Eagle River rugby player Alev Kelter gets a return trip to the Summer Olympics

Alev Kelter of Eagle River, one of the top scorers for the U.S. women’s 7s rugby team, will take another shot at Olympic glory next month in Tokyo.

Kelter, 30, was one of 12 players named to the U.S. Olympic team on Thursday.

She’s one of just two veterans from the 2016 Summer Olympics team, which lost in the quarterfinals when the sport made its Olympics debut in Brazil. Lauren Doyle, also 30, is the only other player back from that team.

The Americans surged to fourth place in the 2018 World Cup season, were ranked second in 2019 and are ranked sixth in the world this season.

Kelter is a team leader, a 5-foot-6 scrum half who offers fire and finesse. She’s an intense competitor who played Division I hockey and soccer at the University of Wisconsin before giving rugby a try in 2014 after she graduated from college. She’s been one of the team’s leading scorers ever since.

Coach Chris Brown said in a statement that the Americans have the ability to contend for a medal in Tokyo.

“We have enough big match experience from the last three years to fully trust and believe that when we focus on the task at hand, play with discipline and fight as a collective, we are extremely hard to handle,” he said. “We will be exactly where we need to be to reach the podium.”

Kelter and her teammates will meet in Los Angeles next week for the two-day Quest for Gold Sevens on June 25-26 before heading to the Olympics.