There is an old adage that college recruiters go looking for athletes.

But for South Kitsap senior Adri Jackson, it was the opposite.

Jackson said she was in Arizona for a club soccer tournament last spring and planned to visit a pair of universities with engineering programs. She e-mailed both and received a response from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University coach Todd Poitras. She visited the campus in Prescott, Ariz., and Poitras came to watch her play.

“I saw him again during the summer at a tournament in California,” Jackson said, “and that’s when I committed.”

Jackson, who was among five Wolves to earn first-team all-Narrows League honors this week, is a standout on the pitch and in the classroom. She maintains a 3.95 grade-point average with a class load that includes Advanced Placement Calculus and Physics, German and engineering.

Before settling on a career in engineering, Jackson contemplated a different direction.

“I was looking at architecture,” she said. “I took some architecture classes here. I knew I really couldn’t design things like an architect. I tried to figure out everything with my parents and they said, ‘Engineering.’ I thought it was a good idea because I like math and science. Engineering sounded right.”

On the pitch, Jackson has helped engineer South’s first state-playoff team since 2011. She has played a variety of positions in four seasons with the Wolves, but is back at forward, where she scored the winning goal on a header from Becca Schoales in a 1-0 victory at Skyview in November 2011 that advanced them to state.

Jackson expects to play center-back in college, but coach Julie Cain feels her “possession” skills have helped South up front.

“She’s just really strong on the ball,” Cain said. “She’s not our fastest player, but she’s so strong on the ball that it doesn’t really matter.”

Jackson has a team-high six goals, including Saturday’s in the 68th minute that propelled the Wolves to a 1-0 win in the Class 4A West Central District Tournament against Gig Harbor at Mount Tahoma, but she is also known for her leadership skills.

Cain resigned during the offseason in preparation for the birth of her third son. She agreed to return in August — just a week before the season began. That meant the team did not have a coach over the summer. Despite that, Cain said, the team’s seniors organized workouts five days a week, and Jackson played a significant role.

“She’s more of a quiet leader, but she’s very highly respected on the team,” Cain said. “I think that’s important because they didn’t have a coach until a week before the season.”

Jackson, one of the Wolves’ captains, said the team also has benefitted from experience. Among the squad’s nine seniors, several played with Jackson on her Harbor Premier club team.

“The rest of the team just fit in with us because we’ve played together for so long,” Jackson said. “It’s natural.”

Through the team’s Oct. 29 match, Cain said 14 players contributed to the team’s 32 goals. Jackson has been the main recipient of that distribution.

“I just sneak them in there,” she said with a laugh.

Jackson said her success is a byproduct of team chemistry.

“I feel like this is the best season we’ve had,” she said. “We’ve had tremendous players throughout all of our seasons I’ve been here, but this year we’ve just come together so well.”

Some of that was related to unfortunate circumstances. Knee injuries cost South two of its best players — Miranda Caballero and Schoales — during consecutive seasons. That was not an issue last year, but the Wolves’ season ended at districts.

“We’ve had so many good people here, but we haven’t won anything,” Jackson said. “We want to take what we have now and win something. If it’s going to be any year, it’s going to be this year.”