slide 1

NOTE: Only paying subscribers have access to locked content. LEARN MORE.

More on Current Hawk Eye Campers

  • 21 Feb 2019
  • 307 Views

Susan Adegoke / Photo: Jackie Finlan

USA Rugby just named the 12-player roster for the USA Falcons at the Las Vegas Invitational next week, and the team will warm up with a scrimmage against a Hawk Eye team on Monday, Feb. 25. The Hawk Eye program readies the next wave of potential 7s Eagles, and the squad that is currently in camp has emerged from the All-American system.

But let’s take a deeper look at these athletes …

• All of the collegians are currently playing in NCAA varsity (Army, Dartmouth, Harvard) or DI Elite (Life Univ.) programs. You’re seeing the same emphasis placed in the USA 15s player pool, where more than ever before, those senior club athletes are aligned with Women’s Premier League teams. The message appears to be: There are collegiate and senior entities that are structured for high performance athletes and their development, so use them. It doesn’t mean that hidden gems can’t be discovered – Kristi Krishe is a great example of someone ushered through the Northeast NDA and quickly into a USA jersey – but there’s an obvious advantage in consolidating and developing talent together.

• Three of the four high schoolers are returning from the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) campaign, a qualifier that was held alongside the LVI last year. Salote Tausinga, Kate Buzby and Ina Bailey are back together again, and Taina Scott – from High School National Invitational Tournament champion Kahuku in Hawaii – is the fourth player considering collegiate options. College freshmen Ariana Ramsey (Dartmouth) and Susie Adegoke (Life Univ.) were also on that 2018 YOG team, as were Taylor Marasco (Grand Canyon Univ., an elevated club team administered by the athletics department), Eti Haungatau (USA 7s resident who was bound for Lindenwood), Alex DiMarco (Army West Point) and Clara Lemal-Brown (Quinnipiac).

• The obvious common denominator is high school rugby. Nine of the 10 Hawk Eye campers are either playing in high school or picked up the sport before college. Soon enough, the fact that players have high school experience will be a non-starter, and that’s exciting. The exception in this assembly is Army’s Sam Sullivan, who ran track in high school and then tried rugby as a freshman at West Point. Today, the junior is a try-scoring machine on the wing.

• Other notable highlights include Emily Henrich, who earned her first USA 15s caps during the 2018 November test series. Cassidy Bargell has represented the USA Falcons on multiple occasions, and with Ramsey, the trio represent players who featured in the NIRA national championship in November. And finally, in this group – maybe not the whole Hawk Eye player pool – there is an absence of players from or currently in the Midwest.

HAWK EYE DEVELOPMENT CAMP ROSTER

Susie Adegoke – Life Univ. (Play Rugby, NY)

Ina Bailey – Kona Bulls (HI)Cassidy Bargell – Harvard Univ. (Summit, CO)Kate Buzby – Scottsdale HS (AZ)Emily Henrich – Dartmouth College (Orchard Park, NY)

Ariana Ramsey – Dartmouth College (PA United)

Taina Scott – Kahuku HS (HI)

Alex Sedrick – Life Univ. (Herriman, UT)Samantha Sullivan – US Military Academy (NY)Salote Tausinga – SacPAL Amazons (CA)

Article Categories:
USA

Leave a Reply