Sarah Lacina
Sarah Lacina | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sarah Ann Lacina July 9, 1984 |
| Education | Wartburg College (B.A.) |
| Occupations | |
| Employer | Cedar Rapids Police Department |
| Television | Survivor: Cagayan Survivor: Game Changers (winner) |
| Partner | Wyatt Wardenburg |
| Children | 1 |
Sarah Ann Lacina (born July 9, 1984) is an American police officer best known for competing on the American reality show Survivor. She came in 11th place and was the first jury member in the show's 28th season, Survivor: Cagayan, in 2014.[1] Lacina was voted the winner of the show's 34th season, Survivor: Game Changers in 2017.
Early life
Lacina was born in Muscatine, Iowa,[2] where she grew up with her parents Lorrie[3] and Ronald.[4] She attended Muscatine High School where she was a four-sport athlete. She then attended Wartburg College in nearby Waverly, where she competed on the track and cross country teams[5] and earned a Bachelor's degree in Social Work.[6]
After college, Lacina moved to Cedar Rapids and became a police officer. Her mother, who has worked in law enforcement[4] and has managed the Muscatine County Joint Communications Center, served as her inspiration to become a cop. Lacina once worked as a resource officer at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids.[6] Then she joined the Cedar Rapids Police Department as a police investigator.[7] There, she met an officer who inspired her to take up mixed martial arts.[5] In 2010, she competed in her first professional MMA fight, a first-round victory by submission.[8]
Survivor
Cagayan
Lacina was one of 18 castways to compete on Survivor: Cagayan, the 28th season of Survivor. The theme of the season was "Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty." As a police officer, She started on the Aparri tribe, also known as the "Brawn" tribe. She immediately recognized that her tribe mate Tony Vlachos was also a cop, and though she tried to confront him about it, Vlachos denied it. However, he later told her he was a cop, and both of them formed an alliance called Cops-R-Us. Aparri won the first four immunity challenges, but after the tribe swap, she was the only original Aparri member to remain on that tribe. She managed to reach the merge; however, after Solana, the other tribe left in the game, won the final pre-merge immunity challenge, Vlachos hugged the other four members of Solana while screaming "Top five!", which made her question Vlachos's loyalty.
Following the merge, Lacina was the swing vote between the old Aparri alliance and old Solana alliance, and she became indecisive about her position. Vlachos tried to sway her back to his side, but she chose not to go back because she did not trust him. She wanted to vote him out at the first post-merge Tribal Council, but she ultimately agreed with the other members of the Aparri alliance to target Jefra Bland. However, Trish Hegarty of the Solana alliance wanted to target Lacina, and she pleaded with Kass McQuillen of the Aparri alliance to flip. At Tribal Council, McQuillen flipped and joined the Solana alliance in blindsiding Lacina. She finished in 11th place and was the first member of the jury.
At the Final Tribal Council, Lacina voiced her frustration to Vlachos for swearing on his badge and going back on his word, and said she would have never done that. However, she ultimately cast her vote for Vlachos to win, which he did in a 8–1 vote.
Game Changers
Lacina returned for the 34th season, Survivor: Game Changers. She only went to Tribal Council twice before the merge due to being part of very strong tribes that did well in immunity challenges. After reaching the merge, she stayed in the middle, navigating between alliances, in order to have more options. For most of the post-merge phase, she positioned herself as the swing vote many times, turned on several of her allies, had a hand in several blindsides, managed to find the vote-stealer advantage and successfully play it, and inherited the Legacy Advantage upon Sierra Dawn Thomas's elimination. At the Final Six, Lacina successfully saved herself by claiming the immunity offered by the Legacy Advantage. She, Brad Culpepper, and "Troyzan" Robertson also formed an alliance, and all three of them managed to make it to the Final Tribal Council.
Despite being accused, specifically by Ozzy Lusth, of backstabbing most of the jurors and using her social connections for strategic gain, the ways that she managed to have strategic control, be the driving force, and still maintain social connections were praised by certain jurors, particularly Zeke Smith and Michaela Bradshaw. She ended up becoming the Sole Survivor, and winner of the season, over Culpepper and Robertson in a 7–3–0 vote. Only Debbie Wanner, Lusth, and Thomas did not vote for Lacina; they voted instead for Culpepper, while Robertson received no votes from the jury.
Personal life
Lacina lives in Marion, Iowa, with her fiancé and fellow police officer, Wyatt Wardenburg,[7] and their son Knox.[9]
References
- ^ a b Official Survivor:Game Changers biography page
- ^ CBS 2 News @ 6, KGAN, Cedar Rapids, March 19, 2014
- ^ Tisinger, Sarah (March 25, 2014). "Muscatine mom shares the edge of the seat with the rest of 'Survivor' fans". Muscatine Journal. Lee Enterprises. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
- ^ a b "Meerdink-Lacina". Iowa City Press-Citizen. July 6, 1982. p. 7.
Lorrie G. Meerdink and Ronald J. Lacina were married June 19 at the First Baptist Church in Muscatine. Parents of the couple are Mr. and Mrs. John S. Meerdink, Muscatine, and Mr. and Mrs. Donald P. Lacina, Route 5. Mrs. Lacina works for the Seventh Judicial District Department of Correctional Services.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ a b "VIDEOS: Cedar Rapids female officer prepares for boxing debut". The Gazette. Gazette Company. August 25, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
- ^ a b CBS 2 News @ 6, KGAN, Cedar Rapids, March 12, 2014
- ^ a b Nollen, Diane (May 25, 2017). "'Survivor' winner: Cedar Rapids cop relied on instincts honed on the job". The Gazette. Gazette Company. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
- ^ "RCC 12 - Hostile Takeover". Sherdog. CraveOnline Media, LLC. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
- ^ Ritter, Sarah (May 25, 2017). "Muscatine family celebrates Lacina's 'Survivor' win". Quad-City Times. Lee Enterprises. Retrieved May 25, 2017.