Junior guard Kristina Startare averages 6.8 points, 2.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game.
Kristina Startare is portrayed as a perfect example of a student athlete.
The 5’7” forward on the women’s basketball team has played in 25 games with roughly 25 minutes per game and has also had about 171 points, prior to the CSACs. Although she’s busy on the court, the criminology and sociology double major doesn’t let that get in the way of her studies. “I have always played two or three sports so time management has been something I have been good at since middle school,” Startare said. “Having two majors and playing a sport can be stressful but it’s the sacrifices athletes and I make for the love of the game.”
As for future goals when it comes to her majors, Startare hopes to one day be a prosecutor or a detective and believes that both occupations seem very exciting with a lot of hands on work.
With the semi-finals only days away, Startare has been preparing with the team in interesting ways.
“We have been preparing for CSACs by looking at what is directly in front of us [and] not at what tomorrow brings us, which means focusing on one practice then one game at a time,” Startare said. “We know not to look over any team because in playoffs, anything can happen at any time.”
As a rising senior, number 32 will obtain a new mind set for the court. “For my senior year I hope to step into the leadership role for my team and lead by example [while doing] whatever it takes to be successful again,” Startare said. “For my senior year when I have others looking up to me to make a big shot or step in and take charge, I will do that and not let them down, just like the girls who were seniors the past two years and this year have.”
Startare was recruited for basketball at the school but couldn’t resist to continue her love for soccer as well, until an injury.
“I have played basketball and soccer since I was five and I did not want to give it up,” Startare said.
After being told she must have ankle surgery, she had to make a decision between the two sports that she has participated in since being a child. Although she played as a starter on the soccer field both freshman and sophomore year, she chose her love of basketball in the long run.
Outside of her academic and athletic priorities, she also works in the fitness center during the semesters and has two other jobs back home, in New Jersey, during the summer. Living only five minutes from the beach, Startare enjoys working at a local restaurant as well as a recreation center as a camp counselor.
“I work a lot in the summer [and] I have more time to myself in the school year than in the summer,” Startare said. “I plan on working the same jobs this summer and enjoying the last summers I have as a college student.”
