Indy Speed joins the lineup. /// Photo courtesy Indy Speed Rugby
The West Regional Cup Tournament (RCT) is hosting nine girls’ high school teams across varsity and JV divisions this weekend. The Rocky Mountain Challenge is a long-standing youth tournament and has a tradition of drawing good competition to Colorado. Remember that all-star teams competing at RCTs divide varsity and JV sides by grade (read more).
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Darryl Lane heads the home state’s two teams, and he’s supported by coaches Karl Barth and Tim Scott. The two sides showcase players from 24 high schools, and keep in mind that Colorado recently switched to a 7s-mostly league season. On the varsity side, watch for Cassidy Bargell, whose younger sister Delani on the JV team is also a Girls’ High School All-American. Lexi Costa (Eaglecrest), Moira Dillow (Fort Collins), Madison Lane (Mullen), Gemma Ryu (Colorado Academy) and Selena Tuilaepa (Eaglecrest) are all players to watch on the varsity side, while Maddie Hadden (Columbine) and Anna VanDyk (Terrors) have already started turning heads as underclassmen.
Head coach Jeff Noe and assistant coaches Amanda Pohle, Alex Glorioso and Neil Grintjes are bringing two Wisconsin sides built from 10 high schools and clubs. Fifteen of the 20 varsity players helped one of two Wisconsin all-star teams to 2016 RCT titles in South Carolina. Emily Becker, Megan Bird and Emma Conrad are among the many familiar names on the varsity team, while Catholic Memorial’s Allison Koenig and Brookfield’s Grace Estes are welcomed additions. On the JV team, Samantha Dreher and Jade Green are the veterans.
There’s been some turnover in Utah’s representative team, but there is also a different entity heading to Colorado this year. Last year, the Utah Cannibals – the state all-star team – won the Rocky Mountain Challenge and spent early June winning the High School Rugby Challenge alongside the CRC 7s in Chester, Pa.). In 2017, Atavus Academy Utah is heading to Colorado. Five players from the 2016 Cannibals team (Kao Toa’s Alexia Tiatia, Arteysha TiaTia, Olivia Vailahi and Sydnee Cervinski and Provo’s Aniya Matina) are returning to Colorado, while high school club champion United has sent McKay Peisley and Addie Sorenson. Orlando Pulou and Jeremiah Tiatia lead the varsity-only squad.
Last year, Mid-America competed in its first Rocky Mountain Challenge and combined players from Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas to field varsity and JV sides. This year, 28 of the 40 players hail from Oklahoma, while 12 hail from 7s-only Texas. There are many new faces in the squad this year, but head coach Gayla Adcock can rely on six all-star returners on the varsity side – three from Broken Arrow (Deanna Hamersley, Jessica Laughlin, Chaselynn Stephens), Yukon’s Jordyn Ruth and Plano’s Reagan Hunter – to inject some veteran leadership. The JV side sees the return of Yukon’s Sandree McNatt and Kamryn Seale.
Finally, Indy Speed is bringing varsity and JV squads to Colorado. The program, now in its second year, debuted at the 2016 Midwest RCT and will return to that fixture next weekend in Fishers, Ind. Indiana University head coach Vaughn Mitchell has been leading practices in Indianapolis and got a good look at his squad during last weekend’s Midwest All-Star Challenge in Elkhart, Ind. Close to a dozen high schools are represented on this weekend’s squad, with Westfield leading selections on the JV team, and Pike contributing a bunch of players to the varsity squad.
Click here to view all of the all-star teams’ rosters.
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