Photo provided Brooke Stewart, a 2017 Williamstown High School graduate, is pictured here competing as a member of the Alderson Broaddus rugby team.

HUNTINGTON – For Brooke Stewart, a 2017 former Williamstown High School graduate and multi-sport star, her days as a student-athlete are now officially over.

At least the athletic part is that the recent Alderson Broaddus graduate enrolled at Marshall University to pursue a doctorate in physiotherapy.

During Memorial Day weekend, former volleyball and rugby player Battler traveled to New Orleans as part of an All-Star roster to compete in the CRC May College Rugby National Championships. Madness 7s.

Stewart, who competed at AB for three years in volleyball and two in rugby, said his team in the tournament “Was people from all different schools. There were people from Kent State, Gannon, a Fairmont girl on my team. It was just people from different schools that I had never played with before.

The ex-Yellowjacket, who was an All-State First Team Class A volleyball selection as a senior and played a pivotal role in the Williamstown State Championship squad in 2014, also competed in an All-Star Rugby Tournament last year in Florida.

“I stopped playing volleyball in August of my senior year because all sports were moved to spring and I wanted to play rugby” she said. “I started playing rugby in the second semester of my sophomore year and did both until my senior year.”

In 2019, Stewart joined the rugby team and was in fact Alderson Broaddus’ first player in school. Last spring, the Battlers were only able to play three tournaments and Stewart entered two because she had a shoulder injury.

“We only played four. We won one in four. Stewart said he participated in the airline’s New Orleans Gold Mine, which is home to Major League Rugby’s NOLA Gold. “The first game we played in Life University and they are ranked second in the United States for women’s rugby.

“It was a tough game. They play together all year round and they know how they play. The team trained once on Friday, but I couldn’t be there because I had classes and I couldn’t miss classes. We never met before last weekend.

Stewart, who hopes to eventually work in the home health field with pediatric physiotherapy and later open his own pediatric clinic, graduated in exercise science with concentrations in physiotherapy and prosthetic orthotics with minors in psychology. , business administration, healthcare administration and strength and conditioning.

“It was my first time in New Orleans and Louisiana”, she added. “It was great. It was a great experience. I didn’t expect to be able to play AB again with my career.

“It was a great opportunity to be able to go out there and play in one final tournament since my seasons at AB were kind of drawn due to COVID.”

Fully focused on ending what she just started at Marshall, Stewart said if things go as planned, she will graduate in April 2024.

“AB, I loved it there” said Stewart. “I loved that it’s a small community like home and that everyone knows pretty much everyone, as all the teachers and staff that work at AB were great and very welcoming and supportive every day. times you needed it in anything.

“I wouldn’t change a thing. You know AB has given me a lot of new experiences. I got involved on campus very early in my freshman year. I never thought I would play rugby or be the first female rugby player or the first old female player.

Contact Jay Bennett at [email protected]

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