Sports and Lindsay Minnear have always gone well together.

That's why the Moniteau graduate — who played four years of varsity volleyball, basketball and softball in high school — jumped at the oppportunity to pick up her athletic career at Penn State University.

A popped-out shoulder, two concussions, two bruised ribs and seven stitches under an eye later, Minnear has a national rugby championship to show for her efforts.

"It gets pretty physical out there ... comes with the territory," she said.

The pain was worth it in her eyes, even if she has a battle scar underneath one of them.

"Sports have been part of my life forever," Minnear said. "Getting the opportunity to play all those games with my friends in high school was a really good time for me.

"When I saw there was a chance to get back into it, I didn't think twice about it."

Minnear spent her freshman year at Penn State-Altoona and did not compete in athletics. She switched to Penn State's main campus her sophomore year and was leaving the gym after a workout when she saw a fellow student passing by on a bicycle.

That student was captain of the Penn State women's rugby team.

"She saw me come out of the gym, figured I was athletic, so she told me about the rugby program," Minnear said. "She said practice was at 6 p.m. that night. I said I'll be there and I've been there ever since."

Minnear was really there when the team needed her.

Graduating this weekend with a degree in kinesiology, Minnear was unable to play much rugby this spring as she was serving an internship.

The team has 60 women on the squad and the USA Rugby Collegiate National Championships were held recently in California, at Stanford University.

"We can't afford to bring the entire team out there, so we have to pick and choose," Penn State coach Pete Steinberg said. "This was her last year with us and Lindsay wanted to be with us, so she paid her own way out there, even though she didn't figure to play.

"I told her to bring her gear just in case. You never know what might happen in this sport."

Minnear plays fly half — the equivalent of quarterback on a rugby field — but was behind two other players on the depth chart for nationals.

The first-string player suffered a concussion 10 minutes into the Nittany Lions' semifinal game against New Mexico. Steinberg inserted a freshman because she had been playing all spring.

"It's important to have someone at that position who's been around the team," Steinberg said. "Because of her internship, Lindsay was unable to practice with us all spring. It's to her credit that she wanted to be at nationals with us.

"As it turned out, we needed her to spell our freshman player and let her breathe a little bit. This is a physically taxing and exhausting sport. Lindsay was ready to play and gave us valuable, valuable minutes."

After wins of 19-5 over Ohio State and 17-12 over Army at nationals, Penn State went on to defeat New Mexico, 27-3. The Nittany Lions defeated Stanford, 22-21, in the title game.

Penn State built a 22-0 lead on Stanford with nine minutes to play before holding off a Cardinal rally.

"We got tired and they started chipping away," Minnear admitted. "We just had enough time to hold them off."

Stanford had scored 52, 71 and 45 points against Texas A&M, West Chester and California-Davis in its first three tournament games.

"They beat us by 40 points in the finals in 2005," Steinberg said. "They do so well with the fast-break. We learned we had to slow the game down, slow down possessions to win.

"Decision-making is so key in rugby. You can't do much coaching during the game because play moves so fast. Your players have to make good decisions on the run. Being a point guard in basketball, Lindsay had that knack for finding open space."

Minnear was a point guard in basketball, setter in volleyball and center fielder in softball during her high school career.

Next year, she'll be attending graduate school at Chatham College, studying physical therapy.

"We'll miss her," Steinberg said. "Without her selflessness, there's no way we win the national championship."

"I can't say one sport was my favorite over another," Minnear said. "I have fun playing them all. I may wind up trying a new sport next year. Who knows?"