Her efforts were rewarded with the Jim Coiner Award , a first for a female athlete at Hoover High . The award is given to both a male and female water polo athlete in all three divisions of the Central Section of the California Interscholastic Federation . Winners are selected for demonstrating fairness , civility , unselfishness and leadership through their actions in the pool and out .

“ I was really honored ,” Karen said . “ A big part of that was knowing that hard work really does pay off , that people noticed .”

She prides herself on winning in an “ honorable way .” “ I like to think of myself as a very civil player ,” she said .

Players can be nominated by their coaches but are selected for the award by the referees who are able to observe athletes in the heat of battle .

Karen recently completed her senior season , scoring 67 goals . Last year , she scored 100 goals , a goal she had set for herself , not realizing that it would also break the Hoover girls water polo individual single season scoring record . As an example of her unselfish play , it came down to the last game of the season , final five minutes , and she was two goals short of the single-season record . Karen , however , was not focused on the record and her coach last year , Kylie Johnson , had to shout at her , “ Shoot the ball , Karen !” She credits her teammates with feeding her the ball and helping her achieve the record . Karen , who is 6-foot-1 , plays hole set on offense and guard on defense .

She also played basketball as a freshman , but during the season kept thinking , “ Why am I not in the pool ?” She hopes to earn a college scholarship to play water polo .

Karen credits Johnson with shaping her as a player : “ She made me into the water polo player that I am . I owe it all to her .”

Johnson said Karen is “ the perfect example of what a student athlete is supposed to be .”

Her coach this year , Rachel Perry , said Karen works hard in and out of the pool and sets a great example for her teammates . She is a team leader .

“ She runs drills , directs players and overall is one of the main assets to our team ,” Perry said . “ Karen is always ready for a challenge and is the voice of the team .”

Out of the pool , Karen excels as well . She has a 4.26 GPA , is a member of the California Scholarship Federation and is an AP Ambassador , tutoring younger Advanced Placement students and encouraging enrollment in AP classes .

Karen ’ s parents are Shannon Creviston , who teaches biology at Hoover , and Vernon Creviston , a history professor at Fresno State . She has an older sister .

“ When I get my arms up , no one can shoot over that ,” she said .

She is also on the swim team , competing in the 500 freestyle , 200 Individual Medley ( IM ) and 100 backstroke . Surprisingly , Karen did not play water polo until she was a freshman in high school . She had focused on basketball when she was younger but decided to also try water polo in her first fall at Hoover and fell in love with the sport , especially the teamwork aspect .