Adrenaline junkie Lagi Quiroga fitting in with Texas Tech softball

There's no one perfect way to describe the essence of Texas Tech softball player Lagi Quiroga . To get to know the 5-foot-8 junior, it's best to start at the basics. Quiroga's real first name is Isabel.

Named after her grandmother, Lagi (pronounced Long-ee) is her middle name. Her mother has called her Lagi as long as she can remember, and the name has stuck. Next is her multi-racial ethnicity, each of which Quiroga is proud to represent in a predominantly white sport.

Quiroga is a mix of Hispanic and Polynesian. Since moving to Lubbock, Quiroga said the most Polynesian people she's been around was when BYU came to town to play the Texas Tech football team. Most assume that "Polynesian" generally means someone from the Hawaiian Islands.

In fact, Quiroga is Samoan and, to some extent or another, shares a bloodline with the Anoa'i family wrestling dynasty. Rikishi, the big-rumped WWE star of yesteryear, Quiroga says, is her uncle (how closely related she's unable to say). The Rock, also known as Dwayne Johnson in Hollywood circles, was present at the funeral of Quiroga's grandmother.