Sophomore attack Jill Remenapp has enjoyed success this year with the Pioneer women’s lacrosse team. The Woodbine, Md. native recently recorded the most assists in DU women’s lacrosse history for a single game with nine, and was placed on the original Tewaaraton Award watch list, a prestigious award handed out to the best female lacrosse player each year.
“I think she is really competitive, she plays with a chip on her shoulder,” said head coach Liza Kelly.
Remenapp has been a critical component of the 16-1 lacrosse team, recording 33 goals and 65 assists on the season. Now she and her team are preparing to enter the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) championship as the top seed this Thursday.
“I am very proud of our team this year,” said Remenapp. “The way we’ve meshed and our chemistry has just been amazing this year, so I am very proud of that.”
Remenapp has been playing lacrosse since she was five years-old, following in the footsteps of her two older brothers and father, who also played lacrosse in college. After joining a club team coached by her dad in 6th grade, where she played through her senior year of high school, Remenapp said she continued to develop her passion.
“Those girls are like my best friends and just playing club made me love the game so much,” said Remenapp. “That was a big point where we were all like ‘I love this game.’ I think that is when I fell in love with it.”
When Remenapp received the offer to come play lacrosse at DU, she wasn’t sure she wanted to go so far from home, but changed her mind when she visited.
“I came to campus and it was just gorgeous and the size of the school was perfect for me,” she said. “Denver is an amazing city, and I love it, so that helped a lot.”
After finishing with 28 assists and 50 points last season and being named MPSF Co-Newcomer of the Year, Remenapp said she has turned her attention this year to being even more aggressive on the field.
“I remember going in talking to Liza (saying) my goal this year was to go 40/40 (40 assists and 40 goals),” said Remenapp “All summer they wanted me to be more of a threat and because freshman year I laid back a little bit, so that was my goal coming in.”
She has received help from her teammates in her pursuits, and she said redshirt senior and fellow attack Kara Secora has been a particular inspiration.
“I have looked up to Kara since I was a freshman here; the way she plays is the way I want to play,” said Remenapp.
On April 11, Remenapp was put on the watch list for the Tewaaraton Award, one of 67 players nationwide who was in consideration for this year’s honor, though she was eliminated when the list was narrowed to 25 players Friday. Each year, a Tewaaraton selection committee of coaches chooses the best women’s lacrosse player.
“I was speechless,” said Remenapp. “I’ve grown up admiring these ladies on the watch list. It’s a huge accomplishment. I would have never thought I’d be on it, that’s for sure.”
Remenapp said she has worked hard on the intangible aspect of her game as well, focusing on putting herself in more of a leadership role with the team.
“All of fall, the coaches were like, ‘we need to see more leadership out of you,’” said Remenapp. “So all of fall and all of preseason, I worked on it, and I feel like I’ve stepped up to the plate.”
“Jill is a highly skilled player with great vision and great skill,” said Kelly. “I think her leadership role has put more on her shoulders this year.”
As Remenapp and her team prepare to enter the MPSF Championships as the first-seed team, Remenapp said she hopes the team will finish strong after last year’s upset loss to Stanford.
“Taking it game by game is something we have to work on,” said Remenapp. “I think the challenging part for our team this year is not to end early like we did last year.”
Remenapp is entering the final weeks remaining this season with hopes high.
“I want to win the MPSF, and make it to the NCAAs, which would be so amazing,” said Remenapp. “I just want to go as far as possible, which I think we have a really good chance at.”
