Lady of the Rings: ASU-bound Rylen Bourguet caps illustrious Salpointe career with 7 state titles

When Rylen Bourguet reflects on her high school athletic career and the amount of state championships she compiled over four years, she could almost sound like LeBron James at his Miami Heat introductory sizzle ceremony.

Not one ... not two ... not three ... not four ... not five ... not six ...

Seven ’chips with dip.

The Salpointe Catholic multisport star won seven state championships in volleyball, soccer and beach volleyball and leaves the Lancers as one of the most decorated athletes in school history. Seven titles in three sports — especially at a school that consists mostly of one- or two-sport athletes — is unprecedented territory.

Rylen Bourguet is the younger sister of Arizona State quarterback Trenton Bourguet, Sun Devils wide receiver Coben Bourguet and Western Michigan quarterback Treyson Bourguet. There are six siblings total, and Rylen is the only girl.

“She won one for all of the boys and then won some more for herself,” said Rylen’s father, Toby Bourguet, who won a wrestling state championship at Marana.

She’s also currently the only Bourguet sibling to win a state championship. Treyson and Coben starred at Salpointe Catholic during the Bijan Robinson era, and the closest the Lancers got to a state championship was a loss to Chandler in the Open Division semifinals.

“Us three, we never even won one,” said Trenton, Marana’s all-time passing-yards leader. “I’m not surprised at all. The way she competes every day, whether it’s in school or in volleyball or soccer, she’s going to compete and bring everyone else around her to play better.

“She’s made some great memories, and we’re the biggest fans there at the games. People know when the Bourguets have arrived because we’re rolling about 50-deep. Being able to watch her win all of these state championships is special.”

Rylen can’t pinpoint which of her state championships is her favorite.

“All the teams that I’ve been on, they’ve all been so different,” she said, “Every championship game has been so different. They all hold a place in my heart, but I wouldn’t say one is better than the other.”

Fierce competitor

Being the only daughter of the sports-obsessed Bourguet bunch, Rylen was left no choice but to develop a competitive drive that’s always burning.

“She’s a fireball. She’s a really fierce competitor,” Toby said. “In anything they’ve ever done, she’s been right there.”

Toby founded Tucson Turf Elite, a national-championship-winning 7-on-7 program that has different age groups. Rylen would do anything to be teammates with her brothers, no matter the age gap.

“She was like, ‘Well, why can’t I play with my brothers?’ So we have games on film of her when she’s 6 years old and she’s playing (flag football) with 12U boys — and she could play,” Toby said. “She has a mindset where she feels like there isn’t anything she can’t do.”

Competing with the boys “really toughened me up, because I had to step up my game in order to even be at their level,” Rylen said.

“Sometimes they knocked me down, but they always picked me up. It was always super competitive, and they taught me a lot. I’m super grateful for all of them.

“Football is actually my favorite sport to play. I wish there were more opportunities (for women) to play. I’m super glad I got to play it at the time. Growing up, I got to play on the boys’ team, and I feel like that helped as a competitor and with my confidence.”

Tucson Turf added girls teams, and Rylen quarterbacked the squad to back-to-back NFL Flag Football 14U girls national championships.

Trenton was the team’s coach; he was dialed in on the X’s and O’s. Coben, meanwhile, “used to pick on me and get under my skin,” Rylen said. It taught her how to cope with trash talk from opponents.

“I knew how to get her fired up and mad, but it ended up turning her into a big competitor, and I feel like I trained her to be how she is now,” Coben said. “Those state titles come back to me.”

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Tradeoffs, triumphs

When she first enrolled at Salpointe Catholic, Rylen had some decisions to make regarding her sports of choice. In order to play beach volleyball and soccer, she had to punt her softball and basketball careers.

“There were a lot of tradeoffs,” she said.

Competing against her older brothers prepped her for varsity sports as a freshman at Salpointe Catholic.

“It got to a point where every time she stepped on the field, it was all gas,” Toby said. “That sort of energy is contagious.”

With Rylen as a key contributor in all three sports, the Lancers won. And won. And won.

“It’s a process. ... It’s several months of training and buying into the process,” she said. “It’s a lot bigger than a championship game, and I think a lot of people don’t realize that.”

Winning looked easy for Rylen, but it truly wasn’t.

“Unless you’ve been on a state championship team or won a state championship, it’s just such a hard thing to do,” Toby said. “Each of them has a story a behind it, because there’s always a hurdle or two or three or four. Every game you’re scratching and clawing because it’s win or go home.

“Each of them has that moment where it’s like, ‘Wow, we did it.’ And it’s a team sport, so I love the fact that she’s been a part of something that’s greater than herself. It gives her a great aspect in being a winner in life. I think it bodes well for her in the future.”

Tempe twist

Rylen’s immediate future is in Tempe, where she’ll play beach volleyball as a scholarship player for ASU — and reunite with Trenton and Coben.

“It’s going to be super special and super fun to have her in the backyard with us in Tempe,” Trenton said. “Those beach volleyball games are gonna get a crowd they’ve never had up until this point.”

Like Trenton, who quarterbacked the Sun Devils in a Territorial Cup loss to the UA in Tucson last year, Rylen never imagined maroon and mustard becoming a part of her attire.

“I would’ve never saw that coming,” she said. “If you would’ve asked me when I was 10 years old, ‘Are you going to ASU?’ I would’ve laughed in your face.

“But that’s just how things work out. I’m super blessed and excited for the opportunity to pursue a sport at the college level, even if it’s at ASU.”

Things happen for a reason, right? Life happens. Locations change. Toby Bourguet, an ASU alumnus, has learned that.

“In my family, we (didn’t) go to ASU,” he said. “But after going there and getting my degree from there, and my wife (Vanessa Bourguet) got her degree from there, it just opened up my mind that it’s just crazy how your mind is so focused on this rivalry.”

Rylen said her major is “up for discussion,” but she has an interest in sports broadcasting; ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism is among the top programs nationally.

Whatever the future holds for her, Rylen is indebted to the path it took to get here. She knows the rarity of her storybook journey.

“The goal going into high school is to always win state, but to do it multiple times, it’s a blessing,” Rylen said. “To have the coaches that I’ve had, the different teammates and friendships that I formed, it’s a lot bigger than just a few state championships.

“It’s memories I won’t forget for the rest of my life. I’m super blessed.”