She has also been honoured with the Nanaimo Sports Achievement Athlete of the Year award.
Off the pitch, Dunlop is now in her third year at Vancouver Island University in the Bachelor of Education program. She definitely misses the competition on the pitch however the CCAA Academic All-Canadian has made the best of her extra time by really focusing in on her path to becoming a teacher. She also has aspirations in becoming a coach in the future.
She is highlighted in the PACWEST's Best in Class, a feature focused on the student athletes across the Conference that are leaving their mark on athletics and academics.