Alumni Report: Mulligan sisters helping to put Princeton rugby program on the map

Sports-minded young girls typically gravitate to soccer, softball, volleyball or gymnastics.

Not Lindsey and Hannah Mulligan.

“We played other sports growing up, but there was something about rugby … the camaraderie, the aggressiveness, the skill level, the brute force … that drew us in,” Lindsey Mulligan said. “Yes, rugby has a reputation as a high-injury sport, but we fell in love with it because you meet the nicest people, because it’s the most fun I’ve ever had.

“And it was a pathway to college.”

Hannah and her sister Lindsey played at La Jolla Country Day and Canyon Crest Academy, respectively.

They now play together at Princeton for a program that is still in its infancy. Hannah is a junior back-row player, and Lindsey is a sophomore center.

College rugby isn’t a nationwide NCAA sport. About 40 colleges play in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association, whose goal is to attain full NCAA status. Princeton primarily plays alongside fellow Division I sides Dartmouth, Harvard, Brown, Army, Navy, Sacred Heart, Lindenwood, Long Island University, Quinnipiac, Queens University and Mount St. Mary’s.

It wasn’t until last season — after 13 straight losses over its first two seasons — that Princeton finally won a match, beating Bowdoin 59-0. The Tigers then routed Mount St. Mary’s, 49-12.

“The energy at that first win last year was electric,” Hannah Mulligan said. “People were crying.”

Princeton opened the 2025 season last week with a 54-7 loss to Long Island University. The Tigers open the home season next weekend against Dartmouth.

“We’re building something here,” Lindsey Mulligan said. “We’re the underdogs in nearly every match we play, but we have grit. We’re playing against teams that have had programs for years, but we’ll get there.

Lindsey Mulligan said the Tigers started to come together on a recent trip to Italy. Rugby has also taken the sisters to Germany, Austria and Singapore.

The sisters were born in Berkeley and spent their youth in Hong Kong before moving to Southern California four years ago.

The Mulligans’ parents, Brennan Mulligan and Maggie Tsui, wanted their daughters to stick together in college.

“And I agreed,” Hannah Mulligan said. “I got here a year before Lindsey, and we only had three recruited players. Now we have nine. It’s cool to be part of something that’s building.”

Football

Jax Leatherwood (Scripps Ranch High School/Mesa College) earned the starting quarterback job at Southeast Missouri. He completed 26 of 36 passes for 272 yards and a pair of touchdowns in an opening-week loss to Arkansas State. Leatherwood started his college career at Nevada before playing at Mesa last season. He threw for 2,472 yards and 26 TDs last year for the Olympians.

• Former San Diego State quarterback DJ Ralph (Cathedral Catholic) has found a home at Chadron State in Nebraska. The left-hander completed 20 of 33 passes for 228 yards in an opening-week loss to Northern Colorado. Rollin George (Mater Dei Catholic) caught four of those passes, Anthony McMillian (Mater Dei Catholic) had three carries and Jadon Bowen (Oceanside) had four tackles. Jayden Jackson (Eastlake) and Vance Jefferson (Poway) are also on the Chadron State roster.

• Tight end Zack Marshall (Carlsbad) played in Michigan’s win over New Mexico. He was an All-Big Ten academic pick last season for the Wolverines, playing in all 13 games.

• Offensive lineman Misael Sandoval (St. Augustine) played for Vanderbilt in last weekend’s win over Charleston Southern.

• Tight end Matt Lauter (Torrey Pines), linebacker Marco Notarainni (Torrey Pines) and defensive lineman Jayden Virgin-Morgan (Mt. Carmel) of Boise State were all named 2025 All-Mountain West Preseason picks.

• Jaxson Moi (Cathedral Catholic), a defensive lineman at Tennessee, is on the 2025 Polynesian Player of the Year Watch List.

• Ratumana Bulabalavu, who had 108 tackles and 23 1/2 sacks as a senior at Army-Navy, has been moved to the offensive line at USC. A redshirt freshman, he checks in at 6-foot-3 and 325 pounds.

• Surahz Buncom (Mater Dei Catholic) is in his second season at Eastern Illinois after transferring from Kansas.

In the pros

DiJonai Carrington (Horizon Christian/Stanford) was traded last month from the WNBA’s Dallas Wings to the Minnesota Lynx. She was averaging 9.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game for the Lynx when she suffered a shoulder injury on Monday.

• Chase Budinger (La Costa Canyon/Arizona) and partner Miles Evans won the prestigious Manhattan Beach Open, making them Kings of Beach Volleyball. Budinger and Evans beat Chaim Schalk and James Shaw 18-21, 21-18, 15-12 in the semifinals, then edged Phil Dalhausser and Trevor Crabb 21-19, 21-16 in the finals. Budinger played for seven years in the NBA before switching to pro volleyball. He and Evans played together in last year’s Paris Olympics.

• Shortstop Hannah Flippen (Bonita Vista/Utah) and catcher Sharlize Palacios (Eastlake/Arizona and UCLA) were named to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League’s All-Defensive Team. Both played for the Talons, who won the league championships. Megan Faraimo (Cathedral Catholic/UCLA) had a save in Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series. Faraimo was second in the league with 38 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings.

• Wynton Bernard (Rancho Bernardo) hit .312 with seven homers and 33 RBIs in 63 games for Yucatan in the Mexican Pacific League. Phillip Evans (La Costa Canyon) hit .344 with 11 homers and 36 RBIs in 51 games for Tijuana and Leon. Bernard and Evans hit against Padres pitcher Michael King last week in a simulated game at Petco Park.

John Maffei’s Alumni Report appears periodically during the college season. Readers are encouraged to send information on local athletes to john.maffei@sduniontribune.com.