Mariana Mendez, who also goes by the name Sister, is eighteen years old and attends Madill High School. She is the daughter of Adela and Miguel Mendez. She has several siblings who have graduated and/or attend Madill public schools.
She has participated in band, basketball, cross country, and track all four years of high school, with basketball being her favorite since the fifth grade. She said what she enjoys the most about athletics is the family that is created by being on a team and she feels that her best strength is rebounding when it comes to basketball.
Even though Mendez said she has several favorite memories from basketball, her favorite is when she attended summer basketball camp and the coach seemed baffled by the validity of her name being Sister.
“He was so confused and kept asking the girls on the bench if that was really my name,” she said with a smile. She said she likes to give Coach Runyan the credit for giving her that nickname and for teaching her how to shoot a proper free throw.
Coach Runyan said he is proud of the improvements that Mendez has shown in her high school career. “Sister is probably hands down the most improved in her four years with me,” Runyan said. “She comes every day and works hard. She is a rebounding machine!”
According to several of her coaches, Mendez is a great example of athleticism due to her ability to repeatedly perform with such speed, agility, endurance and confidence in a variety of sports. Even Coach Anderson said Mendez has a lot of fight in her.
“No matter what obstacles or challenges she faces, she always perseveres and keeps fighting,” Anderson said. “Such a strong and sweet lady.”
Mendez expressed that her main motivation is to prove to herself that she is not a quitter and that her body is stronger than what she thinks. She said she feels that she owes it to her coaches because they helped push her to become what she is today. While Mariana expresses much appreciation for her fellow teammates and coaches, she also gives credit to the most important in her life. “God is always first,” she said.
After high school, Mendez said she plans on attending Murray or Southeastern to get her masters in phycology. After graduating college is not such a clear picture, she said.
“Now after that I’m not so sure because life is always full of surprises, but lucky for life I love surprises.”