DENVER — They say a team is like a family -- but for DU women’s lacrosse, three families make up their team!
Seven siblings, two sets of twins (the Colimores and the Palmisanos) and one set of triplets (the DeRoses), account for a large portion of the Pioneers' roster.
"I feel like it’s so awesome to come in with your built-in best friend," said Anna Palmisano, a freshman defender. "There’s just so much comfort and it makes the transmission so much easier."
Anna’s twin sister Sara, who plays attack for the Pioneers, agrees: "It’s kind of fun because growing up we’ve always been super competitive with each other so it’s kind of fun to compete and be with each other on the field."
The fraternal Palmisano twins are joined by the identical Colimore twins
"Even just traveling, knowing that you’ll have someone there to say like ‘can you save me a seat on the plane’ or like dumb stuff like that," said Ella Colimore, a freshman attacker.
Ella’s sister Caroline, who plays midfield, talked about that special bond between sisters: "It’s just so good to have someone on the team that you care about and we all kind of get that thing. And I feel like no one else gets that …special thing that we only get."
There’s no doubt a lot of sisterly love but, "there’s bickering," laughed Gracie Derose, one of the three triplets on the Pioneers roster. Sara Palmisano added: "And everyone, whenever they’re around it, thinks it’s the funniest thing ever so it’s never anything serious. Everyone just laughs."
The Deroses, being upperclassmen (seniors), knew they could easily connect with their younger teammates.
"It was kind of like an instant friendship so I knew how to talk with them and they were just super easy," Taylor Derose said.
This Pios family is truly one of a kind, "No, I don’t really think that any team has multiple sets of twins or triplets on it," Kayla Derose said. "Our team is such a family and I think that having twins and triplets who are already family members just promotes the culture even more."
In this kind of family, there’s sometimes confusion.
"Sometimes I’ll answer to like Kayla or Gracie," Taylor Derose said. "But it’s just a little funny and weird at the same time if somebody just throws out a name and I’ll just turn and look and be like oh that’s not me."
Gracie Derose, the oldest of the triplets and the only defender of the family (Kayla and Taylor both play attack), talked about the legacy all of the siblings will want to leave at the University of Denver.
"I think it’s absolutely amazing. I think we talk about leaving a legacy but it’s not just our own it’s like the three of ours it’s all of the sisters involved. I kind of look at it as more of a selfless thing."
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