Rebekah Siebach in action at Sweet 16 - OSU, Columbus, OH

Eric Taber | NCS Media Director | USA Rugby | etaber@usarugby.org

Boulder, Colo. – There were points a plenty for the second day in a row of the Emirates Airline USA Rugby Women’s Division I & II College Playoffs. Massive scores from coast to coast gave plenty of teams momentum going into the round of eight, while the Cougar Women (BYU) punched their ticket to the Final Four in emphatic fashion.

The Cougar Women advanced to the round of 8 yesterday without having a point scored against them. They continued their winning ways today blanking Northern Iowa 44-0, bringing their two-day total in Columbus, Ohio to 98-0. With the win today the Cougar Women advance to Stanford for the National Semi-Finals.

The cream of the Emirates Airline Division I and II Women’s College Playoffs rose to the top on the third straight day of competition. After some massive blowouts and last second heart stoppers, America’s best DI and II rugby programs are now ready to do battle.

The Women’s Division I quarterfinals pitted some old rivals against each other, and the result is 4 Semi Finalists that have been battle tested and ready to fight for a National Championship.

The first match of the day between Penn State and Navy was made extra-interesting due to the fact that Navy had knocked off defending National Champion Army the previous day. The Nittany Lion Women were led by Sadie Anderson who scored a try and kicked three conversions en-route to a big 36-0 win over Navy.

Penn State will square off against Cougar Women’s Rugby (BYU), a team that made easy work of it’s competition in the opening rounds of the playoffs, scoring 98 points, and having zero scored against them.

The Brown Bears, one of the perennial powerhouses in Women’s College Rugby showed a talented Virginia team they once again must be considered favorites to win a National Championship. “Bruno” scored nearly all their 38 points through Chelsea Garber and Patricia Ekpo. The duo put Brown up 19-0 at halftime, and the game would never be in doubt for the Bears from then on as they mounted a 38-10 final score.

Stanford reached the round of four having to go through rival and local foe, the California Golden Bears. It would be the home team’s day however as Stanford rose to meet the Cal challenge and six players for the Cardinal would find the try zone. Leading the pack was Amelia Villines with two.

The DI Semis are set for Friday, May 11^th at Steuber Rugby Stadium on the Stanford Campus. The action kicks off at 2 p.m. with Penn State vs Cougar Women, followed by Brown vs Stanford at 4pm.

Washington State will make a return trip to Stanford to attempt to reclaim their  2010 National Championship title following a 34-7 victory over Wyoming. The Cougars of the Palouse were led by Alexis and Megan Bonny who scored 20 points between them to beat WYO. Wazzu will face an impressive looking Norwich outfit in the national semis.

Also no stranger to the National Semi Finals is Shippensburg, who earned their return trip following a 21-5 win over Temple. Shippensburg will face Winona to round out the DII bracket.

The DI and DII Semi Finals will be held May 11 and 12 at Stanford University, California.

BYU Women Over OSU Buckeyes Round of 16 - 2012

Samantha Wright scores 3 tries against UNI - Sweet 16, 2012

Written by Alex Goff    Saturday, 21 April 2012 16:40 – RugbyMag.com

Women’s Cougar Rugby (BYU) dominated Northern Iowa on their way to a 44-0 victory and a place in the national women’s DI college semifinals.

WCR’s bracket played Friday and Saturday so as not to have the BYU students play on Sunday. It seemed that just about any day, the Utah team was going to play well.

“I was especially pleased with our defense,” said Head Coach Tom Waqa. “It was a good team effort. Both Ohio State on Friday and UNI played really hard and never gave up. We had to work hard. We had a tough schedule leading up to this weekend and I think it showed.”

Captain Samantha Wright, normally a flanker but playing lock on Saturday, was superb on defense and also scored the team’s second try, six minutes after wing Keelia Harker opened the WCR account.

But UNI hung tough and it was only 12-0 going into halftime. Then, just before the first half ended, BYU got a penalty near the UNI line.

“The forwards called for the ball and said they wanted it, and they rolled it in,” said Waqa. “That was, I think, a turning point.”

Wright scored that try too, and led a forward effort that Waqa praised highly.

“We have good backs and they scored some tries, but it all comes from what our forwards are able to do,” he said.

Wing Rebekah Siebach and flanker Ela Wolfgramm scored tries early in the second half, and then Siebach added another to make it 34-0 at 52 minutes. Wright added her third (converted by Chelsea Hill) and then Dana Greenwood put a cap on it with a drop goal.

Ohio State won the consolation semi 43-27 over Colorado, falling behind 27-0 and then reeling off seven straight tries, four of them by Courtney Milon.

BYU Women's Rugby Team after UNI Game in round of 8 - 2012

U.S. Olympic Committee announces finalists for Coach of the Year awards

Tom Waqa - USOC Volunteer Coach National Finalist

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic Committee today unveiled finalists for the 2011 USOC Coach of the Year awards. Three finalists were selected for each category, including National Coach of the Year, Paralympic Coach of the Year, Developmental Coach of the Year, Volunteer Coach of the Year and the Doc Councilman Science Award.

All five recipients will be announced during a welcome reception on Tuesday, June 19, as part of the 2012 National Coaching Conference at the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis.

U.S. Olympic, Paralympic and Pan American sports organizations selected their 2011 Coaches of the Year as part of the USOC Coach of the Year Recognition Program. The finalists in each category were chosen by a panel of coaching and sport education professionals. Information on all finalists can be found here.

The 2011 finalists:

National Coach of the Year
Rick Bower – Snowboarding
Adam Soldati – Diving
Marina Zouvea – Figure Skating

Paralympic Coach of the Year
Joaquim Cruz – Track and Field
Dave Denniston – Swimming
Matt Oberholtz – Water Skiing

Developmental Coach of the Year
Chris Haslock – Skiing
James Hrbek – Judo
Jill Rankin Schneider – Basketball

Volunteer Coach of the Year
Jimmy Cuevas – Paralympic Track and Field
Chris Preble – Bowling
Tom Waqa – Rugby

Doc Counsilman Science Award
Nicholas Bohanan – Bowling
Neal Henderson – Cycling
Christine Krall – Figure Skating

2012 National Coaching Conference
The 2012 National Coaching Conference will take place in Indianapolis from June 19-21. Coaches, coach educators, organizations and sport science professionals from around the country will gather at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Indianapolis to share research and new ideas. The theme of the 2012 conference is “Sports – Take Part, Get Set for Life.”

Presiding as the keynote speakers for this year’s event are Dr. Darren Treasure, author of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Fundamentals of Coaching course and performance director for the Oregon Project, and Dr. Stephen Norris, vice president of sport at WinSport Canada. Complete information on the conference can be found here.

Hosted by the USOC in association with the NCAA, NFHS and National Association for Sport and Physical Education, the annual conference focuses on enhancing coaching knowledge and disseminating the latest research, trends and innovations in order to develop beginner to elite athletes for optimum performance. USOC, National Governing Body, university and sport professionals will be presenting on topics based on the National Standards for Sport Coaches.

Jordan Gray charging up the line for BYU against CSU 2011

Saturday March 31, 2012 – By Cougar Rugby Editor

Watch Global Lethbridge Sports Highlights from 14:25minute onwards for a recap of the game in Lethbridge.

Lethbridge, Canada – The University of Lethbridge took on the BYU Women’s Cougars and edged the visitors 5 – 3. It was quite the experience, as the Cougars travelled to Canada on Thursday, spent Friday in Raymond High School doing a rugby clinic, and then site seeing along Waterton Park and Cardston.

Saturday was the big day when at 5pm, the Cougars took on the a solid Lethbridge side who put on a fine defensive game. Possesion and penalty count favored the Cougars, but Lethbridge held strong to an unconverted try to win the game, in front a packed stadium crowd of over 1000 spectators. The Cougars had opportunities to put the game away, but failed under intense defensive pressure from the home team.

Final score: University of Lethbridge 5 BYU Cougars 3

Nalia, Sydney, and Kenzi on WCR tour squad 2012

Glendale, CO -Glendale took on a young Cougar side, and won the contest by 39 to 22. Cougars stood toe to toe with the Womens Premier club in the first half, but the physical DI pack took control over the seconds half and pulled away.

Tara McGrady led the Raptors with 3 tries of her own. She was named player of the match. Star Monson stood out for the Cougars, dotting two tries for the day.

The Cougars gained valuable experience from the trip.

Tom Waqa - 2011 USOC Volunteer Coach of the Year for Rugby

Tomasi Waqa is inspiring America to fall in love with rugby every day.  He is the coach of the BYU Women’s Rugby team, the coach of the Humless Men’s Rugby Club, a U-20 NASC Selector and between the three he balances a family life with two children, his duties as President of the Utah Fiji association, and an active member of the LDS Church.  Whether it be on the pitch or not, Tomasi Waqa’s life is dedicated to helping others and because of this selflessness, coupled with coaching excellence, he has been chosen as the USOC Volunteer Coach of the Year for Rugby.

Christine Bolger, Manager of Coaching Education at the USOC, outlined the Coach of the Year Program as a means to help develop coaching and bring the positive influence that coaches have to attention.  “The goals of the USOC Coach of the Year Program are to elevate the status of coaching as a profession and to recognize coaches who prepare our athletes for performance at every level of sport.”

Waqa came to the United States from Fiji when he was 19 years old and with him he brought a great knowledge and enthusiasm for rugby.  This knowledge helped him take over the head coaching position at the BYU Women’s Rugby Club in 2004.

Over the past seven seasons the BYU Women’s Rugby Club has become a national power and in recent years have produced multiple All-Americans; Kristi Jackson, Monica Jackson, and Rebekah Siebach are just three from the 2011 team.  With such high standards set, one would think that Waqa is extremely exclusive when selecting his players.  But this is not the case at all.

“Tom adamantly demands that we keep the team open for anyone. Tom has never, ever cut anyone,” said one of his players in her nomination testament, “Even if the girl progresses slowly or shows no real potential he recognizes her love for the team and lets her stick around to be a part of that.”

This synergy that Waqa fosters has led many young women to fall in love with rugby.  Each semester the club welcomes in roughly 20 new members, where in the past they would struggle to field a team of 15 for a full season. In turn, these girls have spread rugby to countless friends, family, and have inspired new players with their passion.  Currently the team has over 20 certified Rookie Rugby coaches, further spreading the enthusiasm Waqa has inspired.

Waqa’s influence begins on the field and carries over into the everyday lives of those he has coached.   Two-time All-American, Kirsten Siebach, played under Waqa for four years and feels that his impact resonates throughout his players’ lives. “Tom influences the lives of those he coaches and produces not just good rugby players, but good people.  He does this through example– no one works harder and gives more.”

Bolger stated, “This award serves as a testament to Waqa’s dedication to the Olympic ideals and recognizes his excellence in coaching.”  In receiving the award, Waqa’s nomination was assessed against other nominations on the basis of his coaching excellence, the performance of his athletes, and the knowledge, experience, and attitude he brings to the field of play.

Tomasi Waqa exudes the ideals of the USOC, USA Rugby, and those of a great human being.  His inspiration to his players and ongoing dedication to others has allowed Waqa to grow the game of rugby in his community to a higher standard than ever and will continue to inspire America to fall in love with rugby.

Cougars 15s pose after Chico St. Score 29 - 17. Photo by Nicole McCullough.

Las Vegas, NV – BYU Women’s Cougars 15s took on Chico St at the Las Vegas Women’s College Challenge 15s, and won 29 to 17. This has become a traditional match, between the two schools, who also played here last year. BYU won that too 53 – 6. It was a gutsy effort by the young Cougars side. The Provo women started strong, piling up 17 points – 0 before the half.

Chico State came back and out scored the Cougars in the second half 17 – 12. BYU Coach Tom Waqa was pleased with the effort, although he wanted the team to finish a lot stronger next time.

This was good exposure for some of the girls especially the ones, playing rugby for the first time. It was a good way to gauge our strengths and weaknesses and proceed towards the later part of the season.

BYU Cougars
1. Boaz 2. Christianson 3. Jackson 4. Christensen 5. Stevens 6. Torgerson 7. McCullough 8. Tafua 9. Grether 10. Peterson 11. Sue 12. Khan 13. Kenzi 14. Richardson 15. Marshall

WCR's Keelia Harker on the move at LVI. Dobson Images.

The Las Vegas Invitational’s Silver Bowl fields are a flurry with women’s matches. There’s a nice mix of Canadian and American teams logging their first games of the weekend, and as far as the colleges are concerned, Women’s Cougar Rugby was certainly the class of the opening round.

Even just approaching the pitch, one could see the physical differences between WCR and Stony Brook University, the Cougars’ opening round opponent. The majority of WCR’s players were lean, strong and fast. They were well drilled and piled on 36 points over SBU.

WCR has two teams out in Vegas – one 7s, one 15s – and it’s no surprise that the Provo team ran away with the win, as coach Tom Waqa has placed his veteran players on the 7s team and less experienced on the 15s squad.

“Our goal this weekend is exposure in Utah,” Waqa said. “The core, starting [15s] players are on the 7s team. They’re more athletic, quick and I wanted to develop their individual skills in the game of 7s.”

Among the veteran group are Star Bollinger-Monson, Keelia Harker and Kristi Jackson, all of whom are familiar names to the national 7s pool. One exception to the veteran-only 7s team was Canadian-born Jordan Gray. The tall, powerful prop posed some trouble for SBU and allowed the 18-year-old to find the try zone.

“She’s doing a lot of good things for us this season,” Waqa said. “She normally plays No. 8 for us [in 15s], but if we can get her fit and conditioned, she could be really good.”

The LVI is part of an extensive pre-season that will see the Cougars play New Mexico, Glendale Raptors and tour Canada. WCR won the Pacific Mountain East

Conference in the fall, so their eyes are already set on nationals. One can bet that Stanford and Penn State, also playing in the LVI, will be keeping their eyes on the Cougars.

All American BYU Center Kristi Jackson in action against CSU

Women’s Cougar Rugby is now 4-0 in the Pacific Mountain Conference after its 41-0 win over Colorado State yesterday. The Cougars have yet to have a single point scored against them, while they’ve racked up 234 points over the course of the season.
Kristi Jackson broke the scoring silence against Colorado State.

Despite the runaway, Colorado State gave WCR its best match of the season. Conditions were wet and slippery, so either side suffered from handling errors, which also kept the score lower than average.

CSU was able to hold WCR scoreless through the first half, but then All American center Kristi Jackson got the try-scoring rolling after a clean linebreak. Jackson scored another try later in the game, while No. 8 Jordan Gray matched her try count. Wing Bex Siebach, flanker Sam Wright and prop Monica Jackson tacked on a try apiece, while outside center Shanie Rowley slotted three conversions.

The game wasn’t without its lessons for WCR. Coach Tom Waqa was impressed with Colorado State’s aggressiveness and work around the field, and saw areas of improvement for his team in comparison.

“We are happy with the win,” Waqa said. “We still have to wait for official word from our conference, but this win puts us in sound mind going into next semester and collegiate playoffs.”

League season is now over for WCR, but the team has two more friendlies against Utah State and Weber State before Thanksgiving. The squad gets moving again in early January and will return to the Las Vegas Invitational to kick off its winter season.

Sam Wright scores for BYU against CSU Saturday.

Sam Wright lineout take against Air Force 2011

Women’s Cougar Rugby of BYU rang up their third straight massive shutout, and their second in less than 24 hours as they pummeled Air Force 65-0 Saturday in Colorado Springs.

WCR beat Colorado 54-0 on Friday evening.

This is their third league win after joining the Eastern Rockies DI league in the West RFU (BYU has previously been part of the Pacific Coast), and they have yet to give up a point.

“Overall we played well on defense but we haven’t been tested much,” said Cougars Head Coach Tom Waqa. “We controlled the game and had a majority of the possession and territory. We have a whole bunch of talented girls, and the incoming freshmen have been picking things up really quick. I am very happy with that.”

Waqa said the games have not been pushovers, but the scores tell a different story, and the Cougar coach said he will definitely be looking for opponents who can put his team under pressure.

“Last year our toughest game was against Army,” he said. “We need to have those types of games earlier in the season.”

Still the BYU Cougars showed they can win two league games in two days, and are dominating their league.

In other league action, Colorado State defeated New Mexico 26-15. Club president Laura Whitney said the Rams did well to use their backs more than they have in past matches.

“We had a lot of injuries after the game with Air Force,” Whitney said. “We lost both our starting flankers. But we came together and just dealt with it and showed good organization.”

CSU improves to 2-1.

The latest league standings are:

BYU Women's Rugby Tour - Colorado 2011

The Women’s Cougar Rugby program started their two-match weekend trip to Colorado with a 54-0 shutout of Colorado in Boulder on Friday.

The BYU students have moved to the Eastern Rockies DI competition, and looked plenty strong in their first road league match of the season.

“We started a little slow,” said Head Coach Tom Waqa. “It took some time to find our rhythm and settle in the beginning, and then we worked our way into the game. We really need work on being consistent day-in, day-out. I’ve challenged our leaders to lead from up front, and get us some good platform.”

This they did as the game wore on, but Colorado had the Cougars on the back foot early and almost scored.

“They have some tough girls in the pack,”  said Waqa. “I’m glad our defense came through.”

The Women Cougars were led by captain and flanker Samantha Wright and No. 8 Jordan Gray, who each scored three tries.

Next up is Air Force, as the Cougars hope to make it 3-0 in league competition (they beat New Mexico 75-0 October 8).

“We need to improve our overall performance against Air Force,” said Waqa. “The girls are good at adjusting when we play doubleheaders like this; hopefully we continue to do that tomorrow. We played on a turf field for the first time, I’m just glad we came out without any major injuries.”

After coming off an 80-3 win last week over Utah State, the BYU women’s rugby team looked for a defensive challenge against the University of New Mexico but did not find it.

The Cougars pummeled their opponents this past weekend, 75-0, in their first home game of the season.

“I will take 75-0 anytime,” head coach Tom Waqa said. “Even though that was the score, we still need to work on many aspects in the basics area.”

Shanie Rowly on the move for the Cougars – Photo by Chris Bunker

The BYU women’s rugby team defeats New Mexico on Saturday at Fort Utah Park.

Players on the team agreed that although New Mexico did not provide much of a challenge, the Cougars still need to improve their game if heading to the Sweet 16 is still in their future. One such aspect of their game was the ruck.

Rucking consists of several players coming to the aid of a tackled player so she can pass it off and continue on down the field.

“That is always something we can work on to make cleaner,” said Chelsie Hill, a second-year player from Kennewick, Wash. “We still need to work on our rucks. It’s still hard to get the ball out.”

Getting the ball out from the ruck created opportunities for the Cougars to move the ball across the field to score again and again.

Senior Ela Wolfgramm said teamwork and moving the ball paid off the most in BYU’s victory against UNM.

“A lot of the plays were hands all the way out; we were passing around,” Wolfgramm said. “Because of our teamwork there was more intensity in this game than the other games.”

Toward the close of the second half, fans on the sidelines could sense the Lobos’ frustration. But despite the Lobos’ frustration, the Cougars continued their dominance until the end, scoring two more tries before the close of the game.

Even though the Cougars did not find the defensive challenge they were looking for, they kept the ball in Lobo territory the majority of the game.

“We still had a lot of the possession,” assistant coach Kara Remington said, “which is a little disappointing because we were hoping to play a little more defense. I thought we did do a good job when they did have the ball. We did a good job not giving up any territory.”

Despite the success the Cougars have experienced early on in the season, the players and coaches know more competition is still to come.

“We still need to be humble,” Waqa said, “because the competition is going to get better. We need to prepare for the best.”

Sisters Monica & Kristi Jackson on USA Collegiate Academic Honor Roll 2011

July 1, 2011 – USARUGBY.ORG

BOULDER, Colo. — Sixty-five student-athletes from 30 schools have been named to the first USA Rugby College Academic Honor Roll.

The Honor Roll is a new initiative by USA Rugby’s College Department to recognize rugby student-athletes who excel in the classroom. To be eligible for recognition a student-athlete must by an A-side player with a 3.70 cumulative GPA and be a junior, senior or 5th year senior academically in at least their second season of competition at their current school.

Student-athletes were nominated by their head coach or team president and had to agree to submit a current transcript in order to be considered for the list. All nominees who met the criteria were named to the list.

2011 USA Rugby Men’s College Academic Honor Roll

Name                           School                   Cl.      Position         Major
John Nickerson              Air Force                 Jr.       Prop/Lock        Political Science
Kebin Umodu                 Air Force                 Jr.       Prop                Computer Science
Michael Manna               Arizona St.               Jr.       Scrumhalf        Business/Finance
Paul Raath                     Arkansas St.            Sr.       Flanker            International Business
Jonathan Bill                  Bowling Green         Jr.       Wing               Construction Technology
Ben Marshall                  Bowling Green         Sr.       Scrumhalf        Science Education
Matt Howe                     Coastal Carolina       Sr.       Lock                Marine Science
Nicholas Leger               Coastal Carolina       Sr.       Flanker            History
Nate Brakeley                Dartmouth               Jr.       Lock                Engineering
Chirs Downer                 Dartmouth               Sr.       Wing               Asian Middle Eastern Studies
Victor Galson                 Dartmouth               Sr.       Wing               Philosophy
Clark Judge                   Dartmouth               Jr.       Wing               Biology
William Lehmann           Dartmouth               Jr.       Center             History
James Burbage              Georgetown (D.C.)   Sr.       Flanker            History
Nicholas Shephard          Georgetown (D.C.)   Sr.       Flanker            Human Science
DesRaj Clark                 Hampden-Sydney     Jr.       No. 8               Biology
Frank Rose                    Hampden-Sydney     Jr.       Hooker            Psychology
Ian Blair                        Indiana                   Jr.       Flanker            English
Samuel Dunton              Indiana                   Jr.       Center             Entrepreneurship
Jay Hirsh                       Indiana                   Jr.       Fullback           Marketing
Evan Kaufman               Indiana                   Jr.       Center             Economic Consulting
Steve Ferina                  Iona                        Sr.       No. 8               Finance
Colin Murray                  Iona                        Sr.       Lock                Marketing
Dan Garces                   Marquette                5th       Lock                Mechanical Engineering
David Bray                    Notre Dame             Sr.       No. 8               Pre-Med/History
Andrew Mullen               Notre Dame             Sr.       Flanker            Civil Engineering
James Suber                  Principia                  Sr.       Scrumhalf        History
Michael Cotton               Rutgers                   Jr.       Lock                Pre-Business
Kyle Dizeo                     Rutgers                   Jr.       Wing               History/English
Jason Prestinario            Stanford                  Sr.       Prop                Mechanical Engineering
Chris Riklin                    Stanford                  Sr.       Hooker            Political Science
Billy Vernon                   Stanford                  Sr.       Flanker            Economics
Matthew Graham           Stony Brook             Sr.       Lock                Chemical & Molecular Engineering
Lucas Herrera                Tennessee               Sr.       Prop                Electrical Engineering
Stephen Mahoney           Texas                      Sr.       Center             Psychology
Michael Sierra-Arevalo    Texas                      Jr.       Flanker            Psychology
Taylor Foster                 Wayne St. (Neb.)     Jr.       Center             Communications
Nolan Perrsons              Wayne St. (Neb.)     Jr.       Wing               Pre-Pharmacy
Michael Parlato              West Florida            Jr.       Scrumhalf        Electrical Engineering

2011 USA Rugby Women’s College Academic Honor Roll

Name                           School                   Cl.      Position         Major
Hannah Edwards            Cal                          Jr.       Lock                Political Science
Maria Andrea Oliva         Cal                          Sr.       Hooker            Public Health
Nha Vu                          Cal                          Jr.       Wing               Psychology
Colleen Carey                Colorado                 Jr.       No. 8               Anthropology
Emily Spangler               Colorado                 Jr.       Scrumhalf        Environmental Engineering
Tana Mackenzie Guy      Florida                    Jr.       Flanker            Industrial & Systems Engineering
Marian Maloney             Florida                    Sr.       Lock                English and Spanish
Kristi Jackson                 Lady Cougars          Sr.       Center             Nursing
Monica Jackson              Lady Cougars          Jr.       Prop                Nursing
Keilani Paul                    Lady Cougars          Sr.       Prop                Neuroscience
Karen Ellrod                   Mary Washington     Sr.       Flyhalf             Psychology & Philosophy
Morgane Grivel              Maryland                 Sr.       Flanker            Aerospace Engineering
Aubrey Blanche              Northwestern           Sr.       Hooker            Political Science
Charlotte Eilbert             Stanford                  Sr.       Scrumhalf        Economics
Frances Wehrwein         Stanford                  Jr.       Flanker            Psychology
Katie Valli                      Truman St.              Sr.       Flyhalf             English
Carlye Marszalek           Truman St.              Jr.       Prop                Exercise Science
Julia Nissen                   Vassar                    Sr.       Center             Latin America & Latino Studies
Jennifer Becker              Wayne St. (Neb.)     Sr.       No. 8               Elementary Education
Ashley Belmer               Wayne St. (Neb.)     Sr.       Flyhalf             Physical Education
Hailey Hanson               Wayne St. (Neb.)     Jr.       Prop                Criminal Justice
Amber Kutnink               Wayne St. (Neb.)     Jr.       Flanker            Pre-Med
Rochelle Reinke             Wayne St. (Neb.)     Sr.       Scrumhalf        Exercise Science
Emily Witte                    Wayne St. (Neb.)     Sr.       Flanker            Exercise Science
Caitlin Froh                    Winona St.               Sr.       Center             Nursing
Lily Wellenstein              Winona St.               Jr.       Scrumhalf        Recreation & Tourism

US Collegiate All Americans Tour 2011 - Katie O'Malley, Kristi Jackson, Kay Onyekwere, Kara Longhurst Remington and Rebekah Siebach

July 14, 2011 – AUTHOR: USARUGBY.ORG

BOULDER, COLORADO – USA Rugby is proud to announce the 2011 Women’s Collegiate All-Americans.  These student-athletes are recognized as the best collegiate women’s rugby players in the country.  There are two lists of All-Americans, Division I and Division II. The Touring Squad will be named later this month and will compete in the Can-Am Games from July 28-31 in upstate New York.

The selection process to the Women’s Collegiate All-Americans was a robust and collaborative effort.  Selectors included Martha Daines (Women’s Collegiate All-Americans Head Coach) as well as coaches from the age-grade to senior national team ranks.

Pete Steinberg (Women’s National Team Head Coach), Ric Suggitt (Women’s Sevens Team Head Coach), Bryn Chivers (Women’s Under-20s Head Coach) and Alex Williams (Women’s High Performance Director) contributed to the selections.

The list of Division I All-Americans includes 34 student-athletes from 17 different universities and colleges across the country.  The 34 athletes on the DI list and 28 representatives on the DII list were selected from a pool of nearly 12,000 women’s collegiate rugby players.

Selectors used the fall and spring seasons to construct their player pools for All-American selection.  The National All-Star Championship at Founders Field in Pittsburgh, Pa., last month and the DI and DII National Championships served as opportunities for selectors to refine the pool to the top players in each division.

In addition to having the honor of being named an All-American, many of these student-athletes have earned invitations to a variety of national team assemblies:

20 student-athletes participated in a Women’s High Performance Collegiate Academy Camp in Pittsburgh, Pa. in June
9 are attending the Women’s Sevens Elite Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.
9 are competing for the USA in the 2011 Women’s U20 Nations Cup
1 player will compete with the Women’s National Team this August in the Senior Nations Cup
8 athletes on the list have represented the USA on the senior women’s sevens team

The Women’s Collegiate All-Americans Touring Squad will assemble in late July to prepare for the Can-Am Tournament where they will face a Canadian select side. There are opportunities available to support and sponsor these outstanding student-athletes. Opportunities range from sponsoring a team meal to purchasing advertisements. For more information, click here.

DIVISION I WOMEN’S COLLEGIATE ALL-AMERICANS
Forwards
Kyle Armstrong (Penn State)
Evelyn Ashenbrucker (University of California – San Diego)
Monica Jackson (BYU)
Nick James (Texas A&M)
Katie Johnson (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Joanna Kitlinski (Grand Valley State)
Megan Liesenfeldt (Army)
Kelsey Mcilonie (University of California – San Diego)
Izraelle McKinnon (Brown)
Dot Mittow (Princeton)
Kayla Orvik (Army)
Jennifer Sandifer (Navy)
Wendy Sherman (Colorado State)
Cassandra Tong (University of California – Los Angeles)
Alycia Washington (University of Connecticut)
Frances Wehrwein (Stanford)
Ela Wolfgramm (BYU)

Backs
Sadie Anderson (Penn State)
Sharlyn Carter   (Virginia)
Erica Cavenaugh (Virginia)
Lisa Henneman (Penn State)
Brittany Houston (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Kristi Jackson (BYU)
Anne Lee (Army)
Anna (Katie) Lorenz (University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill)
Blaine Martin (Brown)
Tyra McGrady (Indiana University)
Deven Owsiany (Penn State)
Kara Remington (BYU)
Kimber Rozier (University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill)
Jessica Sexauer (Army)
Rebekah Siebach (BYU)
Marie Timm (Army)
Amelia Villines (Stanford)

DIVISION II WOMEN’S COLLEGIATE ALL-AMERICANS
Forwards
Candace Barley (Lee)
Hannah Bushey (Norwich University)
Ana Carvajal (Santa Clara)
Aoibheann Cline (Humboldt)
Loryn Fridie (Bowdoin)
Ashley George (Stonehill)
Grace Hovde (University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh)
Kendra Klump (Minnesota State University-Mankato)
Mackenzie Lewis (Mesa State)
Rachel Ryan (University of Wyoming)
Molly Walter (University of Mary Washington)
Ginger Whitehead (University of Northern Colorado)
Christina Zier (Central Washington)

Backs
Alyssa Baccarella (MIT)
Megan Bonny (Washington State)
Xanni Brown (Radcliffe)
Gabrielle Dixon (Longwood University)
April Fogel (Western Washington)
Evan Hoese (Radcliffe)
Kirsten Miller (Mesa State)
Alyssa Mizell (George Washington)
Natalie Monroig (Shippensburg)
Katie O’Malley (Stonehill)
Ashley Okonta (Notre Dame)
Angelina Pascual (Santa Clara)
Kathleen Stanley (Notre Dame)
Becky Stevens (Bowdoin)
Miranda Wakimoto (Boston University)

Kristi Jackson charges down the line for BYU against Army. Dobson Images.

A huge second half effort almost lifted Cougar women’s rugby over Army, but the women of West Point proved just fit enough to hold them off, winning Friday’s DI women’s college semifinal 29-20 at Stanford.

The Cougars jumped out to an early lead with a try from Tressa Tenney, but Army ticked of the next 12-straight points with a try and conversion from flanker Anne Lee and a try from fullback Jess Sexauer. Rebekah Siebach then scored the Provo women’s second try, but it too went unconverted.

Kayla Orvik re-extended Army’s lead with a converted try just before intermission, giving the Cadets a 19-10 advantage at halftime.

The Cougars had all the motivation coming out of the break, putting relentless pressure on Army, and Siebach scored her second try of the game to pull the Cougars within a single strike at 19-15.

The Cougars went directly back on the offensive. Multiple impressive mauls ended inches short of pay dirt and numerous phases added to an obvious overload out wide. Minutes of Cougar work had let to this overload, but it was thwarted by a heroic tackle from Sexauer, who closed the gap between her and the ball carrier swiftly and delivered a crushing blow.

“When there’s barely anytime left in the game and a tackle’s on the line, you just have so much more motivation to get over there,” said an exhausted Sexauer. “I was hurting at halftime, I’m not going to lie. I was tired, but when you know the game’s over when you miss that tackle, you’re not going to miss it. She actually knocked me pretty good. I felt a little woozy and the trainer wanted to take me out, but if the game’s on the line you’ve got to play.”

The Cougars retained possession, but the hit was a momentum lifter. The Cougars continued their pressure, but knocked on, seemingly spoiling their great scoring opportunity. But they stole Army’s scrum and Ela Wolfgramm staved off multiple would-be tacklers before crashing across the goal line, giving the women from BYU the lead; 20-19.

The Cougars muffed the ensuing kickoff, giving Army a scrum right around the Cougars’ 22-meter line, from which they scored. Sexauer gained most of the yardage off of the set play, and Lee took it in.

“It was a set play, and our backline looked good, but that was all our scrum. Forwards got us the ball nice and clean, and when that happens there’s just no stopping us,” said the Army fullback.

Up 24-20, Army had recaptured the momentum. The Cougar women had some late charges, but couldn’t mount a serious threat – the type of three they’d failed to capitalize on in the first half. Possession traded throughout the final 20 minutes, and an injury to Orvik sapped a lot of the emotion. At full time, Sexauer scampered in for the final score, which would give Army the 29-20 win.

Sexauer, despite being woozy from fatigue or perhaps the sun, delivered the emotional charge Army needed in the second half, set up one try and touched down the final play.

“She’s always been a huge player for us. I think she’s one of the most dangerous players in the game,” said Army coach Will Riddle. “The heart really got to her today. I think she was a little bit off her game just because of the heat.”