D2 Player of the Week: JP St. Pierre, Southeastern Louisiana
D2 Player of the Week: JP St. Pierre, Southeastern Louisiana
Southeastern Louisiana has emerged as the dominant team out of the Deep South Conference, and part of that has been the emergence of some smart, athletic players.
Among those is Jean Paul "JP" St. Pierre, who is our Men's D2 College Player of the Week.
The Lions' No. 8, St. Pierre enlisted in the US Marine Corps out of high school. Much of his service time was on Embassy Duty and he served at the US Embassy in Johannesburg, South Africa. Naturally, that was there he discovered rugby.
He pursued his love of the game after his tour, enrolling at Southeastern Louisiana to major in Business Administration. As a rugby player he has been explosive.
St. Pierre has scored three tries in five games. Fit and strong—he is 6-1, 225 and runs a very creditable 5:16 time on the Bronco.
“Last year he absorbed everything the coaches gave him in feedback," said Head Coach Mark Dixon. "This year he is applying it all to help create our team’s success. He is a selfless player that is always at the front of the forward pods ready to crash a gap or looking for that line breaking offload to one of his forward brothers. …and hits like the proverbial Mack truck."
St. Pierre epitomizes why Southeastern Louisiana is winning. The Lions are a team of hardworking, hard-charging players who work hard and give it all not only in games, but in practices.
In addition, St. Pierre usually steps into a captaincy role late in games. Allen Pennington is the captain but when the reserves come on and Pennington takes a rest, it's St. Pierre who runs what Dixon dubs the Bomb Squad.
“He’s got a tough job every week getting those guys in the right position to make a difference when they enter the match, and the Squad responds,” said Dixon. Last week at Spring Hill College, the Bomb Squad entered the game and scored 33 while only giving up one try.
Involved both locally and nationally in Veterans Affairs, St. Pierre promotes and works with veterans and other military personnel at the university.
“Being a prior service Marine makes me question if I’m just biased, but, I’m not," said Dixon. "This guy is the real deal, and we are all very proud to serve with him on the pitch."
