The Chico State Women’s Rugby team will lose six of their senior members next season. Though these members are important to their club, they are looking forward to what lies ahead in the coming years. I sat down and got the blitz on what’s ahead for seniors Stephanie Keel-Moore and Makayla Hopkins.

Life after Chico

Stephanie: I will be taking a year off before applying to physician’s assistant graduate programs. Mills College is my top choice. I’d like to continue my athletic career. I’ve been playing rugby for the past nine years so I can’t really imagine my life without it.

Makayla – After I graduate from Chico I’ll still be living in Chico so hopefully interning at the Chico News & Review. As for rugby, I plan to continue to practice and play in as many Social tournaments as I can., especially Rugby Sevens.

Playing through the summer

Stephanie – I’ll be playing summer sevens with Chico state still. We went to the national qualifier tournament in Oregon and finished in third so hopefully we can continue our post season in Colorado this summer at the National level.

Continuing to play

Stephanie – If I go home to the Bay Area I will definitely play for the San Francisco Golden Gate women’s rugby club. I have some friends on the team who I’ve played against throughout the years who are looking to have me play on the team. I also plan on moving to San Diego and continuing to play

Favorite moments

Makayla – I’m going to miss the morning conditioning at 6am in the pouring rain and running 200 meter sprints with my teammates. It’s those moments that truly brought us closer as a team.

Student athletes do it different

Makayla – The hectic schedule of a student athlete isn’t ideal for most, it keeps me on top of everything because there isn’t much time to slack off when you need to make grades.

Jordan Jarrell can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_sports on Twitter.