Sarah Lacina

Sarah Lacina
Born (1984-07-09) July 9, 1984
Muscatine, Iowa, U.S.
EducationWartburg College (BA)
Occupations
EmployerCedar Rapids Police Department
TelevisionSurvivor: Cagayan
Survivor: Game Changers (winner)
Survivor: Winners at War
The Challenge: USA (winner)
The Challenge: World Championship
SpouseWyatt Wardenburg
Children1

Sarah Lacina (born July 9, 1984) is an American reality television show contestant, police officer, and professional mixed martial arts fighter. She is best known for competing on the reality show Survivor three times, winning Survivor: Game Changers in 2017. She also won The Challenge: USA in 2022.

Early life

Lacina was born in Muscatine, Iowa in 1984.[1][2] She grew up in Muscatine with her parents Lorrie and Ronald.[3][4] Her mother worked in law enforcement.[4]

Lacina attended Muscatine High School where she was a four-sport athlete.[2][5] In 1997, she qualified for the regional USA Track and Field Junior Olympics.[6]

She then attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, earning a Bachelor's degree in social work in 2006.[2][5][7] While in college, she was a member of the track and cross country teams.[5][8]

Career

After college, Lacina worked as a resource officer at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids.[7] She joined the Cedar Rapids Police Department as a homicide investigator.[2][9][10]

At the Cedar Rapids Police Department, she met officer Tom Grubb, a MMA fighter who inspired her to take up mixed martial arts.[5][8] In January 2009, Lacina began training to become a boxer, with Joe Ruiz of the Apache Boxing Club at the Valhalla Club in Cedar Rapids.[5] She competed in her first boxing match on August 29, 2009.[5][8] In 2010, she competed in her first professional MMA fight, a first-round victory by submission.[11]

Reality television

Lacina's job with the Cedar Rapids Police Department has allowed her to take leave to participate in numerous competitive television shows.[9]

Survivor: Cagayan

Main article: Survivor: Cagayan

In 2013, Lacina was one of eighteen castaways to compete on Survivor: Cagayan, the 28th season of Survivor.[9][12] The theme of the season was "Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty." As a police officer, she started on the Brawn tribe called Aparri. She irecognized that her teammate Tony Vlachos was also a police officer, and the two formed an alliance called Cops-R-Us.[13] Aparri won the first four immunity challenges, but after the tribe swap, she was the only original Aparri member to remain on that tribe. Ultimately, Lacina finished in eleventh place and was the first member of the jury.[2][14]

Survivor Game Changers

Main article: Survivor: Game Changers

Lacina returned for the 34th season, Survivor: Game Changers in 2017.[2][12] 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 (including Debbie Wanner), 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 allied, 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,[2][12] over Culpepper and Robertson in a 7–3–0 vote.

Survivor: Winners at War

Main article: Survivor: Winners at War

Lacina came back as a contestant on the show's 40th season, Survivor: Winners at War in 2019.[13][12] In this season, she called out the gender bias of the television show, requesting that Jeff Probst, the show's host, call her "Lacina", as she noted that he used this to honor male players, but called female players by their first names.[13][15] She came in fourth place in this season.[13][15]

The Challenge: USA

In 2022, Lacina competed on the CBS series The Challenge: USA.[2][12] She became the female winner of the season, taking home $254,500.[16][17][9]

The Challenge: World Championship

For winning The Challenge: USA, Lacina qualified to participate in The Challenge: World Championship which ran on Paramount+ in 2023.[9][12][18] She came in fourth place in the show's final because her partner, Theo Campbell, was medically disqualified.[19]

Personal life

Lacina lives in Marion, Iowa, with her husband and fellow police officer, Wyatt Wardenburg, and their son, Knox.[10][12][20][21]

In October 2020, Lacina appeared in an ad for Ashley Hinson, a Republican running for the United States House of Representatives for the Iowa First District against Democratic incombent Abby Finkenauer.[22] In the ad, Lacina noted, "I don't care what side you're on, you can't trust anyone who votes with Nancy Pelosi 93 percent of the time."[22]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Survivor: Cagayan — Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty Contestant 8th eliminated; 11th place
2017 Survivor: Game Changers — Mamanuca Islands Contestant Sole Survivor; 1st place
2020 Survivor: Winners at War Contestant 19th eliminated; 4th place
2022 The Challenge: USA Contestant Winner; 1st place
2023 The Challenge: World Championship Contestant 4th place

References

  1. ^ Hughes, Sadie (2014-03-23). Survivor's Sarah Lacina Was Raised Tough. KGAN/KFXA News 2. Retrieved 2026-02-02 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Waheed, Omar (2022-06-24). "Former 'Survivor' Winner Sarah Lacina to Compete on New Reality TV Series". The Des Moines Register. pp. D1. Retrieved 2026-02-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Pilcher, K. J. (2009-08-26). "Ring Debut Saturday for Lacina". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. p. 15. Retrieved 2026-02-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Area Youths Qualify for Regional USA Track Meet". The Muscatine Journal. 1997-06-24. p. 11. Retrieved 2026-02-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b Hughes, Sadie (2014-03-15). Survivor Cagayan's Sarah Lacina Has Kennedy High School Support (Television production). KGAN/KFXA News 2. Retrieved 2026-02-02 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ a b c "Cedar Rapids female officer prepares for boxing debut". The Gazette. Gazette Company. August 25, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d e Decious, Elijah (2023-03-18). "C.R. 'Survivor Winner to Compete in New Show". The Gazette. pp. A1, A9. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "RCC 12 - Hostile Takeover". Sherdog. CraveOnline Media, LLC. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g "Sarah Lacina, 'Survivor' and 'The Challenge'". The Des Moines Register. 2023-10-07. pp. D4. Retrieved 2026-02-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c d Santilli, Tom (2020-05-14). "Survivor: Winners At War Finale Recap: A Winner Is Crowned". Reality Tea. Retrieved 2025-01-26.
  14. ^ Sarah Lacina - Survivor Cast Member. Archived from the original on 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
  15. ^ a b Ross, Dalton (May 13, 2020). "'Survivor: Winners at War' finale recap: Dominance is rewarded". EW.com. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
  16. ^ Dehnart, Andy (September 14, 2022). "Who won The Challenge USA? Who quit? Who got screwed?". realityblurred. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  17. ^ Caruso, Nick (September 14, 2022). "The Challenge: USA Finale Recap: Who Won the Money and a Chance to Compete in the World Championship?". TVLine. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  18. ^ Bloom, Mike (February 27, 2023). "The Challenge World Championship (2023)—Cast, Eliminations, Spoilers, Host, News - Parade: Entertainment, Recipes, Health, Life, Holidays". Parade. Archived from the original on 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
  19. ^ Bucksbaum, Sydney (May 17, 2023). "'The Challenge: World Championship' finale recap: The winners are..." EW.com. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
  20. ^ Ritter, Sarah (May 25, 2017). "Muscatine family celebrates Lacina's 'Survivor' win". Quad-City Times. Lee Enterprises. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  21. ^ "Drama, Tears Flow Freely on 'Survivor'". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 2020-04-16. pp. P10. Retrieved 2026-02-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ a b "Survivor Contestant in Hinson Ad". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. 2020-10-04. pp. A10. Retrieved 2026-02-02 – via Newspapers.com.
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