Five members of Christendom’s rugby team were awarded 2020-21 Scholastic All-American honors from National Collegiate Rugby (NCR), as announced by the organization this month. The awards, given out for the first time this year, honor the highest-performing student-athletes in college rugby, putting Christendom’s students in elite company.
Joe O’Reilly, John Briggs, Mark Cavazos, Matt McShurley, and Sam Wright were all named Scholastic All-Americans for the 2020-21 academic year. In order to qualify, each had to maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher for the entire academic year and actively participate in either an A-Side 15s, 10s, or 7s match.
“NCR congratulates each of our Scholastic All Americans for their hard work and academic achievement,” said NCR CEO Jeremy Treece. “It’s been a particularly difficult year due to the COVID restrictions, but each of these student-athletes has demonstrated a strong commitment to learning while contributing to their team’s success on the pitch.”
The five honorees each participated in a highly successful year for Christendom rugby. Striving forward under many challenges due to COVID restrictions, the team made it to their fourth straight Rugby 7s National Championship, finishing their season strong with a win over #5 Louisiana.
These honors come in addition to numerous awards given to Christendom student-athletes this summer, including USCAA All-American and Academic All-American honors. In addition, Christendom was also awarded its second USCAA President’s Cup in June, which is given out annually to the athletic department that scores the best in academic performance in the association.
For more information on Christendom rugby, please visit christendomathletics.com.