WORTON — USA Lacrosse has presented one of its highest honors to midfielder Mary Jane “MJ” Joiner, who excelled in the classroom and on the playing field throughout an outstanding career at Kent County High School.
Joiner is the Eastern Shore of Maryland’s 2026 recipient of the Jackie Pitts Award as the senior female player from this area who goes “above and beyond” in service to her team, school and community.
KCHS lacrosse coach Jim Egan described Joiner as “a natural leader.”
“MJ leads by example,” Egan told The Evening Enterprise. “She is always teaching and coaching during practice and games. She is always ready to help.”
Joiner’s teammates affectionately refer to her as the “team mom.”
The Jackie Pitts Award is named in honor of a lacrosse legend — a former president of the United States Women’s Lacrosse Association; member of the U.S. women’s national team; head coach of the U.S. women’s squad from 1979 to 1987, leading the Americans to the first World Cup championship in 1982; one of the first women inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1993; and the inaugural recipient of USA Lacrosse’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.
Pitts passed away in 2024 at her home in Delaware at the age of 87.
Recipients of the Jackie Pitts Award “truly honor the game of lacrosse by investing in the development of the game, by serving as exemplary teammates and by being role models within their school community,” according to the USA Lacrosse website.
USA Lacrosse oversees the selection of the high school awards, which are administered locally by area chairs. Selections are based on voting by coaches within each geographical area.
Roanoke College-bound Joiner is a three-time team MVP for the Trojans, leading them to back-to-back appearances in the Class 1A East II Region championship game in 2025 and ’26.
This year she scored 26 goals and handed out 10 assists for 7-6 KCHS, which lost to Elkton in the region final in sudden death, 14-13.
Joiner lettered four times each in soccer, swimming and lacrosse, and has been the team MVP in all three sports. Her résumé includes school records in swimming in the 200 and 500 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
She is the KCHS Class of 2026’s Bayside Conference Scholar Athlete and outstanding female athlete.
Her academic accomplishments include being a STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math] Completer and a Dual Completer [Career and Technology Education plus Spanish 1 and 2] while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.67 or higher on a 4.0 scale.
Earlier this month, Joiner made the grade as a USA Lacrosse All-Academic honoree representing the Eastern Shore. She joins Stephen Decatur’s Caitlin Shimko and Laila Pascucci as players “who exhibit exemplary lacrosse skills, good sportsmanship on the field and represent high standards of academic achievement in the classroom.”
One Response
Trish, thank you for highlighting Mary Jane’s accomplishments while attending KCHS. Her parents and siblings have grounded her. Roanoke is getting a prize for sure and our family while we know she’s ready to fly into a new life experience will miss her everyday presence. We’re ready to watch her achievements at Roanoke College and will try to travel to watch her on the Lacrosse fields in 2027! Mimi and Poppi Joiner