Midwest club champions Hopkins /// Photo courtesy Hopkins Rugby Club
The Midwest Girls’ High School Championship hosted four competitions last weekend, including a club division that featured teams from Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin. First-timer Hopkins defeated Brookfield, Brunswick and Pulaski en route to the title, and the team hopes it’s the first success of many this year.
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Dan Johnson is the longtime leader of the Hopkins high school program and was present in Elkhart, Ind., for the girls’ title run. He was on the phone with his daughter, Katie, giving a play-by-play of the action. The Olympic 7s veteran has long been involved with the girls’ team but this spring marks her first official involvement.
“These girls are all unbelievable and have a great attitude. Whether they’re natural athletes or hard workers or hanging out with friends – they’re all easy to work with,” Johnson said. “They’re interested in how to make things better even if it’s already working pretty well.”
Hopkins took that air of positivity into Midwests, a competition that has been missing a Minnesota representative for a couple of years.
“The girls, they have a blast playing against the Minnesota teams and they love knowing who they’re playing against, but it’s good to show them that there are bigger players out there,” Johnson said. “They wanted a challenge, but they also wanted to have fun. The biggest priority was to keep an open mind and be willing to fail.”
Hopkins might have been willing to fail, but only victories followed. The team started with a 22-0 shutout over Brookfield. The tone changed after that match and Hopkins went on to defeat Brunswick 44-5 and Pulaski 22-0 in the final. Sophia Haley was named MVP of the final, while Maia Machuca and Jess Torrison earned Player of the Match honors on day one.
Entering the unknown and triumphing lends a special kind of confidence, and Hopkins hopes to filter that momentum into the remainder of the league season. The Minnesota league fields 7s and 15s competitions concurrently, and Hopkins competes in both. Last Wednesday, the team defeated North Suburban in 15s.
“They’re a very tough team,” Johnson said of the perennial state finalist. “They have at least seven amazing defenders and they laid us out left and right. They have Tatum [Johnson – unrelated], who is a pretty good leader on their team.”
But Hopkins isn’t short on talent either. Leading the charge on the field is Bridget Mielke, a smart flyhalf who serves as a good connector between the forwards and backs. She’s played next-level ball, as have teammates Haley, Julia Fromstein, Quarrille Howard, Madison Peterson, Marybeth Schufman, and Abbey and Ellie Terpstra – all of whom represented the Minnesota Tundra in Las Vegas this year.
Hopkins is looking to contend for the state title, and Johnson indicated that club nationals isn’t off the table either. For the Olympian, herself, she’s training on her own and dedicating some time to growing rugby in the Midwest. She’s sharing her knowledge through youth camps and helping out various high school teams, and tomorrow, for example, she’s heading to the University of Minnesota to lead the men’s 7s training.
“I’m just trying to reach out as much as I can,” Johnson said. “I think I’ll try to go [play] again, eventually, but after I feel like I’ve accomplished something here.”
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