Western Loudoun Rugby Sweeps States

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

In the midst of the high school spring sports season, with several Loudoun teams taking home state championships, two more teams from the Western half of the county exhibited their dominance over the rest of the Commonwealth with marches to state titles.

The Western Loudoun Wolverines and Lady Wolverines, two U-19 club teams in the Northern Conference of the Virginia Rugby Union, consummated their respective undefeated league seasons with victories in the state finals in Alexandria on June 6.

The two teams are comprised of 14-18 year olds, most of who currently attend Loudoun Valley High School, along with a few players from Stone Bridge. They compete against teams from around the state during a season that began with practices in February and culminated in last weekend's championships. According to boys' assistant coach Mike Saintcross, the teams are comprised of a mix of athletes with varying degrees of competitive experience.

"We've got a couple key players from football and lots of girls who played soccer together growing up," Saintcross said. "But we've also got kids from the band and the drama club and others who have never been dominant in a sport. It's a really interesting mix."

Boys' head coach Paul Kelly added that the Wolverines – a non-varsity club that relies on its players to recruit friends and fellow students – provide a competitive outlet for many who have never been given such an opportunity.

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Western Loudoun Sweeps State Rugby Titles

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The Western Loudoun Wolverines celebrate a perfect season following their victory in the Virginia Rugby Union state championship game. (Julie Garland)

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The Western Loudoun Wolverines completed a perfect 2009 season with a 13-10 victory over SYC West End in the Virginia Rugby Union state final on Saturday, June 6. (Julie Garland)

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Loudoun Valley junior Eric Minor was named MVP of the Virginia Rugby League state final, scoring the lone try of the contest and kicking two penalties as the Wolverines of Western Loudoun completed a perfect season. (Julie Garland)

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The Western Loudoun Lady Wolverines celebrate back-to-back state championships. (Julie Garland)

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Lara Hampson was named MVP of the girls' final after scoring the only try of the game in a 12-5 win over Fairfax Police Youth Club. (Julie Garland)

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The Lady Wolverines captured their second straight state title after a 12-5 win over Fairfax Police Club in the state championship game on Saturday, June 6. (Julie Garland)

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"It gives kids that don't make the basketball or baseball team a chance to try a new sport and compete," the fourth-year coach said. "We find lots of kids that are athletically gifted but have never had the opportunity to show their abilities."

The Wolverines – who rolled into last Saturday's final with a 9-0 record and a 160-point scoring differential on the season (178-18) – edged out Springfield's SYC West End, 13-10 in their final, relying on a lone try by Ryan Mueller. A senior and first year player from Loudoun Valley, Mueller led the club with six tries for 30 points on the season playing at flanker and outside center.

Loudoun Valley junior Eric Minor was named most valuable player of the final after accounting for eight of the team's points on the day with the lone try conversion and two penalty kicks. With 49 points on the year, Minor led the Wolverines – who finished fourth in the state in 2008 – in scoring at the No. 4 lock position. In his third year on the team, he tallied four tries, 10 conversions and three penalty kicks, even while missing three of the team's games due to injury. Together, Minor and Mueller scored 79 of the team's 201 points during the season.

"Eric is such a dominant player," Kelly said. "He's a very quick, elusive runner, he just brings everything that you'd want from a player. And this was Ryan's first year on the team, but he just had an eye for when to grab the ball and score."

In the girls' final, the Lady Wolverines dispatched Fairfax Police Youth Club 12-7 to claim their second consecutive state championship. Western Loudoun scored midway through the first period when junior hooker Hosna Shoja, powered through the FPYC defense and touched the ball down for five points. The try was converted by senior flyhalf Lara Hampson for a 7-0 lead. Just before halftime, FPYC scrumhalf Jenny Thai tied the score with a run and conversion kick.

The Lady Wolverines went ahead midway through the second period when Hampson scored on a determined 35-yard run, breaking several tackles up the middle. FPYC pushed the ball over the try line just as time ran out but an earlier infraction nullified the score and the game was called with the final score 12-7. Hampson was named MVP.

Western Loudoun was soundly defeated by Eleanor Roosevelt (Md.) in its season opener, but found their form during the season, putting together an undefeated record in contests against Virginia teams and taking home the state title. They were just as dominant as the boys during the regular season, outscoring their league opponents 114-19.

"It's not a difficult game to play, but to become experienced and make the right decisions and control the flow of the game is really what we wanted to teach over the course of the season," girls' head coach Lee Coogle said. "In our first game of the season, we had so much inexperience because a lot of the girls had never played in a game before. But by the end of the year, they knew how the make the right decisions and you could really see their progression."

Hampson is one of three seniors on the team who will attend the University of Mary Washington in the fall. All three intend to play on the school's Virginia Rugby Union team.

"Rugby is the only full-contact sport available to women at the collegiate level," Coogle said. "That has made it very attractive to the title-niners and the growth at the collegiate level has been huge. That's starting to trickle down now."

In just their second season since splitting from the Potomac Rugby Union, the club has seen significant gains in interest and success on the field. After returning only eight players from the 2008 team, the Lady Wolverines started the season with 34 girls and 24 took part in last weekend's final.

"Winning the state championships can only help us," Kelly said. "The kids are wearing their championship shirts to school and their success this year should help bring out a lot of new players next year. And once these kids get rugby in their blood, they love it. You don't have to be 240 pounds and jacked to excel at this sport. It's a game where teamwork is far more valuable than egos and individualism."

Tagged: rugby, sports, western Loudoun, youth sports

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