Syracuse, N.Y. — Lacrosse has taken twins Madisyn and Kenzii Kittell all across the country, from their high school days together at West Genesee to their careers as college teammates at Florida.
At the moment, few of those destinations seem as special as the confined space of their garage.
That’s where the sisters recently got a rare chance to practice some stick skills together. They thought they’d go in for a few minutes in the afternoon. Hours later, when they lifted up the garage door, it was dark.
“We didn’t even realize because we were just having fun with it,” Madisyn said.
The moments were precious because everything the two knew about the first 22 years of their lives is now different. Kenzii, a goalie, and Madisyn, an attack, have played together since they first picked up sticks nearly 15 years ago. Until a few months ago, they had never lived apart.
Kenzii has given up the sport. She could have kept playing after she got another year of eligibility when the coronavirus cut short her senior season at Florida. But she was already set on chasing a veterinarian’s degree at Auburn, which does not have that sport, and didn’t want to risk giving up her spot in that program.
Madisyn is eyeing a different challenge. She transferred to Pitt, a fledgling program that will begin ACC play in 2021-22. She is red-shirting this season and will take the field for the Panthers next year.
The sisters have spent the past several weeks reunited at home during winter breaks, giving them another chance to reheat old but valuable memories of their playing days together.
“I feel like our whole childhood was surrounded by lacrosse. That’s how we had friends. My whole family plays lacrosse. I feel like recollections of me and Kenzii playing lacrosse is literally my whole childhood,” Madisyn said.
The two recently discussed their parting of ways.
The dropoff
The separation began when the family drove Kenzii down to Auburn in August.
Kenzii: “It really didn’t hit me until we were in Alabama moving myself in with her and then she left. I was alone. I’m used to not living with my parents but when Madisyn left I was like ‘Oh my gosh. This is so weird.’ And then finally like a week later when she called me and they were moving into Pittsburgh without me, they were sending me all these pictures and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. I’m not there.’ Because we were always together when we were moving in different places in Florida.”
Madisyn: “It honestly hit me way sooner than I think it hit Kenzii because she knew where she was going, but I really didn’t know where I was going. So to me that gave me a little bit of anxiety. It’s still really hard to be without her in Pittsburgh. I got a cat because I thought it would help me a little bit. But it doesn’t fill the void that I had without Mackenzii.
”I remember getting home (from dropping her at school) and walking inside and not having her there is when it hit me. We got home and I was like, she’s really not here. What am I going to do?”
What they miss most about each other
Kenzii: “Probably her snarky remarks. She has a little bit of an attitude so it’s kind of funny. My roommates say I kind of have an attitude. But everyone from home says I’m the sweetest person ever. So I think I kind of took part of Madisyn with me when I went to Alabama. So I would say I miss her personality the most and keeping me laughing.
Madisyn: “I think just having the comfort of her, knowing that she’s there if I need her. We don’t have to talk or anything, but just knowing she’s there, and that I have some type of home by me.”
What they miss least about each other
Kenzii: “Just sister arguments. I don’t miss those. We’ve had a couple since we’ve been home, but they don’t last long.”
Madisyn: “She’s very school educated, so she’s constantly doing school. So even when I knew she was there she really couldn’t hang out with me because she was constantly studying. I guess that annoyed me the most.”
Leaving lacrosse
Kenzii: “I definitely miss lacrosse a lot. But I’m happy to start the new chapter of my life. It was super hard. It’s always been a huge part of my life. But I kind of knew that I had to kind of get away from it because I’ve been doing it my whole life. I had to find a different identity for myself because once you play a sport your whole life it becomes kind of part of you. So I wanted to venture out and kind of find a new part of me. Vet school is definitely really fun, it’s just a different type of fun.”
Creating their own identities
Kenzii: “It’s super important. That’s the main reason why I went to Auburn. I knew Madisyn wasn’t going to end up in Alabama. We have to kind of grow into our own people. It means a lot to us, but we always obviously stay in contact as much as we can and fill each other in on what we’re doing lately.”
Madisyn: “We’ve been together for 22 years. I feel like a part of me is always half of her. I feel like me and her are one person. And while I love doing everything together with her, I feel like I didn’t have my own self. I knew I had to become my own person. I didn’t know anything better besides being her twin. And I needed to be something more than that. I think it was time for us to grow up a little bit and find our true selves. I think we’re both struggling with it but I think we’re both doing a really good job embracing it too.”
Their futures together or apart
Kenzii: “It’s kind of hard to say because we never thought this would happen, Covid would happen and she’d be playing two more years at Pittsburgh. I have four more years (at Auburn). I know I don’t want to stay at Alabama but I do want to stay in the south. She wants to go into coaching, so that could really land her anywhere as well. I don’t want her to follow me just because we’re so close. I know she wants to be near me. She said when we get older she wants to build houses next to each other.”
Madisyn: “I think that we’re still trying to figure out how to do that (be apart) and what that means for us because we’ve always had the comfort of knowing, ‘Oh, we’ll always be back for a Christmas break or a Thanksgiving break.’ I think we’ve recognized and I think we’re honestly doing a good job of just going with the flow and seeing what the next step is for us.”
Madisyn Kittell (left) and Kenzii Kittell say goodbye to their family and friends who came to the Carrier Dome to see them play. The West Genesee graduates play for Florida.Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com
Lindsay Kramer is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. Got a comment or idea for a story? He can be reached via email at LKramer@Syracuse.com.
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