Kent State’s Katie White /// Photo courtesy Kent State Rugby •
After winning three consecutive conference titles, Kent State outgrew the DI Mid-America Conference (MAC), and the search for better competition commenced. This upcoming season sees the Golden Flashes join the Mason-Dixon conference, and the East Coast league is happy to reinforce the DI North pool with the Ohio program.
While Kent State’s departure hurt the four-team MAC (former members left for conferences like DII Ohio Valley), the move reflects the program’s desire to raise its profile on campus and beyond. The rugby team is a true sports club and gets little support from the school, but the program does everything it can to cultivate a varsity mindset. For example, Kent State coach Jeff Horton manages Snap Fitness and co-worker Lance Hupp, the head personal trainer, has volunteered his time as the team’s certified strength-and-conditioning specialist. He leads morning workouts and is a constant resource for all things fitness oriented.
“It’s a touchy area,” Horton said of the team’s relationship with the university. “We like to say we’re the best-kept secret at Kent State. We don’t get a lot of support – we pay to practice, pay club dues. One thing Kent State has done in the past is picked up the USA Rugby registration fee, but they’re making us pay for it this year. We stay in their good graces by bringing a good image to the university, and they leave us alone. I’d say we co-exist.”
But the team encountered a setback when the athletic department inducted women’s lacrosse as a varsity program last year. Achieving varsity status had been a major goal for the rugby team the previous 6-7 years.
“We were taken aback, because the university said the ongoing support and growing population of lacrosse had led to that decision. But that team hasn’t been able to exist, and lacrosse players were coming over to play rugby,” Horton said. “It didn’t make a lot of sense at the time, but we’re trying to get past it now and prove that we’re the best club at Kent State.”
When the Ohio team committed to the Mason-Dixon, it tested the waters against Pittsburgh and Maryland, and won both of those fall 2015 games (Maryland has since dropped out of the Mason-Dixon).
“Mason-Dixon has been very welcoming, especially with West Chester leaving a big gap in the North,” Horton spoke to the two-pool league. “They’re excited to add a team of caliber – but not another varsity team bullying the DI North, a team with the same resources that can compete at that level.”
Kent State will join James Madison, Pittsburgh and Temple in the Mason-Dixon North, and the pool will contest all of its league games in the fall (the South pool contests matrix matches in the spring). The Golden Flashes used to compete in a fall playoff system but are relishing the shift to spring playoffs. The facilities made available to the rugby team don’t have lights, and so it’s dark at 5:30 p.m. into the fall. The other option is paying for the field house, which is cost prohibitive for multiple practices per week. Now Kent State will use that extra time to heal up and bank more practice time.
“The team’s excited,” Horton said of the players’ attitude toward joining a new league. “Any time they have the opportunity to go out and showcase their capabilities to a different audience, they’re excited. … At camp on Saturday, there was a lot of talk about coming out strong this year and prove to the conference and everyone else that we belong at that level.”
Before that can happen, some players need to fill some important vacated roles. A number of regular starters graduated, including the captain and flyhalf. The next week or so will determine which of the 25 returners and/or recruits will become team leaders.
“A handful are capable, but one player has really embraced the challenge: Holly Chesnick,” Horton praised. “She’s one of those go-getters – always the first one to the gym and brings great intensity.
“Colleen Carroll surprised me at the early a.m. workout,” the coach added. “She’s never really been the fitness-goer but was motivating everyone. Those are the most vocal [leaders]. The club president, Brooke Clifford, is a quiet leader. She has most experience at the next level – played with the Midwest Thunderbirds over the summer. She’s not going to get in your face and tell you what to do, but lead by example and show you how it’s done.”
Horton, too, has been refining his craft at the higher levels. This year alone he’s helped coach the Stars XV men, Midwest Thunderbirds, and served as assistant manager during the USA Women’s Super Series.
“These opportunities just kinda presented themselves to me,” Horton said of the coaching posts. “And one thing I’ve learned is that if you don’t take advantage of opportunities, then someone else will, and you’ll be left behind.”
That proactive, positive attitude trickles through the ranks and is reflected in the players’ expectations for their debut in the Mason-Dixon.
“We would like to be competitive and win the North in our first year,” Horton said. “That is something everyone wants; we’re all on the same page. Less than first would be disappointing for us.
“And then there’s our rival 30 minutes north of us – Notre Dame College,” the coach spoke to other fall highlights. “It’s our goal every year to beat the DI varsity team and prove we’re the best team in Ohio. It’s a tall task. But the players all have that date [Oct. 8] circled on their calendar.”
Horton will have a look at the team’s walk-ons and campus newcomers tonight, the first practice. They’ll be tested during non-conference matches like the season-opener against Akron women (Sept. 10) and Western Virginia (Sept. 24). Kent State will have a look at last year’s DI spring finalist, UVA, on Oct. 1, followed by Notre Dame College, and then three consecutive weeks of matrix matches to end the fall. Conference playoffs against the South pool are contested in the spring. Stay tuned.
#KentState