From waking up early for morning swim practices to staying late for Silver Stars practices, junior Marisa Stone quickly learned how to manage her time.
Stone, who was once unsure if she would compete in both swim and dance during high school, often spends close to 18 hours a week at sports practices. Because of the overlap in the competition seasons, she has found that making her own schedule benefits her the most.
“I just keep going with my schedule,” Stone said. “I don’t let it bother me and I try to stay super focused on my goals. So every morning when I wake up, I think about my goals for the future. That’s what keeps me going.”
Some of Stone’s goals going forward include qualifying for State in the 50m freestyle and placing high at Nationals with Silver Stars.
Because practice for swim is in the morning and Silver Stars practice is in the afternoon, coming up with a practice plan was not difficult for the coaches.
However, during the spring semester both Silver Stars and swim have their busiest seasons, so communicating with coaches becomes a necessity.
Stone has been on both varsity teams since her freshman year. She made it to the State team for swimming her freshman and sophomore years; however, she wasn’t able to compete during her freshman season because of conflicts with Silver Stars.
Often, the State swim meet will overlap with a Silver Stars competition, so both coaches have learned to make adjustments to perform without her.
“We just want to make sure that everybody’s on the same page,” said swim coach John Dissinger. “You don’t want to plan for something when she can’t be there.”
Last year, Stone competed at the State swim meet, where she placed fourth in the 200m freestyle relay. She has expectations to swim at the meet again this year. Stone often competes in sprinting, freestyle events.
Another one of Stone’s goals is to improve herself for her senior year.
“I just want to keep improving upon myself for my senior year,” Stone said. “I just want to be the best swimmer and dancer I can possibly be, because that could potentially be the last time I’ll do both of those things.”
Along with being a multi-sport varsity athlete, Stone is the historian for National Honor Society and strives to have high academics.
Since her freshman year, Stone has learned what she needs to do to keep herself balanced. She has found it helps to set reminders on her phone for competitions and create a to-do list for her assignments.
“I try to get as much of my work done during class,” Stone said. “If we’re not doing much during class, or if we finish early, I’ll try to get on top of doing my work. That just means that I have less to do later.”
Alongside being hard working and showing leadership skills in the classroom, Stone has shown initiative in both of her sports.
“She’s a great role model for all students, but especially for our Silver Stars,” Vaughn said. “To look at her and realize that you can do other things and still be at the top in academics and still have a social life. She’s a great example of having a balanced school life.”
