The USA Rugby U23 All-Star Tournament involves eight representative teams from across the country. The 15s squads will meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy, Mass., for games on Friday, June 20 and Sunday, June 22. The Pacific South Griffins are the first to announce their travel squad to this important talent-identification venue. [lead photo: 2024 Griffins team]
RELATED: U23 General Info
Evan Wollen (Claremont College) and Derika Legg (UC San Diego, San Diego Surfers) serve as head and assistant coaches, respectively, and they have selected 25 players* for the all-star trip. There are 12 forwards, 13 backs, and nine players who have returned from the 2024 Griffins squad. (*One player is injured.)
The majority of the 2025 team hails from the Division I Pacific Desert Rugby Conference, which is rooted in southern California and Arizona. Grand Canyon University leads all selections with seven players, six of which are forwards. UC Santa Barbara, Claremont and UCLA have three reps apiece, while UC San Diego (2), Univ. Arizona and San Diego State also sent players to the Griffins.
The senior club sphere is also present with two players from the DII Los Angeles Rugby Club and one from the San Diego Surfers. Emma Cruz from CRAA DI National Championship-winning Stanford is also on board.
2025 PAC SOUTH GRIFFINS U23
FORWARDS (12)
Jo Marie Alvarez — Grand Canyon Univ.*
Kaitlyn Ambrose — UC Santa Barbara
Katrina (Kat) Clark — Grand Canyon Univ.
Fran Kovach — Los Angeles RFC
Line Luedi — UC San Diego*
Lindsey Manugian — Claremont Colleges
Savonna McGlothan — Grand Canyon Univ.
Isabelle Ortiz— Los Angeles RFC
Jayna Schalesky — UC Santa Barbara*
Angelique Schrock — Grand Canyon Univ. *
Micaiah Thornton — Grand Canyon Univ. *
Atira Tilghman — Grand Canyon Univ. *
BACKS (13)
D’Ondra Bomar — Grand Canyon Univ.
Emma Buxton — UCLA*
Molly Chisholm — Univ. Arizona
Emma Cruz — Stanford
MJ Destro — San Diego State
Laila Hannum — Claremont Colleges*
Lauren Hayashi — UCLA (selected, injured)
Paris Jones — San Diego Surfers
Alex Meechum — Claremont Colleges
Jessica Navarro — UC Santa Barbara
Maddison Purves — UCLA
Megan Takeuchi — UC San Diego*
Mia Taylor — UC San Diego
*2024 Griffin
STAFF
Head Coach: Evan Wollen — Claremont Colleges
Asst Coach: Derika Legg — UC San Diego & San Diego Surfers