National Collegiate Rugby named 472 student athletes, including four Shippensburg University students, as 2021-22 Scholastic All Americans. This annual program recognizes high performing student athletes across college rugby. The Scholastic All American list includes 99 women and 373 men from over 140 schools and all levels of rugby. To qualify as a Scholastic All American, student athletes must maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher for the academic year and be rostered for 50 percent of the Fall 15s A-side matches or rostered for 50% of the A-side Spring 7s tournaments.
Shippensburg University is honored to recognize the achievements of the four All Americans: Maya Bennett, Hailey Johnson, Megan Lee and Emma Schappel.
“I am so excited to hear about this achievement by members of our women’s rugby club. To accomplish academic success, while balancing the significant time and physical commitment of a club sport program such as rugby, shows great dedication by these students. And to be the only Eastern Pennsylvania club represented, this is certainly a proud moment for this student organization and Shippensburg University,” said Melissa Hazard, director of Recreation.
Amongst women’s programs, Loyola University (MD) placed ten student athletes on the Scholastic All American list. Four women’s programs named seven Scholastic All Americans, including Grace College, Grand Valley State University, University of Northern Iowa, and Endicott College. Over 30 other women’s programs were represented in the Scholastic All American program.
Ship Women’s Rugby Coach Jolene Ayres said, “We have very smart women in this group that play, and I’m happy that they have an opportunity to get recognized. Ship is a small college, and we can compete with the big names, too. We are small but mighty!”
