Addison Horsley leads the Cannibals / Photo: Jackie Finlan
Salt Lake City, UT – The 2017 Girls High School Rugby Challenge (HSRC) Champions, the Utah Cannibals, announce their Girls U18 Elite roster for the 2018 Las Vegas Invitational (LVI) on March 1-2, 2018.
The Utah Cannibals was established in 2010 as a pathway to showcase Utah’s top up-and-coming high school rugby players. Since 2010, the Utah Cannibals have placed more than a dozen players in the HSAA program and many more have transitioned to collegiate rugby as well as collegiate football.
The roster includes five players from the victorious 2017 HSRC team: Senior leader Addison Horsley (senior, Pleasant Grove HS / United Girls Rugby Club) and sophomore Falelua Stowers (Timpview High / United Girls Rugby Club), both of whom are Girls High School All-Americans, will be well supported by junior Lewanda Aspinall (Timpview HS / United Girls Rugby Club), junior Gabriella Bezzant (Lone Peak High / United Rugby Club) and sophomore Nafanua Fitisemanu (Lone Peak High / United Girls Rugby Club).
The Utah Cannibals Elite Girls team is fortunate enough to bring back two additional experienced players in junior Princess Tafiti (American Fork High / United Girls Rugby Club) and sophomore Makena Taumoepeau (Westlake High / United Girls Rugby Club) who both represented Utah at the 2017 Las Vegas Invitational.
The Utah Cannibals went 3-2 in the 2017 LVI, losing only to Atlantis (pool match) and BCEY (cup quarterfinal) to finish in the top six. Despite the graduation of many key players in 2017 and with only two senior players in the squad, the Utah Cannibals are still very optimistic to have a strong showing at this year’s LVI.
“The 2017 Utah Cannibals Girls Elite team was definitely a very special team,” said Owen Power, President / Executive Director of Utah Youth Rugby. “But we still have five players from the Championship team on the roster, with four of them still eligible to play for at least one more year. Our All-State Select Side program is not exclusively about winning. We build character in youth through rugby. These girls that have been selected to represent their state, are among the very best in Utah and have strong characters. No matter where they finish in Las Vegas, we know they will do so with integrity. That’s what matters most.”
The Utah Cannibals find themselves in a challenging pool this year with last year’s winners, Atlantis, as well as Rugby Oregon Red Hawks and USA South Panthers, neither of which should be underestimated. This year’s team is coached by Utah Youth Rugby Director of Coach Certification and Education, Patrick Whalen.
The Utah Cannibals Pool A schedule for March 1 is as follows (all times PST):
8:00 a.m. – Atlantis
10:20 a.m. Rugby Oregon
1:00 p.m. USA South Panthers
All Utah Cannibals Girls Elite pool matches will be livestreamed at www.utahyouthrugby.org/uyrtv. Livestreams can also be found on the Utah Youth Rugby Apple TV and Roku Apps. Additional streams can be viewed on the Utah Youth Rugby Facebook page and YouTube Channels as well as on the Utah Cannibals and Pink 7s Facebook pages. These broadcasts are made possible by Executech.
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