Signing with Virginia for lacrosse a shared experience for Corning star Jenna DiNardo

During Wednesday afternoon's signing celebration for future University of Virginia lacrosse player Jenna DiNardo, Corning-Painted Post athletic director Rebecca Gentile took note of how long it was going to take to go through DiNardo's list of accolades.

DiNardo, 17, has earned all-state honors in volleyball and basketball for the Hawks after helping each advance to the state final four, yet it's lacrosse that is her best and favorite sport.

Athletic versatility and excellence is accompanied by a 97 average in the classroom and the appreciation and respect of her coaches and teammates, who joined DiNardo's family, school administrators, friends and others in pouring into the high school cafeteria for the ceremony.

In turn, DiNardo made sure to thank everyone in the room ‒ and some who couldn't be there ‒ for their support. All of her coaches and family members were singled out by name and DiNardo gave a heartfelt special thanks to Dave Harrington, an assistant principal at Corning-Painted Post, for his support of Hawks teams and athletes.

'An amazing human being'

DiNardo, a five-year varsity player at midfield and attack, committed to the Cavaliers last year. She is coming off a junior season in which she earned first-team Section 4 all-star honors and helped the Hawks win the Section 4 Class A title.

Virginia's women's team is ranked 10th nationally in Division I.

"Jenna is creative and feisty," Virginia coach Julie Myers said in a university press release in January, after DiNardo signed her National Letter of Intent. "She has a great shot and lots of moves to get her hands free. She will add to our depth on attack and will bring an upstate New York flare to all she does. Jenna is a great team player and will push herself and others to be their best.”

Kevin Scanlon, Corning's girls lacrosse coach, praised DiNardo as a leader by example after reading glowing comments about DiNardo from Hawks volleyball coach Barb Smith and girls basketball coach Jamie Nichols.

"On the lacrosse field, Jenna is a fierce and relentless force in every aspect of the game," Scanlon said. "She brings speed, quickness, strength, with a fantastic game IQ. … The work ethic she has mixed with the attitude and confidence is a recipe that stands out most to me.

"The icing on the cake is she’s genuinely an amazing human being. An awesome person. Jenna, never stop being you, don’t ever change. In the classroom, on the sports field and most importantly in life."

Lacrosse a big part of DiNardo family

Among those in attendance were DiNardo's parents, Dom and Emmie DiNardo. Dom was a star for Corning East's 1990 boys lacrosse team, which remains Section 4's only state champion in the sport. He scored seven goals in the state final, a 13-7 win over Yorktown, and went on to play collegiately at Hofstra, where he was an honorable mention All-American.

Jenna, who lives in Painted Post, choked up as she spoke of the support she has received over the years from both parents.

"Thank you to my parents, who have been my biggest role models, and I love you both so much," Jenna said.

A few minutes later, she talked about Virginia, lacrosse and her Corning athletic career during time with media members.

Question: Your thoughts on this day?

Answer: I’ve been waiting for this day. Honestly, it’s weird because four years ago I was watching my cousins come up and do this or watching my older teammates come up and do this. And now I’m finally here and I was able to do it. It means a lot and I’m very excited for the next chapter in my life and I’m so excited to go to Virginia and I can not wait. Lacrosse has been my passion for such a long time even though basketball and volleyball are also so much fun. But lacrosse has my heart and I can’t wait to go to Virginia.

Q: What are you looking forward to about your senior lacrosse season?

A: I’m so excited. I can not wait to play with all my friends. Our lacrosse environment is so nice and so special. Coach Scanlon does a really good job at bringing all of us girls together and performing together.

Q: What was the recruiting process like for you?

A: The whole recruiting process was a little scary. You go and visit teams and colleges, but when I went and visited Virginia I knew right away. I was like, ‘I want to go here. I love this atmosphere.’ And I loved everything about the team and the coaches. They really grabbed me and pulled me in as one of them.

Q: Your level of effort in athletics stands out. Where does that approach come from?

A: I think I get a lot from how I grew up. We’ve all been competitive. If it was a board game, we were all going after each other. We’d even want to win at that. So I’ve just always had that mentality of I want to win at everything I try, everything I play.

Q: Why is lacrosse such a big sport in the Corning area?

A: Definitely from my dad and around my parents’ time, lacrosse was a big deal. I feel like this is kind of a lacrosse town. Everyone knows about the lacrosse teams or how they’re doing. I’ve just always grown up around lacrosse. Everything I was doing, lacrosse was always something in the back of my head.

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today

This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Corning's Jenna DiNardo to play lacrosse at University of Virginia