The provincial silver medalist F.P. Walshe Flyers. Back row, from left: coach Andrew Walmsley, Keeley Cook, Taylor Hedley, Sam Bassett, Heather Donahue, Nicole Quinlan, Kaselle Menin, Cheyenne Hofer, Sienna Hoff, Kayla Burdett and coach David Orr. Front row: Shelby Lyke, Emily Eremenko, Sophie Holwerda, Latoya Healy, Brooklyn Bourassa, Lisa Bassett, Hayley Grier-Stewart, Brooke Pansky and Lundyn Davis.
F.P. Walshe Flyers rose to second place in Alberta Saturday at the high school girls rugby provincial championships.
The Flyers won three consecutive games in the tournament at Edmonton before being grounded by Winston Churchill Griffins in the championship match.
“The girls acquitted themselves very well both on and off the field,” Flyers coach Andrew Walmsley said.
The Flyers opened the tournament in a pool with teams from Springbank and Drayton Valley.
F.P. Walshe won their tournament opener 48-5 over Springbank Phoenix.
Emily Eremenko led the Flyers offensively with 18 points on two tries and four converts.
Kaselle Menin was also an offensive force, scoring 15 points on three ties.
Sam Bassett, Siena Hoff and Keeley Cook each scored one try for the Flyers.
The Flyers ran roughshod over Drayton Valley in their next game, posting a 58-0 victory.
Menin led the Flyers with 25 points on five tries and Bassett scored 15 points on three tries.
Brooke Pansky and Sienna Hoff each had one try and Nicole Quinlan booted four converts.
Their 2-0 record in their pool advanced the Flyers to the semifinals and a game against Banff Bears.
The Flyers were too powerful for Banff and F.P. Walshe rolled to a 38-0 victory.
Menin scored two tries and Cook, Hoff, Brooklyn Bourassa and Basset each had one.
Quinlan accounted for eight points on four converts.
The victory over Banff sent the Flyers into the championship match against Southern Alberta High School Girls Rugby League rival Winston Churchill Griffins.
The Griffins opened the scoring with a breakaway try just 12 minutes into the game.
The Flyers fought back to tie the score 5-5 when Hayley Grier Stewart scored her first-ever try on the last play of the first half.
Seven minutes into the second half Winston Churchill went in front 12-5 when their wing broke free for a long run for a try.
“We battled hard and controlled a lot of the play but they were able to score an insurance try to put the game out of reach with about three minutes left to play,” Walmsley said.
The Flyers are Sam Bassett, Kayla Burdett, Heather Donahue, Cheyenne Hofer, Kaselle Menin, Nicole Quinlan, Lisa Bassett, Brooklyn Bourassa, Keeley Cook, Hayley Grier-Stewart, LaToya Healy, Taylor Hedley, Sienna Hoff, Emily Eremenko, Lundyn Davis, Sophie Holwerda, Shelby Lyke and Brooke Pansky.
