Samantha "Sammy" Sullivan (born May 22, 1998) is an American

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

player. She competed for the United States at the

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, where the team earned a bronze medal. Originally from

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-Ameri ...

, Sullivan spent four years at

the United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in West Point, New York, where she played on the

Women's Rugby A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

team for three and a half seasons. Her spring 2020 7s season was canceled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. Sullivan played both 7s and 15s rugby as an Army Black Knight.

Early life

Sullivan was born in

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, to Michael Sullivan, a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

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, and Cindy Sullivan, a math teacher. Growing up, she spent time in Germany, Kentucky, California, and Hawaii, but considers

Fayetteville Fayetteville may refer to: *Fayetteville, Alabama *Fayetteville, Arkansas ** The Fayetteville Formation *Fayetteville, Georgia *Fayetteville, Illinois *Fayetteville, Indiana *Fayetteville, Washington County, Indiana *Fayetteville, Missouri *Fayette ...

, North Carolina, home. She has a twin brother. After graduating from

Jack Britt High School Jack Britt High School is a public high school located in southern Cumberland County, North Carolina. It is attended by approximately 2,000 students in grades nine through twelve. The school is a 2018 Winner of U.S. News & World Report Best Hig ...

, Sullivan enrolled at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in the fall of 2016.

Rugby career

College career

Sullivan joined the rugby program at the start of her freshman year at West Point and became a starter just three games in. Sullivan played rugby 15s in the fall and rugby 7s in the spring. During her time as a Black Knight, Sullivan earned many accolades, becoming a 3x NIRA 15s All-American (2017, 2018, 2019), 2019 Prusmack Award winner, 2019 Collegiate Rugby Championship Tournament MVP, and a HSBC All-Academic Team honors, (2019–20). Sullivan became the first-ever rugby Army Athletic Association Award (AAA) recipient.

National Sevens career

2022 saw Sullivan make her XVs

USA Rugby USA Rugby (formally the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugby ...

debut in

2022 Pacific Four Series The 2022 Pacific Four Series was the second edition of the Pacific Four Series. The competition was hosted by New Zealand from 6 to 18 June. Matches were played at two of the venues which hosted the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup – The Trusts Ar ...

against Canada, her USA Sevens National Team debut during the

2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the eighth and final edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens organised by World Rugby. The 2022 tournament, comprising 24 men's and 16 women's teams as previously, was played over three days in one venue in Sep ...

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, and her World Rugby Series debut at Dubai Sevens in December. At the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens, the team lost to

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in the bronze medal match and finished fourth overall. Sullivan totals seven total caps with USA Rugby, 6 (7s) and 1 (XVs). At the

, Sullivan was on the bronze medal-winning team for the United States.

Premier Rugby Sevens

2021 Sullivan played in the inaugural Premier Rugby Sevens season, suiting up with the Southern Headliners. Sullivan and the Headliners went 3–1 at the Championship Tournament, falling 28–14 to the Loonies in the Finals.

2023

Sullivan joined the Pittsburgh Steeltoes during the program's inaugural season. Sullivan and the Steeltoes participated in two tournaments throughout the summer as they were eliminated from advancing to the championship. Sullivan opened the season tallying one try in the Eastern Conference Kickoff in Austin, Texas. The Steeltoes placed third at the first tournament of the year after falling 21–19 to her former team, the Headliners in the first round. The Steeltoes edged the Texas Team, 22–0 to clinch third place. The Steeltoes hosted the Eastern Conference Finals at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 23. However, the Steeltoes struggled to pull ahead at their home tournament as they finished in fourth place. The Steeltoes lost to the New York Locals, 22–14 in the knockout stages and then 29–0 to Texas in the third-place matchup.

Personal life

Sullivan lives in

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, California, with her husband Josh Schnell, whom she married in August 2024. She is a

LEGO Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...

enthusiast, crediting the toy with helping her mental health while training for the 2024 Olympics.

Statistics

References

External links

Sammy Sullivan
at

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Sammy Sullivan
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Sammy Living people 1998 births American female rugby union players United States international rugby sevens players Sportspeople from Fayetteville, North Carolina Rugby union players from North Carolina United States Military Academy alumni Rugby sevens players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Army Black Knights athletes Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics American military Olympians Female United States Army officers Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in rugby sevens 21st-century American sportswomen