Summit on Road to States, and Beyond
As Rugby Colorado enters its second league weekend, a rematch of last year’s girls high school championship is ready to unfold. 2013 finalist Fort Collins may not be the second-best this year, as the team lost 27-10 to Northside (2-0) last weekend, but Summit has made an early, convincing case that it’s building to another state championship.
Last weekend, the Tigers bettered Regis Jesuit 65-7 in its home opener. The upperclassmen led the way on the scoreboard, as seniors Luda Kosmowski (2), Trish Stasiowski and Rachel Fitch, and junior Meg Rose all scored tries. Junior fullback Ally Pothier nailed seven conversions and was named Player of the Match. Freshman Cassidy Bargell (2) and sophomore Marin Pennell represented the underclassmen well with their three combined tries.
Player of the Week - Anna Aguon
During the Girls bracket of the Serevi Cup HS 7s tournament earlier this month, you couldn’t help but notice the speed and skill of the Rugby Oregon team - their teamwork and athleticism got them to the final, where they fell 5-0 to Apex.
And if anyone stood out among that group was young Anna Aguon. The small, snappy scrumhalf/wing showcased a love of contact and a smart ability to read the game. And the big thing was, she has only been playing for a few months.
Somehow, said her coach at Union HS, David Curle, she picked up the game really quickly. And she showed it at the Serevi Cup, identifying space, or the opportunity to blitz defense, with a comfort many more experienced players don’t display.
“I just started playing this spring,” said the 15-year-old. “There’s a lot to the game but I just run and tackle. When I have the ball I just look for holes.”
U.S. Drop 5-Pt Contest to Canada
The U.S. Women came close to their first win at the Youth Olympic Games but fell just short, 19-14, to Canada (1-1). The loss moves the Americans to 0-1-1.
Canada struck quickly, as Moanda Anglo took the opening kickoff deep into U.S. territory, but was pushed into the touch. Unfortunately, the Americans erred on the throw-in, and now the Canadians were able to take advantage of their well earned yardage. From the scrum, Canada built a couple of nice phases, and captain Hannah Darling hit the line with pace to burst into the try line. Lauren Kerr slotted the first of her two conversions, 7-0.
U.S. Women Tie 1st Youth Olympics MatchThe U.S. Women tied Spain 12-12 in the opening round of the Youth Olympic Games. Two Fallbrook High School players - flyhalf Richelle Stephens and wing Michel Navarro - accounted for the tries. In the opening minute, the U.S. surrendered an attacking opportunity when Spain's scrumhalf forced a knock-on in the game's first scrum. But the U.S.'s #9, Tess Feury, made amends by stealing the subsequent scrum and skirting up the weak side. The ball worked out to Stephens, who sent a skip pass to Navarro on the wing. The high school junior fended her opposite and circled to the center of the try zone. Stephens slotted the conversion for the 7-0 lead. The U.S. was winning the territory battle during the first half, but handling errors prevented fluidity on offense.
Inside Look at Girls Olympic SquadThere’s so much rugby going on right now, and this Sunday, three USA women’s teams will be competing in, or preparing for, international competitions: Senior national team plays for 5th in the world against New Zealand; Junior All Americans convene in Buffalo in advance of the Can-Am series; and the U.S. Youth Olympic Team will kick off its 7s campaign in China.
USA Rugby Girls All-HS XV
BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby has announced a Girls HS All-American XV following the Stars and Stripes Camp at the University of Northern Colorado last month.
After a tightly-contested match in Greeley between the Stars and Stripes teams – made up of 45 high school-age girls from around the country – Girls High School All-American Head Coach Mollie McCarthy worked with AIG Women’s Junior All-Americans Head Coach Danielle Miller to pick the best 15 players on the field. Only players participating in the Stars and Stripes match were considered for selection.
The 2014 Stars and Stripes match finished 17-10 compared to 2013’s 39-29 barnburner. McKenzie Hawkins and Hedvig Karlsson were members of the winning Stripes teams each year, while Ashlee Byrge, Sheila Decker, Ali Decrane, Tess Feury, Mata Hingano, Hannah Lewandowski, and Fina Toetu’u featured in both games.
APEX At Summit of Girls Serevi Cup
The APEX Girls compilation team needed everything they had to upend a determined Oregon Redhawks team to win the Girls bracket of the Serevi Cup Saturday in Tukwila, Wash.
Mata Hingano scored the only try in the final to see APEX through 5-0.
Through the day both teams had matched each other blow for blow. APEX beat the Washington Loggers II team 34-0, Oregon won 39-0. APEX beat the Minnesota Tundra II team 22-10, Oregon won 27-5. Oregon edged Loggers I 24-21, APEX beat them 26-7. Oregon shut out the Tundra I team 26-0, APEX beat them 41-0.
Through the day Oregon looked the better team, having played together a little bit more. They were helped by exciting young and new player Anna Aguon, who was speedy and opportunistic, Kayla Postula, and McKenna Davis, and a host of fast players.
Serevi Cup Girls Latest
We are midway through the Serevi Cup HS 7s tournament, and here’s the latest on the Girls Bracket.
APEX Academy, run by Summit HS Coach Karl Barth and featuring players from all over the country, started slowly against the Washington Loggers II, but after they scored a try midway through the first half, they started to roll.
“It’s a narrow field, so some of the things we wanted to do, we couldn’t do, but we can play vertical, as well,” said Barth.
The Minnesota Tundra threw everyone a bit of a curveball as their Tundra II side seems to be stronger than Tundra I. As a result, Tundra II beat the Washington Loggers I team and that shocked the hosts somewhat. The Loggers came back to beat Tundra I later in the day.
Serevi Cup Schedule
The schedue is set for the Serevi Cup HS 7s tournament to be held this weekend at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash., just south of Seattle.
The Serevi Cup is being held in conjunction with the USA Rugby National Club 7s Championships.
In the Boys (Men's) Bracket, the Washington Loggers select side looks to be the favored team, with Rugby Oregon a close second. The Loggers are a little bit more experienced in 7s and has more players with national team exposure. But whether that's enough remains to be seen.
Tundra Blows into Serevi Cup Girls BracketWhile most of the Serevi Cup teams playing this coming weekend are from the Pacific Northwest, the girls bracket does welcome the Tundra from Minnesota.
Head Coach Jimmy Hanson, who led the Armstrong team to a fifth-straight state championship in 15s, has been looking for a challenge for the summer, and has found it.
"In just the last couple of years Minnesota has started getting its High School 7s programs off the ground, but there aren't very many 7s opportunities for our kids," Hanson told Goff Rugby Report. "With only three clubs having actual 7s programs, we at the Tundra program saw a gap and a need for higher level 7s development, so we decided to expand the Tundra program to include 7s."
The team played in the Las Vegas Invitational in January, and Hanson said the team showed well.
Head Coach Jimmy Hanson, who led the Armstrong team to a fifth-straight state championship in 15s, has been looking for a challenge for the summer, and has found it.
The team played in the Las Vegas Invitational in January, and Hanson said the team showed well.
Pleasanton Girls Cap Solid 7s Summer
Just two months after winning the 2nd tier at the Girls National Invitational Tournament, the Pleasanton girls team out of Northern California has capped off a busy and successful 7s sumer.
The team won the SoCal Girls U18 tournament, outscoring opponents 70-5 in the process, and finished runners up to the Sacramento Amazons in the Northern California girls championships - the score in the final was 12-7. Over the summer, Pleasanton entered five tournaments, getting 27 players on the field, including eight rookies. They won 23 games, lost 5, and tied one game.
“We had a good 7s season with the one sore spot being the close loss to the Amazons in the final,” said Coach Steve Lopez. “They are a well coached impressive program. We had beaten them multiple times during the season including earlier that day in pool play, but they are a talented and powerful team.”
APEX Girls Set for Serevi CupThe APEX Academy team has been selected for the Girls bracket of the Serevi Cup - the high school-age 7s tournament being held in the conjunction with the USA Rugby Club 7s Championships August 9-10 at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash. APEX is run by Summit HS Head Coach Karl Barth, who is also a former USA U19 girls Head Coach.
Grackles Squawk to Top of Oregon HS 7s
The grackle is an aggressive, fearless bird that can be a bit annoying, and perhaps the two Grackles girls 7s teams in Oregon channeled the best of their namesakes' characteristics in going 6-0 and 5-1 through the Rugby Oregon Summer 7s Series.
The series saw teams play only two games on a day, not asking too much and thus including more teams as a result. The Grackles Black team defeated the Beavers and Bend in their opening weekend. They then flew by the Ducks and Canby on July 12.
Last weekend, in the final leg of the series, the Grackles Blacks traced what would prove to be their toughest competition - the Grackles Blues. The Blues had already beaten Bend, Battle Ground, Highlanders, and Beavers, and shut out the first two. But it was the Blacks who won out 38-19 on Saturday. The Blacks went on to defeat Battle Ground, and the Blues edged the Ducks.
Aircraft Carter Solutions PoW - Tess Feury
Tess Feury will captain the USA team in the women’s bracket of the Youth Olympic Games later in August, and it’s a fitting nod to the leadership she has shown throughout her rugby career.
Feury grew up with the game, as her brothers Jake and Blaze, and her parents, and her cousins, are all involved in rugby in some form. Tess grew up playing flag rugby in New Jersey, and loved it - so much so that she resisted switching to full-contact as she got older.
That changed when she went to New York to watch her brothers play in the NY 7s in November. Jake, who plays for Middlebury, and Blaze, who plays for Penn State, are pretty good players and worth watching, but what turned Tess around was watching the girls play.
Kent Perfect on Girls 7s Series
The Kent Girls team won the RugbyWa Summer 7s Series as part of the Washington State Summer Games sponsored by Subway.
In an impressive team performance Kent beat Rainier in the final of the third tournament of the series, running away with the maximum of 88 points from the four events. Rainier finished 2nd, just ahead of Shelton, with Prairie taking 4th.
“Initially I told [Kent 15s Coach] Rex Norris that I was interested in coaching 7s and the first tournament they did well over pure athleticism and being able to catch and pass,” said Coach Carly MacKinnon. “But over the course of the series they improved. They are so coachable, and in the final tournament played some of the best rugby I’ve ever seen them play.”
Kent had some players relatively new to rugby, said MacKinnon, and 7s helped them develop.
