Glendale Merlins

Glendale Merlins
Founded	2006
Location	Glendale, Denver, CO
Ground(s)	Infinity Park (Capacity: 5,000)
President	Scott Smith
Coach(es)	Luke Gross & Kittery Wagner
Captain(s)	Zach Fenoglio & Sarah Chobot
League(s)	Pacific Rugby Premiership & Women's Premier League
1st kit	2nd kit

Glendale Merlins is an amateur rugby club based in the municipality of Glendale in Colorado, United States. The club was founded in 2006 and first played in 2007 under the name Glendale Raptors.^[1]^[2]

In 2017, a Glendale Raptors team was accepted into the professional Major League Rugby competition and the amateur Glendale teams changed their mascot from the Raptor to the Merlin, transitioning to the new brand before the inaugural season of Major League Rugby in 2018. The Glendale teams play at Infinity Park.

History

The men's squad won the 2011 Division I Championship. They were 2014 runners-up in the inaugural season of the Pacific Rugby Premiership losing to the San Francisco Golden Gate RFC 39-38 on the last play. The team won the Pacific Rugby Premiership in 2015, defeating San Francisco Golden Gate by 25-11. They repeated the feat in 2016, winning the Pacific Rugby Premiership title by 44-20 against San Francisco Golden Gate at their home field, Infinity Park.

The women's squad advanced from USA Rugby's Division I into the Women's Premier League in 2012. They placed third in 2013, won back-to-back national championships in 2014 and 2015, and placed second in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Players

Five of Glendale's women's players - props Jamie Burke, Sarah Chobot, Sarah Wilson, hooker Kittery Wagner, and flyhalf Hannah Stolba - represented the U.S. team for the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup.

Two of Glendale's men's players — hooker Zach Fenoglio and scrum half Niku Kruger — were named to the U.S. team for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Additionally, Iniki Fa'amausili played for the US U-20 national team that won the 2012 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Three of Glendale's men's players represented the US national team at the 2011 Rugby World Cup: James Paterson, Nese Malifa, and Nic Johnson.

Men's squad

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player	Position	Union
Ami Lavakeiaho	Hooker	United States
James DelBozque	Hooker	United States
Moses Saole	Prop	United States
Fehoko Faniaka	Prop	United States
Marcus Thomas	Prop	United States
Stephen Karas	Prop	United States
Scott Smith	Prop	United States
Christopher Schoelch	Lock	United States
Nathaniel Shipley	Lock	United States
Joshua Gihring	Lock	United States
Alex Fitch	Flanker	United States
Justin Oles	Flanker	United States
Joseph Kamara	Flanker	United States
Devin Vaughter	Number 8	United States

Player	Position	Union
Vita Makasini	Scrum-half	United States
Trevor Wilder	Scrum-half	United States
Colin Gregory	Fly-half	United States
Siale Maka	Centre	United States
Campbell Johnstone	Centre	United States
Clint Cook	Centre	United States
Zach Rademacher	Wing	United States
Alexander Wormer	Wing	United States
Ryan Chavkin	Wing	United States
Samuel Enari	Fullback	United States
Alexander McKenzie	Fullback	United States

Women's Squad

Player	Position
Amandine Chatelier	Flanker
Carmen Farmer	Back row
Charley Thompson	Flanker, Lock
Joanna Kitlinski	Flanker, Hooker
Joanna McElroy	Lock
Maya Learned	Lock, Prop
Rachel Ehrecke	Flanker
Samantha Luther	Lock, Prop, Back row
Carly Waters	Scrum-half
Danielle Ordway	Wing, Center
Gabriella Cantorna	Center, Fly-half
Hannah Tennant	Fly-half
Jeanna Beard	Wing, Lock, Hooker
Juliann Tordonato	Center
Justine Wypych	Fullback, Wing
Kaitlyn Broughton	Wing, Fullback
Kelsie O’Brien	Scrum-half
Leann Lam	Fly-half, Scrum-half
Madison Slaught	Fullback
McKenzie Hawkins	Center
Nichole Wanamaker	Fullback, Wing
Rachel Ryan
Paige Stathapoulos
Jenny Kronish
Deanna Nash
Allison Schrenker
Caitlyn Weigel

Notable former players