YOUR AD HERE »

Summit ruggers take fifth at state

ADAM BOFFEYsummit daily news

DENVER – The captain of the Summit U19 Girls Rugby Club ended her high-school-age career in most memorable fashion Saturday.With fifth place on the line at the Championship Division state rugby tournament, Melissa Griffith broke out against Boulder.”(Griffith) scored the game-winner on a 60-yard try,” Tigers coach Karl Barth said. “It was a nice way for her to go out.”The youthful Tigers will graduate just three seniors this spring – Griffith, Arienne Abt and Lea Taylor. With 24 points in two games on Saturday, Taylor moved into eighth place on the all time Tigers scoring list.”She scored 20 tries in 20 games,” Barth said.The Tigers found themselves in the fifth-place game after a 17-12 loss to Thunder Ridge. “We were billing our trip to the state finals as mission impossible,” Barth said. “To make it we would have had to beat three teams that we lost to earlier this season, and Thunder Ridge was one of them.”Taylor accounted for all 12 points in Summit’s loss, which was underscored by injuries to three key Tigers.Kyle Armstrong was unavailable due to a broken bone in her foot; Katy Hodson injured her elbow in the match’s opening minutes, and Lauren Danielsen twisted her ankle mid-way through the match.”That left us a little shorthanded,” Barth said. “We had some really young players step in and do well, but we had already fallen behind to a more experienced team.”Taylor led the Tigers (5-4-1) in their 17-12 victory over Boulder with 12 points. Griffith chipped in five. Cheyenne Spaulding and Mallory Ives also made solid contributions for Summit, according to Barth.”They played their best rugby of the year this weekend,” he said.According to Barth, Summit’s youth (10 freshmen) bodes well for the future, though the team’s three seniors will certainly be missed.”There will be some big shoes to fill,” Barth said. “But at least there’s not too many pairs.”


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.

Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.

Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.