CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 SPORTS)--Lina Tiouririne knows the high and lows of sports. Her roller coaster of an athletic year started out with a Cinderella run in the girls high school basketball 2022 state tournament.

"It was surreal," started Covenant senior Lina Tiouririne, "There are photos of us, like we were so excited and none of us were expecting it. We honestly thought like we should be out the first couple rounds like we had great opponents but we really, we had grit and we really fought to try to beat every team.

"A lot of that was fueled by Lina," explained covenant girls basketball coach Caroline Wilke, "She was a great cheerleader. She has tons of team spirit and she's always there to bring somebody up that's not feeling great or having a great game."

Despite their underdog story, the eagles fell in the state finals. But just a few months later, Lina would find herself in the same position on the lacrosse field.

"Some of our basketball players we all play lacrosse so we know we're familiar with the feeling of losing a state championship," said Tiouririne, "So coming into that lacrosse state championship we knew we wanted to win."

With a state title in the records books Lina returned to the basketball gym ready for the the upcoming season, determined for a different outcome.

"Losing is not fun," said Wilke, "But these girls, they remembered that feeling and they didn't want to feel it again so I think that's propelled us into this season."


"We handled that loss, we got in the gym a lot this summer and have been working on free throws, working on shots, getting shots up and getting better," said Tiouririne.

It's a long season ahead and whether it ends with a state championship ring or not Lina will leave behind a legacy of leadership.

"The way I've seen it I think they've inspired the girls that are on their team currently to just keep the momentum going, keep the positive attitude going, keep grinding," said Wilke.