The family of a Saint Mary’s rugby player who died after collapsing during training last week is seeking answers as they grieve.
Dominic Peterson was a 19-year-old sophomore at the Moraga college who graduated from Gunn High School in Palo Alto. Peterson grew up playing rugby for the East Palo Alto Razorhawks and was a budding star on the scene, playing for the USA Rugby U-19 team this summer in an international tournament where the Americans won gold. Dominic’s father, Robert Peterson, told KPIX-TV his son had spent the summer “running every hill” in his Los Altos Hills hometown.
Last Friday, Dominic Peterson was on a training run of less than 2 miles, which his teammates told KTVU-TV they often do during the season. Toward the end of the run, Mario Storti, who played on the Saint Mary’s rugby team until last spring, told KTVU-TV he witnessed Peterson collapse; he said Peterson initially tried to get up and say he was fine before he needed further assistance and collapsed again…