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Saturday, March 1, 2008
Triplet Power
Greater Louisville, KY
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Marissa, Stewart, and Nolan Higgins have distinct talents and interests, but they appreciate the unique sibling camaraderie they share.
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Marissa, Stewart and Nolan all agree that they like being triplets. One of the main reasons is that they “always have someone to talk to who understands.”
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With the energy and enthusiasm of most teenagers, triplets Nolan, Stewart, and Marissa Higgins pounded each other and their younger brother Matthew with snowballs as they approached the warmth of a local coffee shop to discuss their lives as triplets and as athletes. It wasn’t difficult to get these gregarious 16-year-olds to talk about their passion for sports.
Born one minute apart on May 27, 1991, each of the three has found a unique path in athletic and scholarly pursuits.
Being gentlemen, the boys encouraged Marissa, the youngest, to share her story first. A junior at Assumption High School, Marissa’s favorite subjects are math and science, but she admits her best grades are in English. She is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.87, she belongs to the Beta Club.
Although she’s a dedicated student, Marissa finds time for track and field hockey. She likes the fact that track provides a great workout. On Assumption’s team, she runs the 400 and the 4 x 4 relay, usually the second leg.
Field hockey, however, takes more of her time. At Assumption, she plays midfield, where she describes her job as, “to make sure the forwards get the ball and keep the other team from scoring.” She received the 110% Award the last two years. In addition to the Assumption team, Marissa plays for the International Field Hockey Club of Kentucky (IFHCK) and has traveled to California for Festival where the team won first place in their pool. She has been to Florida for the Disney Showcase Tournament where they placed second overall. Her travels this year have also taken her to St. Louis for the National Indoor Qualifier. Last year, she competed at Kent State and the University of Michigan with Futures, the USA Field Hockey Olympic development initiative.
Marissa said the things she likes most about playing with these teams are the friendships with the other girls and the competition. With a quick smile and expressive blue eyes, she confesses, “I sometimes don’t listen to my body and don’t know when to stop.” As a result of this, she has suffered from dehydration and an injury that required five stitches.
Marissa hopes to play field hockey in college and is looking at schools in Ohio, an area rich in college field hockey. She hopes eventually to work in the health and nutrition field or in some area of sports and fitness.
Stewart, the middle of the triplets, is a junior at Trinity High School where he belongs to the FCA as well as the Beta Club, thanks to his 4.0 GPA. The classes at Trinity are divided into “houses” (yes, much like those in “Harry Potter,” minus the magic) and Stewart serves as the captain of Seton House. Math is his best and favorite subject.
Stewart focuses his athletic energies on power lifting and soccer. Tall and lean, he participates in the 135 weight class in power lifting and says his favorite event is the flat bench.
On Trinity’s JV soccer team, Stewart, the captain, plays left defensive back. “My job is to stop attackers from shooting on the goal. I really like winning and playing in aggressive games and being part of a team.” Last fall, the team won the state JV tournament and Stewart was voted the MVP (Most Valuable Person). Two of the people he admires most are his dad, Mike Higgins, who also played soccer at Trinity (class of ’80), and Mike’s twin Matt.
Like Marissa, Stewart does not allow a little adversity to keep him from doing what he loves. A broken ankle and strained quads sidelined him from sports for only a short time.
Stewart is presently thinking about attending the University of Louisville. He hopes to go into some area of physical therapy.
First-born Nolan, also a junior at Trinity, mirrors his siblings as a member of the FCA and Beta club, with a GPA of 3.0. Different from his siblings, however, his favorite subject is history.
Nolan also is a power lifter in the 135 weight class. Dead lifting is his favorite event. Because only a few local high schools, including Fern Creek and St. Xavier, field power lifting teams, Trinity’s team also travels to places such as Trigg County and Spencer County for competitions.
Nolan’s conversation easily turns to Trinity football, where he plays running back. “I used to play defensive back and the biggest challenge has been just getting used to the new position.” His goal is to “gain four yards every time I touch the ball.” One of the highlights of this past season was a touchdown that he scored against Ballard. Although most practices are tough and intense, Nolan admits that they are “more serious and focused during the practices for games against St. X. This year, and for the third time, Trinity beat St. X for the state championship 34-28 in overtime. According to Nolan, “That was the most exciting thing I’ve ever been involved with!”
He has not escaped injuries in his activities, either. Nolan has suffered a concussion, broken collar bone, and strained anterior cruciate ligaments. Like Marissa and Stewart, he also gets back in the games as soon as possible.
Nolan does not have a particular college in mind at this time, but hopes to go into business or a health-related field.
Matthew, the youngest member of the family, is a seventh-grader at St. Albert the Great, and is blazing his own way in the sport of soccer. He plays for his school and for the Louisville Soccer Alliance. When asked about his position as the younger brother of triplets, Matthew said he felt “lucky because most people don’t have triplet siblings.”
It’s not without its trials, however. He recalls the elder trio once stuffed him in a garbage can. He also remembers getting his hand caught in the van door (accidentally, of course) when roughhousing with them, but all in all, “It’s great.”
Marissa, Stewart and Nolan all agree that they like being triplets. One of the main reasons is that they “always have someone to talk to who understands.”
In addition to school and sports, the Higginses, as a family, find time to help others. They volunteer at St. Vincent de Paul and St. Anthony Outreach Center.
According to Lynn, one of the most challenging parts of parenting triplets is getting to all of the activities. She and Mike share the games and matches, but sometimes have to leave at halftime of one event to get to the second half of another!
After turning sixteen, the triplets received a car that they all share. It sports the license plate “TRPLTS.” The only drawback, Lynn says: “They have to work out their own scheduling for driving!”
Missy McCabe is a retired English teacher who lives in Louisville
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