Roosevelt High School won the Iowa Youth Rugby Association (IAYRA) State Championship, defeating Southeast Polk 19-10 in the final. It was such a fulfilling ending for the Des Moines program, which balanced the need for flexibility during an unpredictable Covid-19 era with a desire for redemption in a state title match. [All photos: Christopher Maharry]
Girls’ high schools play their championship season in the fall, but that was not possible in 2020 with Covid-19. IAYRA was able to relocate the girls’ competition to the spring alongside the boys’ league – a commitment that required constant adjustments and short-term planning.
With that said, “Rugby happened,” Roosevelt head coach Ryan Gray reflected on the spring.
Roosevelt leaned on flexibility when managing the uncertainty that comes with planning during a pandemic. The team made due with an unconventional practice space: the high school’s front lawn, which it shared with the boys’ team, shotput and discus. The team integrated Laura Kipnusu (Valley), Portia Starr (East) and Myrka Carrillo (East) from programs that could not field a team this season, and they, along with East coach Emily Dearden, were huge assets. Players were also allowed to participate in other sports and activities, so long as they maintained an open line of communication with the coaching staff.
“[Co-coach] Jeremy [Newman] and I really believe in making rugby practice a place where you want to be,” Gray said. “It’s a place where you work hard in a fun, inclusive environment, and it should never feel like a job. And with Covid, if we said, ‘It’s us or softball,’ ‘Us or soccer,’ or, ‘It’s us or Science Bound,’ we would lose a lot of girls.
Jenesis Dotson in the tackle / Photo: Christopher Maharry
“And you have to be self-aware,” he continued. “In the eyes of the Iowa high school sports spectrum, we’re a club, and varsity sports or things that have school backing can seem more important. So as much as we tell people about scholarship opportunities and all the other great things that this sport does, we’re still following athletic directors’ and other coaches’ guidelines, and we hope they see we bring something back to the school. In the end, flexibility is about the big picture and helping the club long term.”
The coaches could really only plan a week at a time, as scheduling changes occurred regularly. They started with the basics, introduced areas of focus each practice, and built gradually. They wanted engagement, and avoided burnout by not going too intense too early. Instead, players like Liberty Cawthorn and Jenesis Dotson set those type of expectations for the squad.
Laura Kipnusu with Jocee Morris in support / Photo: Christopher Maharry
“Liberty really set a tone in practice every single day,” Gray said of the junior scrumhalf. “She took every drill seriously. She was always moving, never tired, and the other girls saw that. If they were in her group, they knew they had to step up to her level because she was never going to let up. But it was never condescending, just this unspoken thing. And it was perfect for scrumhalf because people had to play up to her speed, and that helped us. She could break the line and had speed, but she also had the ability to draw the defense and set up teammates in space.”
Cawthorn put in a terrific spring, leading the team with 50 tackles, 15 assists and 15 tries during the regular season. Only Jocee Morris scored more tries with 20.
“Jenesis is our most vocal leader and the leader on defense. She could side shuffle faster than most people can sprint in a straight line,” Gray said of the basketball crossover. “She’s a senior and her goal was to win this state championship, so she was making sure people were at practice and going full speed into drills. And she always led in conditioning – out front and the last to stop.”
Photo: Christopher Maharry
The team followed their example. When impending rain moved Roosevelt’s senior prom from Saturday to Friday night, no one missed the scheduled league games. After the final whistle of the second game sounded, the seniors fetched their dresses out of their cars, changed in the bathroom, and reported to prom.
Roosevelt went 10-2 in the regular season, with its only losses (24-7, 12-5) coming against Southeast Polk. Previous to spring 2021, the teams last played each other in the 2019 state championship.
“We were winning with 90 seconds to go, and Southeast Polk won,” Gray recalled the last trophy match. “As coaches, we talk about getting better each week and controlling what you can control, but even though no one was saying it, we all knew the goal was to beat Southeast Polk. That was the team we were working toward, and if we could build a game plan that would work against them, then it would work against anyone.”
Photo: Christopher Maharry
The state tournament was set up differently to years past. The league started with nine, instead of 12, teams and then dropped to eight in the middle of the season. So all eight teams reported to the one-day tournament for a single-elimination championship. Roosevelt entered the playoffs as the second seed and worked its depth during a 49-0 quarterfinal win against Indianola. The team then advanced to the final after a 32-12 semifinal win against Cedar Falls.
Meanwhile, top-seed Southeast Polk started the night with a 32-5 quarterfinal win against #8 Adel, and followed with a 27-5 semifinal win against Waverly Shell Rock.
“They were locked in,” Gray said of the team vibe into the final. “The first time we played Southeast Polk, we had a lot of offside penalties, just a lot of mistakes. The second time we had a couple of bad breaks … but they knew they were close. They knew if they wanted to finish this season out right, it had to be against them.”
Photo: Christopher Maharry
Roosevelt made some tactical adjustments to its defensive structure, and that played an important role.
“We pride ourselves in having one of the best sliding defenses,” Gray said. “We’re small and might miss some tackles, but we apply a lot of pressure moving side to side, and we worked really hard to lock it down.”
Good defense is a team achievement, but again there were standouts.
“Ivy Lawson is a tackling machine,” Gray said of the flyhalf who is a defensive work horse. “She broke her pinky in the first match of the season, and she played every game with a splint and soft wrap to make it work. Her teammates saw that and respected that.”
Photo: Christopher Maharry
It was a stalemate on the scoreboard, then Carrillo, a senior and first-year rugby player, subbed into the back line for a boost in pace. The ball moved through five sets of hands, found Carrillo on the wing, and she took off for the try.
“She’s had 10 weeks of rugby,” Gray layered in some context. “She was doing track along with Portia, so she was at practice when she could make it. But here she is in a state championship. She knows her role, has that patience, and found the gap to outrun and center the try for an easy conversion. It’s impressive to step up in that moment, and that’s when our confidence kicked up. ‘OK, we’ve got a lead and we know what we’re doing. We can do this.’”
Southeast Polk answered with an unconverted try (7-5) but Roosevelt never relinquished the lead. The team had been working on the pace of its attack, and that’s where Starr and senior Jocee Morris – the two other try-scorers – showed well.
Jocee Morris / Photo: Christopher Maharry
“Portia was a huge impact,” Gray said of the prop and conversion kicker. “Her runs would draw in two, three, sometimes four players, and she really bought in and understood that she was taking the ball into contact so space would open up for people on the wing. She had a goal-line try where somebody ran into contact, set the ruck, and then pick-and-go. She went through three defenders for the score.”
Morris was named championship MVP and the center/wing went into the playoffs with a team-leading 20 tries.
“Her speed, defense and intensity – she stood out and really made a difference,” said Gray, who described the senior as a quiet leader who only speaks when something needs to be said. “She knew it was her last tournament and last high school experience with us, and she left everything out there.”
Photo: Christopher Maharry
Roosevelt led 19-5 with little time on the clock, and then Southeast Polk dotted down one more try at the buzzer: 19-10 the final. A weight lifted, and the team erupted in happy tears and endless selfies.
Five of the six seniors are pursuing rugby after high school, which is another win for the coaching staff. Kipnusu is heading to Des Moines University to wrestle, and while there isn’t a women’s team there, there is a senior club based in the state capital. Katie Brandt is heading to the University of Iowa; Starr is talking to schools out of state; and Morris and Dotson are narrowing down on schools that offer their desired majors and also have a club rugby team.
“It makes us happy that they want to play rugby after high school. They enjoyed rugby with us and they want to keep playing,” Gray closed. “Jeremy and I, we played at [Univ. Northern Iowa] together, so we’re always telling them that wherever you go, there is rugby, and you’ll make lifelong connections.”
Photo: Christopher Maharry
Back to the big picture, Gray is hoping the state championship will resonate with the high school itself. There are plans to put the state trophy in a mounted case inside the school itself, and Gray is looking forward to conversing with the new Athletic Director.
“They’re starting to take notice. We were on the local news so people definitely know about it,” Gray said of the team’s success. “They’re putting in as much work – and in some cases, more work – than varsity athletes, but have little access to resources and need more visibility with students. … The biggest thing is, these girls are going to college after our program, and we’re at the highest level of the state.”
IOWA YOUTH RUGBY ASSOC
GIRLS HS CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals
#1 Southeast Polk 32-5 #8 Adel
#2 DM Roosevelt 49-0 Indianola
#3 Cedar Falls 29-5 #6 Norwalk
#4 Waverly Shell Rock 15-5 #5 Ankeny
Semifinals
Southeast Polk 27-5 Waverly Shell Rock
DM Roosevelt 32-12 Cedar Falls
Championship
DM Roosevelt 19-10 Southeast Polk
MVP: Jocee Morris