St. Mary wins OFSAA girls A/AA rugby championship

Cobourg's St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School Thunder won the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations girls A/AA rugby provincial championship in Belleville Wednesday.

Kiera Martin scored both tries and Megan Meade had two conversions as the Thunder defeated their Kawartha rival Holy Cross Hurricanes 14-5 in the final.

St. Mary also beat Holy Cross back in the fall to win both the Kawartha and Central Ontario championships to avenge a loss in last year's OFSAA gold medal game when they hosted the provincial tournament in Cobourg and settled for silver as the Hurricanes, which have been a rugby powerhouse in recent years, celebrated with gold.

St. Mary's Grace Jenkins said the OFSAA win was a long time coming for her team.

While they didn't host the provincial championship this year, Jenkins said the Thunder had great support the past three days in Belleville.

St. Mary, which was the No. 1 seed in the tournament, opened play Monday with a 17-0 shutout over Burlington Central before defeating Courtice Secondary 15-7 in the quarterfinals and Napanee District Secondary 31-5 in the semifinals Tuesday.

Thunder coach Shawn Carmichael said his players personified the team motto to win OFSAA: per angusta ad augusta meaning through difficulties to honours. 

“Their four opponents all gave them a great match which required them to rely on their combined rugby IQ and each other. Kiera Martin was a dominant force during the tournament scoring four tries in the last two games. Megan Meade added five key converts in the last two games as well,” Carmichael said. “The forwards earned the gold for us by working to gain the meters in contact, maintain possession of the ball, win possession in the scrums and lineouts, and make tackle after tackle on defence. It was truly a team effort. It was fun to watch.”

St. Mary team members at OFSAA were: Taylor Harrigan, Tatum Ireland, Leila Briscoe, Autumn Howard-Dey, Brooke Bennett, Veronika Mokros, Emma Rypstra, Gloria Nott, Presley Barton, Sydney Pipe, Grace Rice, Grace Jenkins, Diya Patel, Bella Angelo, Sydnie Walton, Emma Khaimovich, Mikaela Stewart, Maggie Lycett, Ryleigh Woods, Kiera Martin, Sydney Souch, Zoey O’Connor, Tristan van den Heuvel, Megan Meade, Nikayla Casselman, Claire Rypstra, Ella Besslich, Ella Sexton, Maddy Lazary, Chloe Middleton, Brianna Bolton and Tahlia McNally.