The College of New Jersey’s Toni-Anne Cavallo is used to playing on elite teams.

The junior dual-sport student-athlete has contributed to the Lions’ back-to-back NCAA Division III national titles in lacrosse. She also is a member of the soccer team that fell just short of a national title in a 1-0 loss in last year’s championship game. So it should come as no surprise that Cavallo is now on pace to join another elite squad — the Marines.

This past summer, Cavallo navigated her way through the Platoon Leaders Class (PLC) at Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. PLC is one of the four primary ways to earn a commission in the Marines and is the first step to becoming an officer.

Of the about 800 candidates who started the rigorous six-week session, roughly 600, including Cavallo, graduated. She was one of only 22 females to finish the training of the more than 50 women who started the program.

Cavallo must decide by December whether to enter a second six weeks of training next summer. Should she finish that round successfully and earn her degree from The College of New Jersey, Cavallo will earn commission in the Marine Corp as a second lieutenant and advance to basic school for six more months of training and development.

By her own admission, Cavallo has always been interested in the military but was afraid to commit. PLC was ideal, she said, because she could participate in the training without having to make a commitment.

As part of the program, candidates are evaluated on leadership, academics and physical fitness. "It’s not like enlisted boot camp where they’re trying to get everyone through. It’s more like evaluating and screening. They want to see who has what it takes to be a leader in the Marines," said Cavallo. "It was really challenging mentally, more than physically. Physically, I was fine. Being an athlete, I came in prepared."

That preparation showed. Cavallo was one of 14 participants — and the only female — recognized by the commanding officer on behalf of the Marine Corps. She earned a certificate of achievement for being the most physically fit.

Currently a health and exercise science major and marketing minor who also is working toward a teaching certificate in physical education, Cavallo said her experiences at Quantico taught her that anything is possible if she works hard enough. She also said she gained a sense of confidence in what she could accomplish.

"If I could go through something like this, running a couple of miles, for instance, is nothing," she said. "I think it’s really important, especially for underclassmen, instead of telling people what to do, the most important thing is to gain their respect. I think that’s one thing I learned from the summer — how to be a better leader on and off the field."

Student-athletes are often encouraged to be creative on the field. At a recent kickoff event for the CHAMPS/Life Skills program at Wayne State College (Nebraska), student-athletes were challenged to put that same genius to work in the kitchen by creating healthy snacks.

The Wayne State athletics department teamed with the campus counseling center to present "Ready, Set, Cook." The purpose of the program was to teach student-athletes how to prepare healthy snacks.

Organizers divided 300 participants into groups of about 10 each and challenged them to create nutritious items with the ingredients provided at their tables.

"We brought student-athletes in and gave them minimal instructions: ‘You’ve got some ingredients on the table. We want to see what you can make out of it. When it’s over we’ll explain. Ready, set, cook,’ " said Linn Brummels, director of counseling at the school.

Each group shared its dish and at the end of the event organizers distributed recipes. "This was like taking a bunch of 18-to 21-year-olds and saying, ‘What can you make for yourself that doesn’t involve calling and getting a pizza?’ " said Brummels. "Can you make a trail mix or a salad or use a pita? The thing they seemed to have the most trouble with was what to do with all those green things."

Brummels said Ready, Set, Cook, which was modeled after a similar exercise used at a CHAMPS/Life Skills training session, was well received by student-athletes.

"We had great participation and cooperation from all the coaches. It was wonderful," she said.