Old Pueblo Lightning (Courtesy Photo)
Several members of the Old Pueblo Lightning Women’s Rugby team have been selected to play for the Southern California Rugby Union (SCRFU) Womens Griffins at the Las Vegas Invitational scheduled for March.
In all, nine of the 23 players selected are from the Tucson-based club including former Catalina student-athlete Judy Gramajo.
“The coaches see what I didn’t believe I could be,” Gramajo said. “At the University of Arizona, I was a versatile forward player but when I joined Lightning I was put in an entire new position that I would have never considered.to play (Center with the Backs) and, now that I’m on the All-Star team as a Back, I am more assured to keep working towards playing at the next level. Even try out for the Argentina national team in the future.”
Gramajo was a multi-sport athlete at Catalina before joining the Wildcat rugby club. According to a release, the Griffins program draw players from Southern California, Arizona, Las Vegas, and New Mexico D1, D2, D3 senior women clubs.
SOCAL GRIFFINS
FORWARDS
Sam Coleman – Old Pueblo
Cassandra Rincon – Old Pueblo
Ruby Parks – Old Pueblo
Jessica Szakacs – Old Pueblo
Kaitlynn Verheyden – Old Pueblo
Adriana Conrad-Forrest – San Fernando Valley
Serena Cox – Santa Barbara
Nina Freelander – Tempe
Kimberly Molliner – Santa Monica
Cari Pick – Tempe
Molly Shamieh – Pasadena
Anna Stern – San Fernando Valley
Honoree Tuazon – Santa Barbara
BACKS
Mary Begay – Old Pueblo
Sydney Dudley – Old Pueblo
Judy Gramajo – Old Pueblo
Alex Rath – Old Pueblo
Erica Hiddink – Tempe
Heleni Kuma – Tempe
Crystal Brown – Belmont Shore
Sonya Livingston – Pasadena
Sam Santos – Tempe
Nancy Woo – Belmont Shore
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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014 and he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017 and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is the Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Contact Andy Morales at
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