Badger Alev Kelter leads U.S. Rugby to fifth place at 2016 Rio Olympics

RIO DE JANEIRO – Thanks to a 19-0 run to close the second half, former Wisconsin women’s hockey and soccer standout Alev Kelter and the United State Women’s Rugby Sevens team defeated France 19-5 to finish fifth at the 2016 Rio Olympics on Monday.

A native of Eagle River, Alaska, Kelter kickstarted the U.S. run against France with a try just seconds into the second half to tie the game at 5-5. Kelter scored on the ensuing conversion to give the United States a 7-5 lead it would not relinquish en route to the 19-5 win in the fifth-place game.

Kelter also scored a try and added a conversion in the United States’ 12-7 win over Fiji in the first round of the consolation bracket earlier in the day. Monday’s victory avenged a 12-7 defeat the Americans suffered to Fiji in the opening game of the Summer Olympics.

A member of UW’s NCAA champion women’s hockey team in 2011, Kelter ended the six-game tournament at Deodoro Stadium with a team-high five tries, including a pair during the United States’ 48-0 win against Colombia in the opening round. She also scored the American’s first points at the Olympics in their 12-7 setback to Fiji on Saturday.

The United States ended the first-ever women’s rugby sevens competition at the Olympics with a 3-2-1 record and outscored its opponents 98-41.