Sept. 5, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Gabrielle Richards, GoPSUsports Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Eight thousand four hundred and forty seven minutes equals 352 days, 217 road trips from Pennsylvania to California, and the amount of time it would take to earn 56 Bachelor's Degrees from Penn State. Eight thousand four hundred and forty seven minutes also equals the amount of time Nittany Lions Kylie Licata and Jenna Chrismer have spent on the field together. But, if we were to calculate the amount of time that Kylie and Jenna have known each other, the total would be 7,884,000 minutes or 15 years.
Before they became "Big Ten Athletes of the Week," "Big Ten Champions," and "leading scorers," Kylie and Jenna were just a couple of kids who grew up across the street from one another. From the late night kick-ball games to the backyard barbeques, the duo has been inseparable since 1999.
"Jenna [Chrismer] moved into the neighborhood when I was seven years old," Kylie said. "I was one of the first friends she made."
The duo grew up in Mountain Top, Pennsylvania, a small, rural area two hours north of State College. Mountain Top is home to one of Pennsylvania's premier high school field hockey programs, the Crestwood High School Comets. Field hockey wasn't always the common denominator between these two, as Kylie is responsible for Jenna joining Crestwood's junior high team.
"It was the day before junior high sports tryouts," Kylie said. "Jenna came over my house and told me she wanted to try out for the cross-country team. I laughed at her. I said 'no, no, no, come play field hockey.'"
Five minutes later, Jenna was in Kylie's backyard with a field hockey stick in her hand.
"I never in a million years thought that I would play this sport," Jenna said. "But, then I really liked it."
...and the rest was history.
The following summer, Jenna's dad built them a field hockey cage. The duo would often be out all hours of the night, using only a spotlight to see the ball, pushing and working each other. The challenge of the back yard one-on-one field hockey sessions didn't stop there, they continued at practice as well.
"When you care about someone, you want to give them your very best," Jenna said. "I always made sure I tried my most difficult shots or my fastest plays on Kylie at practice. That way I knew I helped her as best I could for game situations."
This constant support system off the field translated just as well on the field. In the time that Jenna and Kylie wore their red and white Comet uniforms, they won two Wyoming Valley Conference Championships, appeared in two semifinal rounds in the PIAA championships and graduated with a near perfect record. Kylie graduated in 2010 with a .850 save percentage. Jenna graduated in 2011 with 229 career points and a spot in the Crestwood record books as the fourth highest scorer in the program's history.
"Playing without Kylie my senior year was difficult," Jenna said. "We talked on the phone every day."
Their separation wouldn't last long.
Jenna's visit to Penn State was the last on her list before the high school standout had to make her decision.
"It just felt like home," Jenna said. "Having Kylie here added to that feeling."
The duo has truly made Penn State their home, especially on the field. Kylie and Jenna are major contributors to the Nittany Lions' offensive and defensive strategy.
Jenna, one of the leading scorers heading into this season and Kylie, who has played every minute of every game since the 2013 season started, will leave their mark when they graduate this year.
"We always joked about going to the same college when we were in high school," Kylie said. "Who would have thought that we would be ending our careers together?"
While Kylie and Jenna are the nucleus of their friendship, their parents are best friends, too. The duo might have been on the field together for 8,447 minutes, but their parents have been on the sidelines cheering for each of those minutes as well.
"It's comforting to look over my shoulder during a game and see our parents standing with one another," Jenna said. "They have always been there for us, no matter what."
"I knew we were family long before we started playing [field hockey]," Kylie said. "One summer, Jenna's mom bought a membership to the local pool; she got me a pass too. The pass read 'Kylie Chrismer.'"
For the past four seasons at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex, Jenna and Kylie's names have been announced over the loudspeaker during the pre-game announcements. Their names are always followed by "Mountain Top, Pa." While their collegiate careers might end this November, the duo will never forget how their 'team' of two started.
It began 7,884,000 minutes ago when a young Kylie saw a moving van pull into the house across the street.