Senior Jenny Giampalmo of Glenelg was awarded with the 2018 field hockey player of the year for Howard County.

“Jenny is the true definition of a leader,” said Glenelg field hockey coach, Nicole Trunzo about her star player. According to Trunzo, playing field hockey year round and committing all of her extra time to the sport were contributing factors that helped lead Giampalmo to her title.

Giampalmo came close to never putting on a jersey at all in high school, however. In August 2015, Giampalmo was an incoming freshman at Glenelg High School. The night before fall sports tryouts, she was preparing to try out for the school’s soccer team. She had been debating between soccer and field hockey all summer, as she was fond of both and could not decide which she would enjoy more.

All ready for soccer tryouts, Giampalmo changed her mind when she realized that her closest friends were all going out for field hockey. Also contributing to her decision was the idea that class schedules of her and her friends were not going to make it easy for Giampalmo to see her friends during the school day.

Freshman year, Giampalmo spent her first field hockey season on JV. Varsity coach Coach Trunzo did have her eye on Giampalmo for varsity, but did not think she was ready quite yet for the competition.

Despite playing for JV freshman year, Giampalmo was able to earn a starting spot on varsity as a sophomore.

“Her endurance is stellar and she plays with so much intensity,” Coach Trunzo explained. “She is the one who keeps the flow of the game.”

By her junior year, she was voted as one of the team captains, making her the only captain that was not a senior.

Former teammate Georgia Esmond, who graduated in 2018 and played both field hockey and lacrosse with Giampalmo, explained, “she is the sweetest, very down to earth, and always the first one to congratulate a teammate when they score, which is what made her a great a captain.”

Trunzo said what made her captain was simply her “contagious hard work and positive attitude.”

Trunzo, who is also the varsity lacrosse coach at Glenelg, saw varsity potential in Giampalmo from day one of lacrosse tryouts. She made the varsity lacrosse team as a freshman and was even a starter.

“Jenny’s lacrosse IQ is on point,” shared Trunzo. “In both field hockey and lacrosse, her off ball knowledge and overall game sense creates so many opportunities for herself or her teammates.”

On top of all her achievements, Giampalmo is also committed to play Division One lacrosse at Yale in the fall.