Cindy Marina

Last updated

Cindy Marina
Cindy Marina on ShkodraWeb.jpg
Born
Cindy Nikolli Marina

(1998-07-18) July 18, 1998 (age 26)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater Duke University
University of Southern California
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Beauty pageant titleholder
Title Miss Universe Albania 2019
Hair color Blonde
Eye color Green
Major
competition(s)		 Miss Universe Albania 2019
(Winner)
Miss Universe 2019
(Top 20)

Cindy Marina (born July 18, 1998) is an Albanian-American television presenter, model, former volleyball player and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Albania 2019. She represented Albania in the Miss Universe 2019 competition, placing in the Top 20. Outside of modeling and pageantry, Marina was a setter for the Albania women's national volleyball team, and also played for the USC Trojans women's volleyball team during her studies at the University of Southern California.

Contents

Since 2021, Marina has been the presenter for Serie A football matches broadcast in Albania and Kosovo.

Early life and education

Marina was born on July 18, 1998, in Chicago, Illinois to Albanian parents Ardian and Kristina Marina from Shkodër. [1] She was named after Cindy Crawford. [2] Her father played collegiate football in Albania, while her mother was a professional volleyball player in Albania and Italy. [3] She is the second of three children and only daughter. [4]

When Marina was seven years old, the family moved from Chicago to Temecula, California. She attended Great Oak High School in Temecula, graduating in 2016. [1] After finishing high school, Marina attended Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, but transferred to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California for her sophomore year, graduating in 2020. [3] She is a member of the Pi Beta Phi (ΠΒΦ) sorority. [5]

Volleyball

Marina began playing volleyball in her youth. She was a setter on her high school team and played club volleyball at Forza1, where her mom also coached. In addition, she was a California state nominee for Gatorade Player of the Year in volleyball. After graduating from high school, Marina joined the Duke Blue Devils women's volleyball team, and was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) All-Freshman Team. For her sophomore year, Marina left Duke and began playing for the USC Trojans women's volleyball team. [3]

Marina joined the Albania women's national volleyball team in 2015, and led the team to a third-place finish in the Silver League during the 2018 Women's European Volleyball League in Hungary. [3] At 17 years old, Marina became the youngest person to ever play for the Albanian national team. [1] [2]

Career

Modeling and pageantry

Marina began modeling at age 14. [2] Her career in modeling began after being recruited by fashion designer Ema Savahl to model her dresses; Savahl is a friend of Marina's mother. [6] She began her pageantry career in 2019, competing in the Miss Universe Albania 2019 competition. [2] She went on to win the competition on June 7, 2019, becoming the first American-born woman to ever win the title, and the second foreign-born to ever win the title, following Kosovo-born Agnesa Vuthaj in 2005.

Marina represented Albania at the Miss Universe 2019 pageant held in Atlanta, Georgia on December 8, 2019, and placed in the top 20. [7] [8] [9] Her reign as Miss Universe Albania ended after she crowned Paula Mehmetukaj as her successor at Miss Universe Albania 2020 on September 18, 2020. [10]

Television

In August 2021, Marina became the official presenter for Serie A football matches broadcast in Albania and Kosovo. [11]

Related Research Articles

Miss Perú is the national beauty pageant of the republic of Peru. The contest gathers participants from all over the nation, including Peruvian women representing their community overseas. Having been broadcast by all the major television networks in the country during its history, the pageant is currently broadcast by América Televisión. It is preceded by two or three months of preliminary events, with the awarding of corporate prizes by sponsors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USC Trojans</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Southern California

The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy. The program participates in the Big Ten Conference and has won 136 team national championships, 112 of which are National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships. USC's official colors are cardinal and gold. The Trojans have a cross-town rivalry in several sports with UCLA. However, USC's football rivalry with Notre Dame predates the UCLA rivalry by three years. The Notre Dame rivalry stems mainly from the annual football game played between these two universities and is considered the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football. The Trojans also enjoy a rivalry with the Stanford Cardinal. The USC Trojans are considered one of the most successful college athletic programs of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USC Trojans women's volleyball</span> American college volleyball team

The USC women's volleyball team is coached by Brad Keller, who was named to the position on February 20, 2020.

Douglas Scott "Dusty" Dvorak is an American former volleyball player. He was a member of the United States national volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He is regarded as one of the greatest setters of all time.

Miss Universe Albania is a national Beauty pageant in Albania. The pageant was founded as Miss Albania in 2002, until rebranding as Miss Universe Albania in 2006.

The Miss Universe Kosova is a national beauty pageant that sends representatives from Kosovo to the Miss Universe pageant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvie Tellier</span> French television personality

Sylvie Tellier is a French television personality, businesswoman and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss France 2002. Previously, Tellier had been crowned Miss Lyon 2001, becoming the seventh woman from Rhône-Alpes to be crowned Miss France. As Miss France, Tellier also competed at Miss Universe 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mick Haley</span> American volleyball coach (born 1943)

Mick Haley is an American volleyball coach. He previously served for 17 seasons as the head coach of the University of Southern California women's volleyball team. He has also coached the U.S. Women's National Team at the Olympics. Prior to this he served for 17 years as the head coach of the University of Texas women's volleyball team.

Debbie Green-Vargas is an American retired volleyball player and coach. She is regarded as the greatest American women's volleyball setter of all time. Green-Vargas was a member of the United States women's national volleyball team and won a silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">April Ross</span> American beach volleyball player (born 1982)

April Elizabeth Ross is an American beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic medalist. She won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Jennifer Kessy, a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Kerri Walsh Jennings, and a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics with Alix Klineman. Ross and Kessy were also the 2009 Beach Volleyball World Champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afërdita Dreshaj</span> Albanian-American singer and model (born 1986)

Afërdita Dreshaj is an Albanian-American singer, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned as Miss Universe Kosovo 2011. Dreshaj represented the nation at the Miss Universe 2011 pageant and finished among the top 16.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Suxho</span> Albanian-American volleyball player (born 1976)

Donald Suxho is an Albanian-American professional volleyball player and a player for the U.S. Olympic Team. As a setter, he participated in the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, Greece as well as the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Suxho and his family came to America in 1996 and lived in Natick, Massachusetts while searching for a college. He eventually chose to play for the University of Southern California and became one of the most well-known volleyball players to come out of USC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floriana Garo</span> Albanian television personality and Miss Albania (born 1987)

Floriana Garo is an Albanian television personality and former Miss Albania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Hughes</span> American beach volleyball player (born 1995)

Sara Elizabeth Hughes is an American beach volleyball player. With teammate Kelly Cheng she achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in August 2023. Hughes has won six tournaments on the AVP Pro Tour and seven gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals on the FIVB World Tour/Pro Beach Tour.

Zana Berisha is a Kosovar model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Kosovo 2018 on June 29, 2018. She represented Kosovo at Miss Universe 2018 pageant.

Madison Sara Anderson Berríos is a Puerto Rican-American model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2019. She represented Puerto Rico at Miss Universe 2019 competition where she finished as the 1st Runner-Up. In 2023 she was the winner of the season 3 of La Casa de los Famosos.

Katie George is an American sportscaster who currently works with the ACC Network and ESPN. Before starting her broadcasting career, she had been a three-time all-conference selection in volleyball at the University of Louisville and Miss Kentucky USA in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Grand Kosovo</span> National beauty pageant in Kosovo

Miss Grand Kosovo was a national Beauty pageant in Kosovo founded by a Pristina-based event organizer chaired by Sherif Pacolli, Lens Production. The pageant winner represents the country at its international parent contest, Miss Grand International. From 2014 to 2018, the pageant was held in parallel with the Miss Grand Albania competition as Miss Grand Albania & Kosovo, but after Aleks Tanushi of Aleks Fashion Events (A.F.E.) took over the Albanian franchise in 2018, it was instead organized as a stand-alone pageant from 2019 to 2021.

Marina Machete Reis is a Portuguese model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Portugal 2023. She is the first Portuguese openly transgender woman to participate in the Miss Universe contest. She represented Portugal at the Miss Universe 2023 pageant in El Salvador and finished as a top 20 semifinalist, becoming the first openly trans woman to place. She is the second openly trans woman to compete in Miss Universe in 2023 after Rikkie Kollé of Netherlands. She also won the Most Confident Award at the competition.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Kristina Marina Biography". Forza1 Volleyball. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Cindy Marina: Pika ma e forte e bukurise time eshte inteligjenca" (in Albanian). Revista VIP. April 30, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "CINDY MARINA". University of Southern California. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Angelo Marina - Men's Soccer".
  5. ↑ "USC Volleyball #9 / Albanian National Team / Pi Phi👼🏼". Cindy Marina. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Jo vetem mode - Cindy Marina, volleyball player, part of Albanian National Team". RTV Klan. July 29, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Miss Universe Albania 2019 is Cindy Marina". YouTube (in Albanian). June 7, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Cindy Marina crowned Miss Universe Albania 2019". Femina Miss India. June 8, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Cindy Marina Crowned Miss Universe Albania". USC Trojans. June 10, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Fitoi "Miss Universe Albania", 22-vjeçarja flet për herë të parë te Rudina". TV Klan (in Albanian). September 22, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Where will we look at it? Albanian Miss gives the big news: As Ambassador of ..." sot.news. August 20, 2021.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Miss Universe Albania
2019		Succeeded by
Paula Mehmetukaj
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.