Summit High School's Women's Rugby Team Sends Four Athletes to Top Collegiate Rugby Programs

By Sofia Timpone

Jun. 1, 2026

As the school year comes to an end for Summit High School’s seniors, students have made the most difficult decisions of their lives and will soon head off to college. For some, those decisions were made last fall. Four SHS athletes have been recruited to play Division 1 rugby this college application cycle. Teagan Barth, Hailey Russer, Logan Ellison and Elle Chabot will be playing for Harvard University, Life University, Montana State University and La Salle University respectively. They will be following in the footsteps of dozens of SHS rugby athletes who have gone on to play collegiate rugby after their time in the program.

For the girls rugby team, the recruitment process began early in their junior years. According to the Next College Student Athlete (NCSA) organization, most D1 schools can contact athletes starting after Jun. 15 during the summer after their sophomore year or after Sep. 1 during their junior year.

Karl Barth — the SHS team’s head coach — has been coaching rugby athletes since the program’s induction 30 years ago. He plays a pivotal role in helping his athletes get recruited. 

“[The recruitment process] looks different for each of [the athletes],” Barth said. “It depends on their ability, national exposure, and academic standing. The goal is to find a school that fits academically and also meets their rugby goals. If there are opportunities for preferential admission or scholarships, that is icing on the cake.”

For Hailey, the recruitment process began in the fall of her junior year after attending a rugby tournament in New York. 

“[After the tournament] I spent a lot of time working on highlight reels and keeping my grades high,” Hailey said. “I realized during this process that keeping my grades up was going to be vital in order to have more choice in what school I ended up at.” 

Hailey was recruited by the Harvard and Dartmouth women’s rugby teams, but has ultimately chosen to play for Life University, where she will pursue a degree in exercise science. Hailey began playing rugby during her freshman year of high school. 

“When I went to my first travel tournament and met girls from all over the world, I knew that rugby was going to make a lasting impact on my life, and I didn’t want it to stop,” she said, when asked about her decision to continue playing rugby at a high level.

For Logan, the recruitment process looked different due to knee injuries she sustained before her junior and senior summer seasons. 

“Honestly, for most of the colleges I applied to, rugby wasn’t the driving factor bringing me there,” Logan said. When drafting her college list, Logan prioritized schools with strong architecture programs. The relationships she maintained with rugby coaches allowed her to apply to a variety of schools and commit later in the college application process.

Teagan Barth — who, like Hailey, was recruited to play rugby for Harvard — will be balancing her athletic commitments with a major in neuroscience and following in the footsteps of SHS and Harvard alumnas PK Vincze, Cassidy Bargell and Olyvia Snyder.

Elle Chabot will also be playing rugby at the collegiate level. She announced her commitment to La Salle in December after attending an official visit to the school. 

“I can’t wait to be a part of the team,” Elle said. 

Elle cites her dad as her biggest athletic role model. Her dad played D1 football at Miami Ohio University. “I look up to him in a lot of ways,” she said. “He’s definitely my biggest role model.” 

“Personally, as someone who hasn’t watched a lot of professional rugby until recently, I haven't ever idolized a specific player in that way,” Logan said. “I’ve always drawn much more inspiration from older girls on the team, watching them achieve their goals and truly strive for excellence.” Throughout her time on the team, Logan looked up to SHS alumna Olivia Lyman, who now plays for the Dartmouth College women’s rugby team.

Hailey also looked up to the older SHS athletes throughout her time on the team. “[Paola Arredondo-Almeida] inspired me because she was this amazing player and she was going to such an amazing school, but she was humble, kind, and supportive.”

Now, as Teagan, Hailey, Logan, and Elle embark on their journeys as collegiate athletes, they will serve as inspiration to members of the SHS rugby program and continue preserving the program’s history of excellence.