Quinnipiac University has another great recruiting class entering its ranks this 2014-15 season. In addition to tapping some of the country’s top high schools, head coach Rebecca Carlson has extended her reach not only to other sports but also to other countries.

 

“We are looking forward to the largest and most talented class we have ever had,” Carlson said. “Our schedule includes some of the top programs in the country and we look to mesh a strong core of Bobcats for 2014 with our newest recruits."

 

Two pairs of players come from the country’s top rugby programs. Fallbrook High School (Calif.) has sent former team captain and lock Taylor Duncan and prop Brittney Eldridge to Connecticut. The Warriors have won four consecutive high school titles, and the duo has played on all of them. 

 

Catholic Memorial High School out of Wisconsin is also well represented. No. 8 Maggie Wesolowski, who was named to the DI national all-tournament team her junior and senior years, and center/wing Rebecca Haight, who holds multiple tries-scored records with her alma mater and played with the first-ever Atlantis 7s high school team, have both signed on with Quinnipiac.

 

A couple of High School All Americans are also joining the ranks. Summit High School’s Lily Weldon is a two-time All American. She played an unprecedented five years for the Tigers, joining the team as an 8th grader, and enjoyed just as many Colorado state titles with Summit. She joins the Bobcats behind Hailey Wyatt, who was the first Summit alum to sign with Quinnipiac. Prop/No. 8 Kareen Helgerson hails from Rex Putnam High School out of Oregon and also competed at this summer’s Stars and Stripes game.

 

Megan Johnson might be the most familiar athlete, for several reasons. Hailing from Tumwater High School (Olympia, Wash.), the scrumhalf not only played for the USA U20s but is also the current state champion in wrestling. The High School All American shares a similar bio with Kent alum Cassidy Meyers, who is on rugby scholarship with American International College.

 

And then there are the wild cards. Ava Redmond from Solebury School (Stockton, N.J.) is a track and field athlete, having last won the gold medal at the PAISAA Championship Track Meet in 2013. Redmond will work in with the forwards.

 

Aine McKeever is a 5th year senior and has transferred from the Quinnipiac soccer team. The Ireland native “has a foot like an NFL star,” Carlson said. “She will be looking to train at fullback.”

 

And finally, there’s New Zealand’s Flora Poole. The openside flanker from Christchurch played boys rugby from ages 8-16 before becoming a four-year letter winner and MVP at the Rangi Ruru Girls School.

 

Quinnipiac plays its first match against fellow varsity program Life University in Marietta, Ga., on August 30.