Former EIU Player Helps Team USA

Former Eastern Illinois student-athlete Lauren Doyle was instrumental in helping the Team USA Women’s Rugby squad qualify for the its second Olympic Games as they won the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series in Biarritz, France over the weekend.

The team entered the season ending event ranked fourth in the world and would secure a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games by just stepping on the field.  Instead the team posted an impressive 26-10 win over New Zealand to win the event.

After building a 19-5 lead going into halftime, Doyle (a former EIU women’s rugby player and track athlete), scored to open the second half allowing the US team to pick up the title.

Doyle was a member of the US National Team that participated in the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro when Women’s Rugby Sevens made it’s Olympic debut.

She is currently a co-captain of the US Women’s Rugby Sevens National Team and finished the HSBC World Sevens Series with trys (scores) against all three pool play opponents (Fiji, China and France).