Tessa Hann competes with the professionals

CWU loose forward Tessa Hann has recently been selected to the USA Rugby Women’s Falcons team. Hann competed this past weekend in Langford, B.C. at Starlight Stadium in the 2023 NextGen 7’s series.

“Tessa has earned every bit of this opportunity and I could not be prouder of her,” CWU women’s rugby Head Coach Matthew Ramirez said. “She has had an incredible season and continues to grow as a leader every day.”

The USA Women’s Rugby Falcons team consists of players aged 18-23 identified through USA

Rugby Talent ID, National Development Programs and fifteens and sevens competitions and camps.

The USA Women’s Falcons have served as a development squad for USA 7’s, with many members going on to become members of the USA Rugby Eagles.

“It was a wonderful experience; it was the first time I have been selected to a team and knew everyone,” Hann said. “But it was different because we did not train together, we just showed up and played.”

Tessa has mounted herself as one of the most decorated women’s rugby players in the country. Hann has been named player of the week on multiple occasions throughout the season.

Hann also found herself in games where she scored multiple times, landing her top in the country in tries scored.

“She is just a fearless leader, she comes to work every day just wanting to get better,” fly half Kai Templeton said. “She just has the same big smile on her face every day. It’s contagious and the team needs it.”

One last Sports Spectated for the school year. Possibly the last one ever? We’ll see! Either way, I’ve had the time of my life using this as a space to outlet my thoughts on the Blazers, Mariners, Seahawks and everything in between. The Mariners are on the up! Julio Rodriguez was just named AL Player of the Week, and the team is sitting a few games above .500 for one of the first times all season.

The Blazers sit in limbo. They await the NBA draft. The team still seems indecisive on whether they want to trade the third overall pick or trade it to another team to try and get a star player in return and extend the window for Damian Lillard to win a championship with the team. Personally, unless we’re getting a true championship caliber player, I hope that we keep the pick. One of Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller will fall to the team, and both of them I feel are too good to pass up, both for different reasons. If Miller falls, he fits perfectly into the current structure of the Blazers and would give them an immediate answer at the small-forward while preparing them for the future. And if Henderson falls, then you have a chance to draft the best guard prospect in years. While he would be an odd fit next to Dame, Simons and Sharpe, he has expressed interest in wanting to not only play in Portland, but also play with Dame. This seems like a winwin scenario that the Blazers are going to needlessly make more complicated for themselves than it has to be. You could even draft Henderson, and then flip Simons for win-now assets that align more with the structure of the team. Being an NBA GM seems easy.

Hann was also selected to the USA 23s team alongside fellow teammate Keia Mae Sagapolu, where the ladies will head to South America to compete in June.

“Both Tessa and Mae have put together an outstanding season this year and have been tremendous leaders for their teammates to look up to,” Ramirez said. “It’s fantastic to see them get the recognition for their efforts. They have put so much work in to deserve this, no doubt they will shine.”

Sagapolu, the MA Sorenson Award winner, will stand beside Hann as they attempt to bring home gold for the U.S Women’s Rugby team.

“You dream of stuff like this and when it comes true, you still don’t know if you’re dreaming,” Sagapolu said. “It just feels good to know all our hard work is paying off and I know Tessa is going to kill it at nationals.”

One of the assets that Portland is targeting with the third pick is Boston guard/forward Jaylen Brown. Brown just had a lackluster series against the Miami Heat (which was a big reason in them not advancing to the NBA Finals), and has also supposedly expressed interest in playing in Portland. Personally, I feel like there is a way to get a Brown deal done without the third overall pick. His value fell greatly during the playoffs, he’s expecting upwards of $300M in his next contract and he’s coming up on being 30. I don’t think that we should have to give up a good asset for what might end up being a bad asset.

Anyways, I leave you all the same way I came to you with this column: Happy about the Seahawks, in dismay about the Blazers and cautiously optimistic about the Mariners. But I’m happy that I have something I care about like these teams. Not much changes in life, just how you treat it. See you in the fall CWU.