The Minnesota Youth Rugby (MYR) State Championships occurred in early June at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn., and Hopkins capped the season-culminating event with 7s and 10s titles. Last year, when Minnesota contested a 15s competition, Hopkins won the 15s and 7s state titles (read more). [Photos: Kim Ruckdaschel-Haley]
Tens leaders Hopkins and Eagan received byes directly to the semifinals, while Minnetonka bested North Suburban 17-5, and Armstrong defeated East Metro 27-14 in the play-in round. The top-two ranked teams triumphed in the Round of 4 and saw Eagan better Armstrong 29-10 and Hopkins defeat Minnetonka 25-0. In advance of the final, Minnetonka eked out a 29-27 victory over Armstrong for third place, and then Hopkins extended its undefeated streak by topping Eagan for its second-straight 10s state championship.
Natalie Bjorklund on the loose in the 10s championship
The girls’ 7s competition was a four-team affair, but really it was a Hopkins vs. Osseo contest. Both teams shut out their semifinal opponents handily: Hopkins beat South River 51-0, and Osseo beat Faribault 34-0. After Faribault defeated South River 22-5 for third, Hopkins took home the 7s trophy with a 33-14 win over Osseo.
Click here for all of the MYR state championship results.
Sophia Haley with the stiff-arm against Eagan.
Hopkins went undefeated the past two seasons, and this year’s team sees seven seniors graduate from its ranks. It was a special spring for three players – Gretta Bolstad, Sophia Haley and Maddie Peterson – who have played under coaches Dan Johnson and Thor Bolstad since sixth grade. Haley is a Girls’ High School All-American and will feature in the Futures 7s tournament this August in Saranac Lake, N.Y. She’ll then head to New Hampshire and begin her collegiate career with Dartmouth College, which finished runner-up at the 2017 National Intercollegiate Rugby Association national championship.
Also of note, rising collegiate freshman Natalie Bjorklund will continue her rugby career at perennial DI Elite powerhouse Penn State, where Hopkins alumnae Ellie Fromstein is currently lighting it up.
Gretta Bolstad kicks the extras in the 7s championship.
The Minnesota girls’ leagues shifted this spring. Last year, the state offered 15s and 7s competitions, but once the season got underway, game day became flexible for the 15s games. If the numbers weren’t there, then a 7s or 10s games could be played, and the state championships morphed to include a 10s consolation bracket of sorts (read more).
In spring 2018, MYR executive director Sean Lindersmith explained, “[In] order to increase competitiveness and reduce forfeits, we developed the 10s league,” due to insufficient numbers for 15s.
Minnesota also withdrew from the Regional Cup Tournament circuit, which features 15s and serves as an entry point into the women’s pathway, but it is also not the only state to experience fluctuating numbers.