Photos: Bobby Gable
The Michigan girls’ high school 15s season begins this weekend, and four of seven teams will contest their league openers. Three-time reigning champion Grandville will be hosting Indiana’s Warsaw, a regular at the Midwest championships, in a friendly match and has newly adjusted aspirations for the 2017-18 season.
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“The team is already thinking of nationals and what’s ahead of us,” Grandville captain Matja Saarenheimo-VanderHorst enthused. “Last year was the first time Grandville girls’ rugby has ever played at such a high level, and now we know what to expect and how to train to win.”
Saarenheimo-VanderHorst referenced her team’s first-ever foray into rugby outside of Michigan. Competing at the Midwest championship and national single-school invitational have extended the team’s goals beyond the in-state competition. Bulldogs coach Magdalene Law indicated that winning the state championship should serve as a stepping stone to where the program wants to be, and that Midwest and single-school champion Divine Savior Holy Angels has designed the blueprint of how to get there.
But Grandville will certainly have to build through the fall. Lone senior Saarenheimo-VanderHorst will serve as captain, and the flyhalf earned her first Girls’ High School All-American selection this summer during the Can-Am Series in Ottawa against the Canada U18s. The flyhalf will lean on scrumhalf Angelina Pollice’s ability to manage the game and deploy the forwards, who are led by flanker Adilene Ocha, tight-tive Corryn Bush and last year’s leading scorer and conversion specialist Cici Lowe and hooker. The pack will endeavor to generate fast ball so that explosive wings Hannah Sarber and Mikiala Vela can do their jobs out wide.
Fortunately, the Bulldogs have built some buzz, and the incoming class is large and eager to continue the title-winning tradition.
“Having three consecutive state titles and not having lost a game in [Michigan for] three years has set the bar high for the team this year,” the captain noted. “A majority of the team is new and underclassmen, so we’ve been doing a lot of teaching, but everyone has grasped all the new concepts quickly and well.”
“We definitely have a target on our back this year,” Saarenheimo-VanderHorst added. “I’ve seen other teams saying they’ve been working harder than previous years and that is just pushing us to train even harder, including longer practices and utilizing the school’s weight room and strength coach Tully Chapman.”
The commitment of Grandville’s alumni has also helped sustain momentum. Players have watched Bulldogs go on to play at Davenport University (Hannah Tennant, Raelynn Bartlette, Bethany Gable), Army West Point (Bayleigh Gable), Michigan (Gabby Sillman), Grand Valley State (Kendra Marckini), Grand Rapid Gazelles (Marsia Snieder, Chelsey Chrisman) and more. They remain in contact with the current high school players, give back as much as possible, and educate them on the playing opportunities at different levels.
Grandville will get a first look at itself against Indiana power Warsaw this weekend and then contest its first of six league games on Sept. 24 against Sparta. Meanwhile, Grand Haven vs. Traverse City, and Lakeview vs. Sparta will occur Sunday. The state playoffs begin Nov. 5 and the state champion will be named Nov. 12.
For more information about the league schedule, visit the Michigan Rugby Referees Society, www.mirrs.org.