The Rye boys rugby team easily defeated Chaminade High School 31-5 to claim the Tier II New York state rugby championship Saturday in Mount Vernon. The Tier II title is a consolation prize for the Garnets, who lost their opening playoff game to Xavier, the eventual Tier I 2025 New York state champions.
The game also marked the end of Jim O’Hara’s 10-year tenure at the helm of Rye’s rugby program. O’Hara is leaving Rye at the end of 2024-25 academic year to pursue another professional opportunity a little closer to home.
The mostly one-sided game against a less-experienced but valiant Chaminade was a showcase of Rye’s interior strength, much-improved team passing, and wing speed – all of which have been on display all season. Entering Saturday, the Rye boys were ranked by the Goff Rugby Report as the 17th best high school rugby team in the United States. Following their win over Chaminade, that ranking is likely to improve.
For senior Archer Fenton – easily one of the most complete rugby players in the northeastern United States – the game was bittersweet.
“Playing four years of rugby for Rye High School has meant everything to me,” said Fenton, who moved with his family from Australia to Rye in 2021. “It’s nice for the boys to win this one and finish on top today. It’s a special, special program to me and my family. For the rest of my life, I’ll be a proud part of Rye rugby, and Rye rugby will be a part of me.”
It’s also the end of a chapter for O’Hara, who has been the pied piper of high school rugby in Rye for a decade.
“For my fellow coaches and our players this year, it’s absolutely been more about the journey, not the destination,” O’Hara said. “It always is. Yes, we wanted to win the Tier I championship this year, but it just wasn’t in the cards for us. I will never forget this team, the great senior leaders, as well as the largest freshman and sophomore classes we’ve ever had in my time here. The future of Rye rugby is extremely bright.”
O’Hara’s departure is not only a tremendous loss for Rye’s athletic department, but also for the high school’s counseling department and faculty. His passion for rugby, his gifts as a teacher and coach, and his exemplary character will all be missed.
“My 10 years here at Rye High School have been the most meaningful and rewarding part of my professional career,” O’Hara said. “In this next phase of my life I’ll be closer to my wife and kids, which is my choice, but to have had the opportunity to contribute to the effort to build Rye rugby from the ground up, to build something really special, was the goal all along. Rye High School rugby – our coaches, players, and their families – will be one of the best memories of my whole life.”
