For Paige Jenkins, she cannot imagine a world without lacrosse. While having played since she was in first grade, the sport has been a part of her life since birth.
“My mom played in high school, so she kind of got me into it,” Jenkins said.
Not only that, but her mother was her coach from the time she started playing until the eighth grade.
Even when she tried to give attention to other sports, there was something about lacrosse that she just gravitated towards.
“With my mom playing, it was something that was special and helped our connection grow,” Jenkins said.
And that type of family aspect was exactly why the Freedom High School alum chose to come to Slippery Rock University. However, it was not the only school Jenkins was looking at.
While touring other colleges in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Division, like Kutztown University and East Stroudsburg University, and even looking at schools up north like the University of Massachusetts, there was just something about SRU. Not only were the campus and the facilities nice, but wanting a place that felt like home was important to Jenkins.
“Coach Burkholder and Coach Anderson from the start were very honest people, and they rely heavily on the family as a team culture,” she said.
Head coach Taryn Burkholder and assistant coach Jordan Anderson have been working in tandem together for the past five years.
From her hometown in Bethlehem, Pa. to the town of Slippery Rock is nearly a five-hour drive. Moving so far from home can be hard on anyone, and it definitely was on Jenkins.
“I’m very close with my family. But knowing that I was going to be away from them, I wanted something that was still going to feel like that,” she said.
Quickly, Jenkins started to settle in. Joining the team in 2024, she was put right into a starting position as a midfielder. She held that position for a year before she transitioned to a straight defensive player.
“It was a little hard for me at first, taking on a new role, being a straight defender,” she said.
But she was not doing it alone. Former defenders Amelia Nitsche and Nicole Masi were there to guide Jenkins every step of the way.
“They took me under their wing and showed me the ropes,” Jenkins said.
She accepted any and all feedback they were willing to give her. That first game in her new position, Jenkins remembers telling Nitsche and Masi to yell at her if she messed up. She was always looking to improve her game.
It was not just the teammates who helped her settle into this new position; it was also the coaches.
“Coach [Anderson] really guided me in the right direction, too,” she said.
Jenkins opened last season by being named the USA Lacrosse Preseason All-American Team and ended the year with a consensus All-American honoree from USA Lacrosse and the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA). Along with that, she also earned PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year and PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week.
The then sophomore started in all 21 games, caused 42 turnovers, collected 37 ground balls and walked away with 70 draw controls.
But what some people may not realize is the difficulties behind playing defense. While other players stop and cheer when a goal is made, no one stops the game to cheer when the defense makes a good strategic move.
“It’s hard because, I think we’re just overlooked sometimes,” Jenkins said. “But our coaches and team do a great job of cheering us on.”
Playing defense is a team-oriented position. If only one person on the field knows what they are doing, it will not work. Everyone needs to be on the same page.
“We’re on a string. We’re all moving together, and we all have each other’s backs,” she said.
Jenkins says that it is because of her teammates that she was able to accomplish all that she has in her time so far.
“It’s very hard to do it alone, and I wouldn’t be able to do it alone,” she said.
From the teammates who taught her right from wrong in her position, she is now making it a full circle moment by taking two freshmen of her own under her wing: Violet Freebody and Aleigha Dubroc.
Now, in her junior season, Jenkins continues to rack up the accolades. She currently holds sixth place in SRU history for draw controls, 12th in ground balls and 16th in starts. On April 21, she was named PSAC Athlete of the Week for the fifth time this season.
Above all of that, during an away game against Gannon University on April 11, she broke the record in caused turnovers. She recorded two in that game to bring her total to 48 for the season and 112 overall.
Jenkins had tied the record the day before in a matchup against Lock Haven University, but she tries not to pay attention to the statistics.
One of her teammates, Lauren Petty, informed her that she had hit 100 ground balls and caused turnovers. It was after the game that Jenkins found out she tied the record. The previous record holder, Tia Torchia, playing from 2015 to 2018, had 101.
“I knew I was close, but I didn’t know I was that close,” she said.
When it came to that game against Gannon, knowing there was a possibility of breaking the record, Jenkins’ only focus was on the game. Again, it was only after the game that she discovered she broke the record.
“After the game on the bus, it was definitely very fun. My teammates are the best, they celebrated me a bunch,” she said.
However, she made it a point not to focus on the numbers.
“If I focus on that or harp on my mistakes or anything during the game, that’s when I don’t play my best. So, I try to just go in with an open mind, not worrying about that stuff,” she said.
For Jenkins, keeping that open mind is something that comes from a young age. While her mom got her into the sport, it was her dad who taught her to stay humble. She and her brother are both athletes. They come from a very sports-driven family, and that is something her dad has preached since day one: to stay humble and not focus on individual statistics.
“We play team sports; it takes everyone to win games,” she said.
While all of these accomplishments are great, Jenkins sees them only as motivators to keep going.
“This is great, but there’s still more to go after,” she said. “My high school coach always told me to stay humble, stay hungry.”
But there is a bigger picture, and that is her contribution to her team. She does not focus on what she can do for herself, but on what she can do for her teammates.
“These weekly awards are great, but let’s go get some big team wins and put the school on the map,” Jenkins said.
That is the junior’s biggest goal: to push the program further than they have been in the past.
Last season marked the best season in Rock lacrosse history, with a record of 18-3 overall and 10-0 in the conference. The team also won the PSAC West regular season title as well as an Atlantic Region Championship. They also advanced all the way to the semifinals in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It was the first time for the program to be in the tournament.
This season, the White and Green look to go even further. The team has an undefeated season right now, going 15-0 overall and 8-0 in the conference. The end goal is a national championship, but they need to take it step by step.
“First is making playoffs, getting back to the final four, and then hopefully getting further,” she said.
From the stands, Jenkins can look like the perfect athlete. However, she, like everyone else, can go through rough patches. But she has a secret weapon: her dad.
“I always look at him in the stands, and he gives me a little clap or gives me a face, and I’m like, ‘alright, I’m good,’” she said.
It is not just her dad whom she can turn to; Jenkins also turns to God. The lacrosse team does a Bible study the night before every game, and they pray before the start of every game. But there is one thing she repeats in her mind.
“In those hard moments, I have to tell myself that I can’t focus too much on my mistakes,” she said. “I’m grateful to even be stepping on this field and [have] the ability to do what I’m doing right now.”
The season is now coming to an end with only one game left in the regular season, and Jenkins is just looking to make the best out of the time she has left. With all she has accomplished so far, she defines her collegiate career as “successful, but not finished yet.”
“We’ve already left our mark on this program,” she said, “but to leave an even bigger mark would be my goal.”
