Although many students played three sports during their freshman year, only some find the passion to continue playing all of them in high school.

The Diamond Bar High School student-athletes who continued playing three sports are junior Madison Bernardino and sophomore Sierra Griego.

Bernardino is an outside hitter and captain in junior varsity volleyball, a starting forward in varsity soccer and a 4×100 relay runner and 100 meter and 200 meter sprinter in varsity track.

She started playing soccer when she was five years old, and started playing volleyball and running in track during her freshman year.

“The fact that I want to play and stay in shape motivates me because I want to be the best that I can be in every sport,” Bernardino said via Instagram.

Though schoolwork, practices and games have left her with little free time, her dedication to her three sports has paid off.

Bernardino was named the offensive player of the year for varsity soccer as a sophomore and was also named MVP of JV volleyball as a junior.

Besides making new friends in all three of her sports, she has also learned to use her strengths and motivation in any sport she plays.

“From volleyball I gained my determination and to never give up,” Bernardino said. “In soccer I learned how to use my speed to my advantage to produce a lot of goals, and in track I learned that you win some and lose some but it’s in the past now and it’s what’s next that matters.”

On the other hand, Griego is an outside hitter in frosh/soph volleyball, a point guard on varsity basketball and outfielder in varsity softball. She received the MVP award as a sophomore on frosh/soph volleyball.

Griego started playing T-ball, a simplified form of softball and baseball, when she was four. When she was in seventh grade, she started playing basketball and was on her middle school’s basketball team; in eighth grade, she started volleyball.

“I decided to do all the sports because I like to be active, and I feel like if I just played one sport, I would get tired of it,” Griego said.

Outside of her daily practice at school, Griego said she works on specific skills on her own, such as hitting or fielding for softball and ball-handling skills for basketball.

“I definitely have learned how to be a team player and [work] together with different types of people,” Griego said. “[I’ve also learned] how to not get frustrated with people [be]cause frustrating things happen in sports.”

Like Bernardino, Griego maintains  a busy schedule and goes through the “work, sleep, eat, repeat” routine every day. After school and sports practice end, she returns home to finish homework, eat and sleep.

One thing both athletes have in common is that they prefer the sport that they have played the longest over their other sports.

Despite the challenges that come with playing three sports, Bernardino and Griego plan on remaining tri-sport athletes through all four years of high school.