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The Mid-Atlantic is 27 players strong for this weekend’s (June 19-21) USA Rugby U23 All-Star 15s Tournament in Clearwater, Minn. The Sharks are scheduled to play the #2-ranked Midwest (roster) and #6-ranked Pacific South (roster) on Friday, and then Sunday is for placing matches. Read more for streaming information and tune into USA Rugby’s YouTube channel for live and recorded matches. [lead photo: Mike Conners @mikeconnersphoto23]
The Mid-Atlantic accounts for Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia and West Virginia. Student-athletes can align with either their college or hometown region — given the timing of the all-star tournament and transience of collegians. Examples include Maní Boyd, who attends Long Island University in New York but is from Washington, D.C.; and Mandy Gutiérrez, a New Jersey resident who attends Queens University of Charlotte. Both are eligible for the Mid-Atlantic.
With that said, alignments aren’t that strict, and especially this year. The Northeast withdrew from the competition last week and some players are finding homes on different teams just so they can compete. The Rocky Mountain Peaks, which won Tier 1 last year, is supplementing its roster with Midwest players.
Head coach Deven O’Crump and assistant coaches Mollie Martin, Sarah Weiner and Lance Connolly comprose the staff. They vetted players to an open invitation tryout on May 9 in Arlington, Va., and then helped put the pieces together during a June 7 scrimmage against the Capital Selects, a senior club all-star program. The roster includes players from six NCAA varsity programs: DI Dartmouth, Long Island University, Queens Univ. of Charlotte and Mount St. Mary’s; and DII Frostburg State and West Chester University. All of these teams play their regular-season 15s in NIRA. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Ritva Doan, who just graduated high school and hails from the NoVa Vipers.
In between are players from National Collegiate Rugby DI-AA, DII and DIII programs, and they account for approximately half of the roster. Coastal Carolina University 2025 grad Serafina Delgado is still age eligible and playing with the Frederick senior women’s team.
Due to the withdrawal of the Northeast, the seven-team field has been divided into pools of three and four teams. The four-team pool will play three games on Friday, and those halves are 20-minutes long. The three-team pool will play two games and those halves will be 30 minutes long. The time on the pitch is thus equal. The only issue that needs to be resolved is whether a 7th place game is possible on Sunday.
MID-ATLANTIC U23 ALL-STARS
Arianna Albiar – Univ. Maryland
Natalie Allen – Frostburg State
Janeece Armstrong – Howard Univ
Naina “Cherry” Bose – Virginia Tech
Maní Boyd – Long Island Univ
Sara Canepa – Kutztown Univ
Liberty Cawthorn – Frostburg State
Brandi Dawson – Longwood Univ
Brianne Dawson – Longwood Univ
Cristelle Deadikpeto – West Chester Univ
Serafina Delgado – Frederick RFC
Neely Denlinger – Mount St. Mary’s Univ
Caliann Dietz – La Salle Univ
Ritva Doan – NoVa Vipers
Corinne Dragwa – Towson Univ
Alexi Finnigan – Frostburg State
Mandy Gutiérrez – Queens Univ of Charlotte
Adrianna Johnson – Howard Univ
LaJess Jordan – Frostburg State
Makenzie Link – Frostburg State
Danica Luzak – Penn State
Ashlyn Mugavero – East Stroudsburg Univ
Juliette Robinson – Georgetown Univ
Carlyan Vigbedor – Norwich Univ
Rae Walkup Blake
Ava Ward – Univ Mary Washington
Morgan Whelan – Dartmouth College
Coaching Staff
Deven O’Crump
Mollie Martin
Sarah Weiner
Lance Connolly