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Jenkins Sisters Reunited at Harvard

Jenkies
Meredith H. Keffer

Junior midfielder Mariel Jenkins (left) looks to continue her success on the women’s lacrosse team from freshman year, while her younger sister, freshman midfielder Sydney Jenkins (right) is making an early impact on the women’s field hockey team, garnering Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors on Sept. 5.

With the Harvard field hockey’s team three-game winning streak in jeopardy on Sunday, the Crimson was saved by an unexpected player: freshman Sydney Jenkins, who scored her third career goal to beat Vermont, 2-1, in overtime.

As Sydney celebrated with her teammates on the field, her sister, Mariel, a junior on the women's lacrosse team, cheered proudly from the stands.

After two years apart, the Jenkins sisters have finally reunited at Harvard.

Since a young age, the sisters have competed together in both lacrosse and field hockey.

In high school, the Jenkins sisters were coined “The Dynamic Duo” and “Double Trouble” because of their unique sister-sister combos.

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“I miss playing with her because we would always have sister ‘give-and-goes,’” Sydney said.

Mariel often benefitted from Sydney’s passing prowess.

“Sydney always led the area in assists, and I was pretty high up there in goals, but all of my goals came from Sydney’s assists, so I did little on my own,” Mariel said.

Now playing for the Crimson, the Jenkins girls each chose the sport that best suited their individual strengths.

“Sydney is more of a finesse player,” Mariel explained. “She has really good hands. I’m a little more aggressive, I like to drive to the cage more, and I like more contact.”

Mariel excelled as a lacrosse player at the Princeton Day School, where she scored 118 career goals and was named to the first-team All State in New Jersey.

In her freshman year at Harvard, Mariel started 10 out of the 15 games as a midfielder, scoring three goals and winning seven draws.

Sydney, who was a field hockey all-state prep selection in both 2009 and 2010 and a Junior Olympics pick in 2008, decided to follow Mariel to Cambridge.

“From the second I heard that Sydney was going to Harvard with me, I saw that was going to change my experience completely for the better,” Mariel said.

Mariel wasn’t the only one pleased with Sydney’s decision to come to the Harvard.

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