Glendale Raptors re-signed Campbell Johnstone for the 2020 Major League Rugby season. The 21-year-old wing/fullback is 6’4″ and 220 lbs.
Campbell spent most of the 2019 season playing for the Glendale Merlins. He played 53 minutes in 2 matches for the Raptors, carrying 4 times for 22meters and making 4 tackles.
Campbell is from Woodbine, Maryland, which is part of the Baltimore Metropolitan area. He attended McDonogh School and played rugby with the West Carroll Marauders, playing in the 2014 and 2016 Rugby Maryland High School Championships. McDonogh did not have a rugby team, so he played with West Carroll, coached by his father Dave.
Campbell was a USA Rugby High School All-American and was invited to the January 2016 AIG MJAA East Evaluation Camp at Life University. He spent time in New Zealand during the Summer to increase his rugby skills and played with the High School All-Americans in Canada.
He then attended Mount St Mary’s for the 2017-18 season and played with the team in the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship in 2018 before playing with the USA Rugby Under-20s against Austin Elite Rugby Academy leading up to the Junior World Rugby Trophy Qualifiers against Canada.
Campbell also played rugby sevens for Baltimore-Chesapeake in 2016 and Beltway Elite Rugby 7s in 2017. He played representative rugby with the Capital Rugby Union Selects against the USA Rugby South Panthers in 2017, NOLA Gold Rugby Club in January 2018), and the Houston SaberCats in February 2018.
Campbell decided to forego the continuation of his College education for the time being and joined the Glendale Rugby U23 Academy in 2018. He played for the Raptors during their Fall exhibition season and signed MLR contract for 2019.
When Campbell is not playing rugby, he enjoys hiking. Colorado will provide a change of scenery for him in this regard.
Mount St. Mary’s Director of Rugby Jay Myles Comments
Jay Myles, Mount St. Mary’s University Director of Rugby and Men’s Rugby Head Coach said that “I had an opportunity to coach him a little at the high school level. He was trying to increase his skills. When he committed to The Mount, we sent him to New Zealand the summer prior to coming to Mount St Mary’s. Also, prior to his trip Salty Thompson reached out and asked if he could attend the HSAA’s in Canada. We sent him from NZ to Canada to represent the HSAA’s and back to New Zealand to complete training. He was extremely successful and did a great job upskilling himself. He played at The Mount his freshman year and has had an immediate impact for us both in 15’s as well as 7’s. With his desire to play at the highest level possible, he has no ceiling. We wish him the best and look forward to watching him excel at in the MLR. He will always be considered a member of our Mount Rugby Family and we couldn’t be more proud of him.”
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