Marianna Crispino is a sophomore athlete who is skilled in both volleyball and wrestling. During wrestling season, she not only learned to break some of the gender barriers that are within the wrestling community, but she also planned a schedule that pushes her to be the best athlete she can be. I was able to talk to Marianna about what her day-to-day schedule is like and how she incorporates workouts, health plans, and sports into them.

Marianna starts her day off with meditation, which is proven to increase focus in sports, control anxiety, and lengthen attention span. This is a habit that many professional and serious athletes follow because it betters their skills and technique. After getting dressed, Marianna usually has a smoothie and a whole wheat bagel for breakfast. Bagels assist blood sugar balance and healthy digestion. She has always been a good eater and even included that she’s not picky, so she’s grateful to have a wide variety of foods to choose from. “Balancing school and wrestling is pretty easy in my opinion,” she said. “My coaches have taught me to self-discipline, and I bring that to my school work.”

She then packs her wrestling bag with a few healthy snacks, her singlet and headgear, a small velvet bag to put her jewelry in, and four beneficial crystals.

“I usually tend to charge my crystals, light incense, and meditate to calm my nerves about an upcoming match,” Marianna said, going into detail about how she deals with anxiety. “I’ve recently started to get spiritual, so I ended up making an herbal blend to align my chakra.” She also says this in terms of mental preparation: “I mentally prepare by freaking out. I go down a dark hole, but I tend to find a way out by giving myself affirmations of success.”

Marianna’s course schedule looks like this:

1. Theatre Arts with Mrs. Lewandowski
2. Honors English 10 with Mrs. Patterson
3. Honors Algebra 2 with Mr. Fraser
4. StuGo with Mrs. Giberson
5. Girls Locker with Ms. Williams
6. Honors Chemistry (COA)

Marianna’s favorite class at the moment is Theatre Arts II because it brings out her creative and fun side.

On the bus to matches, she pops in her earbuds, watches TikToks, listens to music, and occasionally takes a quick nap to recharge. She loves listening to slow and reverb music on Spotify. Marianna gets ready for matches before even getting on the mat. Her preparation includes listening to hype music and dehumanizing her opponent. This is an interesting mindset; she forces herself to see her opponent in a way that does not let her fall into intimidation.

“My favorite thing about my teammates is how goofy they are. They’re definitely the most interesting people you’ll ever meet,” Marianna answered when asked about her team. “Our practices are intense. Having funny people in the same group as you make the workouts less difficult. We condition a lot so we can still have the energy in the third period, while our opponent is struggling to stay up.”

On weekends, Marianna stays in shape by running a mile when she goes home, and she also enjoys bike-riding with her family. “We’ve recently done 16-mile bike rides,” she added. Impressive!

Thank you so much, Marianna, for sharing your day with us! Keep up the good work. Go, Knights!