Sophomore Malia Crimin has been an athlete her whole life. From soccer, basketball, and track to swim, cross country, and even jiujitsu, Cimin has always been open to trying new sports. 

Crimin began her athletic journey at the age of five, when she was enrolled in soccer and continued to play up to second grade. Then, due to a lack of a soccer program after moving schools, Crimin switched to playing basketball and participating on the swim team. 

She cites her family and their love for sports as one of the key reasons she began and continues participating in several sports. 

Moreover, growing up in a competitive and athletic environment didn’t just end at the pool, court, or field for Crimin. Her family enjoys playing many board games together, such as Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Betrayal at House on the Hill. “My dad was very athletic and I kind of grew up with a competitive nature,” she said.

In addition to her parents’ support, Crimin also highly values her health, and enjoys being in nature and taking her dog for walks.

At La Salle, the triple-sport athlete spends every athletic season engaging in her current sports: cross country, which she began during her freshman year and considers her favorite, swimming, and track and field, which she started in seventh grade. 

For Crimin, cross country — her fall sport — has a special place in her heart and has “a different feel than any other sports I’ve ever done,” she said.

One aspect she especially enjoys is the community and social aspects of the team. “On recovery days or easy days, we go for thirty minute runs and you talk with the group the entire time,” she said. “So you end up becoming super close with the people you run with throughout the season.”

Additionally, Crimin highly appreciates the upperclassmen on the team and the support and dedication they bring to the group. “All the seniors there, they love the sport so much and they all want you to get better,” she said. 

During the winter seasons, Crimin spends her afternoons at swim practice. This past season she mainly swam the 200-yard individual medley, 100-yard breaststroke, 50-yard freestyle, and 200-yard freestyle relay. “Swim was really hard because I was put into a lot of difficult events,” she said. “But I was able to kind of figure out how to swim those events.” 

In spite of a more challenging season in the pool, Crimin still found swimming gratifying due to its highly supportive community and the more laid back aspects of it in comparison to the other sports she participates in. “Swim’s really fun because it’s much more chill than all the other sports,” she said.  

After the conclusion of her swimming season, Crimmin moves back from water to land and on to her final athletic season of school each year: track and field. 

This year, Crimin chose to begin participating in the pole vaulting event. “I got to learn about the event, and I found out how complex it is,” she said. “I got to get to know the people I pole vaulted with because it’s not a very big team at La Salle.”

Although participating in a sport every season can be time consuming, Crimin has several things about being a triple- athlete student that she loves. “I really like that I can get to know people super easily, and how close I can become with people through my sports,” she said. 

Crimin not only found deep connections amongst her teammates at La Salle, but also developed a lot of admiration and appreciation of her coaches. “They all want you to improve so much and they take your personal goals into account,” she said. 

During both the track and field and cross country seasons, Crimin especially found a lot of support in one of the track and field and cross country coaches, head coach Mr. Mikel Rathmann. “I’ve been with him for four seasons now, and he’s always planning the workouts for me,” she said.  

Within her athletic career, Crimin’s greatest achievement was during a jiujitsu competition when she was put against another much more experienced wrestler. “I was able to problem solve through the situation and keep calm enough to work my way out, and ended up winning the round,” she said. 

To any fellow or upcoming La Salle students on the fence about becoming a student athlete, Crimin highly recommends doing so. “Definitely go for it,” she said. “It may seem like a lot, but it gives you such a nice schedule and it really doesn’t seem like much when you’re doing it.”