The resounding beats of Nicki Minaj's “Anaconda” typically introduce junior gymnast Marissa Lassiter as she performs an electric self-choreographed floor routine, which has earned her All-Gymnastics East Conference honors for the past two years.
The Maryland native has found groundedness and community to be a key part of her time at Penn — gymnastics and beyond. Whether it's tackling her pre-med academic endeavors, sticking one of her dynamic E-level difficulty skills, or cultivating a fulfilling life outside the gym, Lassiter prioritizes mindfulness to maintain a healthy balance.
Lassiter is a critical part of a gymnastics dynasty. Penn gymnastics is a seven-time GEC and 15-time Ivy Classic champion. She made an immediate impact as the team’s top scorer as a freshman — earning the team’s Most Valuable award and GEC Newcomer of the Year in 2023. In her sophomore year, Lassiter continued to dominate on floor, beam, and bars, and in her all-around debut season this year. She’s gotten the opportunity to showcase the versatility that initially stuck out to coach Kirsten Becker.
“She’s been a crucial and integral member of the evolution of Penn gymnastics, and everything that we’ve accomplished from her freshman year until now,” Becker said.
Before she was an Ivy League powerhouse, though, Lassiter was a heart-attack-inducing 3-year-old.
“[My sister] would complain to my mom about how I just would not sit down,” Lassiter said, “It began as a crazy thought, like, ‘Oh, she could be like a circus child’ … then they put me in tumbling classes, and I just fell in love with it.”
But what was it that she can remember appealing to her most about the sport?
“It sounds so cliche, but I just like being upside down,” she chuckles.
Throughout her early gymnastics career, Marissa faced no small amount of injuries; however, she found value in the grit that gymnastics requires. A stress fracture in her back sidelined her for two years, and kept Lassiter aware that “when things don’t go the way they’re supposed to [in gymnastics], school is what’s going to make me successful [and] take me out into the real world.”
This school-sports balance drew her to Penn, where she studies criminology on a pre-med track. While dominating in the gym, she has earned GEC Scholar Athlete for the last two years.
Her academic exploration of criminology and medicine, which often intersect with the field of mental health, has heightened her appreciation of the importance of mindset. Reflecting on the intersection between achievement in academics and athletics, she has found resilience to be key.
“Being injured and then having to come back to the gym … getting a bad grade on a test, and then having to go to class, [those are] forms of resilience.” Lassiter said, “As speed bumps come up in both sectors of my life, [overcoming challenges in one area] helps me strengthen the ability to get over it on the other end, and vice versa.”
To that end, while Lassiter loves to compete floor, she names a different event as her favorite to practice.
“[Beam is] one of those events where it’s 90% in your head, and 10% skill,” she explains, “It[’s]more of the intellectual part of being a gymnast, being able to mentally exercise.”
She began competing on beam for the Quakers this season, and Becker highlights Lassiter’s journey on the event as a standout example of her mental grit.
“Every time she got on the beam the last two years [in practice], it’s really contributed to all the times she's gotten on the beam this year [in competition],” Becker said, “I love how meaningful it is [that] even if you're not competing in that moment, you’re still working [hard] towards future years. It’s not always easy to do that.”
Besides putting in the numbers in practice, Lassiter has been prioritizing self-compassion, employing positive affirmations to rise to new challenges.
“Before the first meet, I wrote 50-ish times, 'I am capable, I am good’” said Lassiter, “You just have to tell yourself, ‘You're here because you were trusted to be here, and you're prepared.’”
“[Lassiter] really wants to go until she can’t get it wrong, not just getting it right one time. And I love that about her,” Becker added. “But this year it's been like, ‘Okay, I am doing four events, and I'm doing them every weekend. I need to have a little grace with myself.’”
In this season’s new all-around endeavor, conquering her doubts has been key for Lassiter. She highlights a conversation she had with her teammate, junior Skyelar Kerico, as a turning point.
“She goes, ‘Just do what you do in the gym,’” Lassiter recalls, “And when you really think about it, it is that simple. You do the numbers, you do the reps, you have all of the prep … I think her breaking it down to that simplistic level of, like, ‘It's just gymnastics, and you do gymnastics,’ really, really helped me.”
This demonstrates another critical part of Lassiter's journey at Penn — the strength of the gymnastics team’s support system.
“Everyone on our team has something that they can bring to the table [and] is genuinely a good person, and we all have each other’s backs,” Lassiter said.
She credits the high energy that the team brings in practice for their success in competition; what they do daily translates to the competition floor, and maintaining a healthy and supportive team dynamic is paramount. Lassiter herself has been able to contribute in a unique way — choreographing one of her teammate's floor routine.
She hopes to bring this same compassion to the underclassmen.
“Two years ago, I was thrown into the sea and told to swim, and all of my upperclassmen picked me back up,” Lassiter recalls, “Being real and vulnerable with them, letting them know that I’m here and I don’t even know what I'm doing sometimes … is necessary in an environment like Penn.”
“As I’ve grown and communicated with my team, we all have the same issues, and you're never alone in those things,” Lassiter added, “Getting the validation that you're not alone is sometimes what you need in order to figure it out internally.”
This year, Lassiter has noticed a shift in the team’s collective attitude towards success leading into the postseason, with their goal to be the first Ivy team to make NCAA regionals.
“We are very, very capable of doing it this year,” Lassiter said, “Everyone on the team is buying into that goal, is committed to that goal, and [is] hungry.”
Lassiter individually is in the regionals qualification race for an all-around spot with one of the highest NQSs in individual competition in the Northeast region; it’s no small thing that the team hopes are highest on her mind.
“Marissa is one of the most selfless people I’ve ever coached, and I’m just grateful that our paths crossed and she’s on our team,” says Becker.
With less than a week until the GEC Championships on Saturday, here’s hoping that the “circus child” turned all-around firecracker can come full circle and propel the team toward their longtime regional goal.
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