ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Apr. 18) – The Central Washington University men's rugby program is pleased to announce five Wildcat alums are suited up for the Seattle Seawolves of Major League Rugby.
Aladdin Schirmer,
Vili Toluta'u Jeremy Lenaerts,
John Hayden, and Kellen Gordon have all signed with the Seattle Seawolves in the MLR's inaugural year.
"A very exciting time for rugby in Washington with the launch of the Seattle Seawolves in the inaugural Major League Rugby season," CWU Head Coach
Todd Thornley said. "These alums were outstanding student-athletes for us so to see them progress to the next level is exciting as they will continue to be role models for our current Wildcats. We cannot wait to see them compete on the national stage and hope this is the start of many more Wildcats following in their footsteps."
Schirmer, a North Bend, WA native, began playing rugby while at Central Washington University and quickly progressed through the ranks within USA Rugby. He was the Central Washington University Male Student-Athlete of the Year in 2016. Schirmer also played locally for the Seattle Saracens. In 2012, Schirmer was a member of the USA U20 Junior World Rugby Trophy winning team.
Schirmer earned a spot on the USA 7's All American team as a captain in 2015, followed by captaining the USA 15's All American team in 2016. He also played with the USA 15's Selects team while climbing the ranks. The 6-foot 3-inch, 225 pound 8-man played in international matches with the USA 7's Eagle team in Dubai and South Africa.
Vili's rugby career started back on the islands of Hawaii, suiting up for the Maui Warriors. His potential was identified early on as he was selected to the Boys High School All-Americans for two consecutive years before heading to Central Washington University (CWU) on a rugby scholarship.
Toluta'u continued gathering accolades for the Junior and Collegiate All-Americans, touring for each side twice. Vili has been a consistent stand out at CWU, captaining the team for four years. The hooker also represented his country for the developmental sevens side, the USA Falcons, at the Las Vegas Invitational. The physical stepper is excited to play rugby at the highest level of domestic competition through Major League Rugby for the Seattle Seawolves.
Hayden's rugby career began in 2006 at Fallbrook High School in Southern California. His high school career culminated with his selection to the High School All Americans squad in 2010. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest, Hayden has played with the Seattle Saracens, building on his playing experience at CWU.
The 6-foot-2, 275-pound prop has capped his rugby career with a selection to the USA Selects Rugby Team, where he played alongside current Seawolves teammate
Aladdin Schirmer. As a member of the USA Selects Team, Hayden attended the Americas Pacific Challenge tournament earlier this year.
Hailing from Ghent, Belgium, Lenaerts started playing rugby at the age of nine. Jeremy represented his national side's U17, U18 and U19 squads from 2008 to 2010 before moving to France to participate in U23 competitions from 2010 to 2014 and winning the French championship with Rugby Club Narbonne. Jeremy comes to Seattle off the tails of competition as a member of the 2017 AIG Collegiate All-American squad where he played as a starter in their second row.
Lenaerts was previously a 2016 Collegiate All-American honorable mention and progressed to the 2016 Varsity Cup semi-final with the Wildcats.
Kellen Gordon was born in Kenmore, Washington and started playing rugby for Redmond Rugby Club at the age of 15 before playing for the Eastside Axemen and the Washington Loggers. He continued his rugby career into college with the Wildcats and in 2010 gained experience training with Canterbury's International High-Performance Unit in New Zealand.
After graduation in 2011, Gordon won three consecutive Las Vegas 7's championships (2013, 2014, 2015) while playing for the Serevi Selects and has since played for the Seattle Saracens, helping them to win three U.S. National 7's championships (2013, 2014, 2015) and serving as their captain this season.
The Seawolves open play for the 2018 season with a fixture against the San Diego Legion on April 22
nd in Seattle. The Fixture is scheduled for 5 p.m. PST and will be show on Cox/AT&T SportsNet.
