Up Close With PSR
Miss Pennsylvania
PSU Grad Seeks Miss America Title, Broadcasting Future

Editor's Note: On July 13, Autumn Marisa, 22, of Waynesburg, was crowned Miss Pennsylvania 2002. On September 24, she will be competing in the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, trying to become the first woman from the state to win the national pageant since 1954.

So what's she doing in the pages of PSR? Well, she's got an extensive sports background she credits with helping her get this far. Her father, Rudy, has won more than 500 games as head basketball coach at Waynesburg College. Autumn worked for a short (very short, in fact) time at NFL Films before winning Miss Pennsylvania. Her goal,

after promoting the Make-A-Wish Foundation as part of her Miss Pennsylvania platform, is to become a sports journalist.

The 2002 Penn State grad also will be celebrating family in September. Her family was touched by the Sept. 11 tragedies, when two of her brothers, one working at the World Trade Center and another working at the Pentagon, survived the attacks.

PSR's Scott Robertson caught up with Autumn recently and discussed with her the past year, winning the pageant and how sports has influenced her life thus far.

PSR: When you reflect on Sept. 11, and what's happened to you since, what are your feelings?

AM: If you had asked me after Sept. 11 if I saw myself being here, the answer would have been no. That really caused me to take a step back and evaluate everything that is important in my life. I'm really blessed to have my two brothers be OK. With the way everything turned out, I feel like my whole family is blessed.

There was a time that I really thought about not competing. I started to wonder why my family was so blessed and why so many other families had to suffer. It was difficult.

But after spending time with my family, I realized that maybe this is what my purpose is. To work with the Make-A-Wish kids and give those children a break from the tough times they have spending all their time with doctors and going through therapy and treatment.

I know that September 11 (2002) is going to be a difficult day, especially when we all reflect on the events of the past year. But for me, it also will be a chance to be thankful for the opportunity I have been given with my family and to work with these kids.

PSR: Your father is one of the winningest basketball coaches in NCAA Division III. This may be a stretch, but did growing up with such an athletic background in the family help prepare you in any way for the Miss Pennsylvania or Miss American competitions?

AM: Absolutely. I think that's something that gives me a great advantage over some of the other competitors. When you come right down to it, this really is an athletic competition. You have to approach it with the right mental attitude, the right physical fitness, the right spiritual attitude.

It's a lot of the same kinds of things I saw in preparation with my dad's teams or with my brothers and their athletic careers. I think it really gives me a competitive advantage because the pageants are like sporting events —it's almost a race of attrition—who can do all the things you need to do?

There will be 51 talented, intelligent, beautiful young women out there competing (in the Miss America pageant). There has to be something that sets you apart. Maybe that (athletic background) will be it for me.

PSR: You obviously have an interest in sports. You worked with NFL Films but put that on hold after you became Miss Pennsylvania.

AM: To be honest, I graduated in May and got the job with NFL Films. But I only worked there three days before I won Miss Pennsylvania, so I had to call NFL Films and tell them I wasn't coming back. This year, there are going to be so many things changing for me and so many opportunities opening up. I can't say where I will be a year from now. I'm leaving all those options open and I'll re-evaluate things after the year (as Miss Pennsylvania) is over.

PSR: But you are interested in being a sports journalist right? What would you like to do in that regard?

AM: I'd like to be a sports broadcaster or work in media relations. I think what I really would like to do is work with athletes and teach them and counsel them on how to work with the media. Maybe teach them how to do interviews and work with them at the college level to prepare them for some of the things they might have to deal with when they are being interviewed.

PSR: As a potential sports journalist, what did you think of the flap that was created when Jill Arrington (a CBS Sports reporter) posed for For Him Magazine? Helpful or hurtful to her career and/or to other female journalists?

AM: I think she's put herself in a position where she is going to have to prove herself all over again. We, as women, have to be careful about how we represent ourselves. It's tough to be taken seriously, and women have made so many positive strides. Personally, I would not have done it.

PSR: How difficult is the training regimen you go through? I've been told you don't drink anything except water, and adhere to a strict diet. How tough is that?

AM: I do it as a way of life. I work with a personal trainer because I want this to be my lifestyle. This is the person I am.

Doing it this way has been the only way for me to achieve my goal (of competing in the Miss America pageant). This is not something that you work for for one night. This is the person that you are, and this is how your personal qualities shine through.

I work out every day. I work with a personal trainer four times a week, I run, I lift weights and I got to a workout club called Kerr's that is a new club for women.

I stay active. I am a dancer. These are the kinds of things I would do anyway.

I like some junk (food) now and again, but not too often, and I just like drinking water. I've always eaten healthy. I guess that comes from having a father who is a coach and a mother who is a nurse.

But it's the lifestyle that I like and it's helped me reach my goals. I'm right where I want to be with it.