A veteran approach for Laurier rugby

Ever since flanker Jennifer Gilmour was a little girl, she always wanted to go to Wilfrid Laurier University. A Waterloo native, Gilmour never considered anywhere else when picking schools to attend in the fall of 2011.

Now coming into her fifth-year as a Hawk, Gilmour is continuing to make ripples as part of a highly-veteran women’s rugby team who has seen it all.

They have gone through the good times and the bad. They have gone through some tough losses against high calibre teams. They have endured winless seasons and early first-round playoff exits.

Now Gilmour, infused as part of the backbone of a weathered Hawk squad, sits with an untarnished 4-0 record this season, is excited to see where this team can go.

“It’s been quite the ride being on the team for the last four years,” Gilmour said. “Started off not producing the results that we wanted and now that we have been the last two years, this year with the amount of girls coming in their fourth-year. I think it’s going to be really good.”

No stranger to the stat sheet, Gilmour has picked up 2013 and 2014 Ontario University Athletics first-team all-star honours and is making quite the impression. She sits in second in the conference with 21 points so far over two games. Gilmour has accumulated one try, five conversions and two penalty goals. Her teammate Chloe Graves trails slightly behind in third.

During the 2014 season when she was nominated as a first-team all-star, Gilmour accumulated 42 points, almost double the points from the next Hawk. It was her teammates that convinced Gilmour to come back for a fifth and final hurrah, as she is among friends, even in her household.

“A bunch of the people that I live with are on the team and we’re all going into fifth-year. They’re my best friends. It was a huge factor in my decision to come back.”

According to Gilmour, she feels she does “rucking” very well, a common practice that happens right after a player is tackled. As for the season, Gilmour is excited to see how the Hawks will do against Waterloo.

“I’m most excited for our game against Waterloo. I’m hoping that it’s going to be a really good game just ‘cause Waterloo, cross-town rivals, and I really want to see how our team shapes up with them this year,” she said.

“Not last year, but the year before, when I was in third-year I think, it was a really tight game when we played them. So I’m looking forward to the same kind of atmosphere happening.”