X-Women reunite at National Women's League rugby championship

Competition and comradery go hand-in-hand in the sport of rugby and this past weekend's National Women's League (NWL) championship in Vancouver was a great exhibit of that for 16 current and former members of the StFX X-Women.

The championship was held June 27-30 at UBC and featured 11 women's provincial teams from across the country competing in a round-robin style event in three different divisions.
The premier division saw teams competing from Ontario, BC, Alberta and Quebec, with Quebec (2-1) being named champions, edging out the defending champions from Ontario (2-1) in the overall standings. X-Women center Lisa Gauthier (St. Bernadin, ON) played for Team Quebec, while number eight player Tyson Beukeboom (Uxbridge, ON) and prop Asya Bartley (Ottawa) were members of Team Ontario. All three recently wrapped up stellar careers with the X-Women, as did Amanda Thornborough (Brandon, MB) who played with Team Alberta in the same premier division.

Flying the X colors in the senior women's division were seven athletes with StFX ties who were members of Team Atlantic (3-0), champions of the senior division. Emma Taylor (Scotsburn, NS), Ashley Brooker (Wolfville, NS), Ellen Murphy (Augustine Cove, PE), Sara Gandy (Truro, NS), Lysa McGrath (Cole Harbour, NS), Mary Giles (Halifax, NS), and Olivia DeMerchant (Woodstock, NB) all competed for Team Atlantic.

Taylor, Brooker, Murphy and Gandy are all eligible to return to the X-Women line-up this fall, while McGrath and DeMerchant are recent 2013 graduates, and Giles is a StFX alumnus. The team from the Maritime provinces scored lopsided victories over the other three provinces competing in their division: Quebec (65-3), Manitoba (42-10) and Saskatchewan (73-7). Also playing in the senior division was current X-Women flanker Mia Huysmans (Ponoka, AB) on Team Saskatchewan and X alumnus Lizzy Hardy (Calgary) on Team Manitoba.

The Under-20 division featured teams from BC, Alberta and Ontario with the Ontarians taking home the championship title. Current X-Women athletes Jayme Ward (Kingston, ON) and Sabrina McDaid (Scarborough, ON) were members of that squad that went 4-0 over the course of the weekend. They faced StFX teammate Casey Jones (Surrey, BC) who played with Team British Columbia.

All 16 of the current and former X-Women were able to catch up and share stories as they posed for a picture in their respective provincial colors at the championship banquet.