After seeing her brother and his friends playing an unknown sport in the yard, a young fourth grader walked outside and began to annoy them, hoping to join their game. When they finally allowed her to play, she began to discover lacrosse, a sport that she would continue to play until the end of high school.

Mina Jenab ‘21 began playing lacrosse after watching her brother, 2018 Miramonte graduate Diego Jenab practicing with his friends. Soon afterward, she signed up to play for the Lamorinda Lightning Lacrosse club and currently plays goalie for the Miramonte girls varsity team.

“I think my favorite thing about playing lacrosse at Miramonte is the team chemistry because in other places where I would play such as club, I had never been this close with a team. Playing in high school and at Miramonte is different because we see each other every day. We’ve always been really close so it’s really fun to see teammates at school, especially with people in-between grades,” Jenab said.

In 2,405 minutes for the Lady Mats, Jenab made 326 saves, an impressive statistic. Jenab serves as the team captain and is regarded as an extremely positive and motivational teammate.

“Mina is always super positive about everything. Her positivity makes it super easy to communicate with her and makes her very approachable. She is super supportive and she brings a great energy to the team,”  sophomore Taryn Pearce said.

Throughout her high school career, Jenab contributed to the girls lacrosse team significantly. She played on varsity as a freshman and was a part of its 2018 North Coast Section Championship win.

“That game was surreal. Everyone showed up and we were playing Acalanes. It was the craziest experience. Everything was so high-stakes. It just felt like a movie that night, it was so insane. It was a really stressful situation, but it was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like that. It actually felt like a movie. It was super cool,” Jenab said.

Along with her contributions on the field, Jenab is a passionate and supportive leader of the team. Before games and during practice, she inspires her teammates to work hard and compete.

“Mina is a leader on and off the field. In the goal, she is quick and focused. As a teammate, she is inspiring and welcoming. Mina makes my job easier by being a vocal leader at practice. She does a great job of getting everyone hyped up before games as well,” head coach Jackie Pelletier said. 

Although Jenab does not plan to continue playing lacrosse after high school, she wants to leave the opportunity open.

 “I don’t intend on playing competitively, but maybe in my sophomore or junior year, if I have time in my schedule, I think it would be fun to play on a really relaxed club team. Or maybe do some coaching, depending on where I end up because I really enjoy coaching,” Jenab said.

When she is not on the lacrosse field, Jenab also focuses on her studies and future. Jenab will be attending Occidental College in the fall. Though freshmen at Occidental must take a year of general courses before declaring their major, Jenab is interested in pursuing cognitive science. 

“I’m looking at cognitive science programs because I want to be a speech pathologist. It’s a smaller area of study, so it definitely made my college search easier. It’s also the perfect job for me. It combines working with people of all ages, language, and communication, and helping people directly,” Jenab said.