Photos courtesy Austin Valkyries Rugby
Regardless of the outcome, this weekend will be a special one for Austin. Not only are the western regional championships being held in Ft. Worth, Texas, but the Valkyries are sending their DI and DII teams to their respective national quarterfinals.
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Although not the first club to send two teams to concurrent national championships, it is a rare feat and takes heaps of organization and will. A change in competition structure made the dual trip possible. Previously, a single Red River competition named both DI and DII reps to nationals, with the champion competing in DI and the runner-up in DII. That changed this season and independent DI and DII competitions named their own Red River champions.
“Every other team in our area is just really stepping up and the level of rugby across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas has really improved. It’s great to be part of an area growing that much,” Austin president Weldon Watts reflected on a season that could have lumbered through growing pains. “The development of a DIII league has really helped some clubs. In DII, it feels like there’s more level competition now that things have split.”
Austin had already been running two teams – in fact the second side won the DII Texas Geographic Union title 29-27 over Tulsa last year. The DII side joined five other teams divided into two pools, and then held a final four championship in early May.
“It’s something that we’ve been aware of all season, that we could make this happen, but we’ve been very focused on game by game to see how we do,” Watts said of not looking past the league competition. “[DI] Dallas Harlequins have done really well this season, and the final [league] game where we drew against them was rough. The [DII] Dallas Reds just appeared. … And so it wasn’t this guarantee [that we’d both advance].”
Austin DII’s lone league loss occurred at Tulsa, 25-15, and the pair contested the rematch during the Red River semifinals. The Oklahomans rostered just 15 players, but a tough game regardless ensued. Tries from wings Elizabeth Garcia and Francine Penikis, three from inside center Autumn Farris, and conversions from scrumhalf Caitlin Curley helped Austin to a 29-12 lead with approximately 12 minutes to go. Tulsa then answered with two tries within minutes of each other to close in 29-22. The Texas team held on, however, for the berth to the final.
Unfortunately for the Valkyries, the team took some key injuries and two players were ruled out for competition going forward. On the other side of the bracket, the Dallas Reds were all celebration. The new team had replaced the San Antonio Riveters, which were short on numbers, in the Red River final four and upset Little Rock 36-26 on day one.
The first-half of the DII Red River final remained close, 17-7 to Austin, before the Valkyries pulled away for a 51-14 victory. Outside center Kristi Ritchie scored three tries, replacement Alexis Frueh two, and Penikis, Garcia, Curley and flanker Amy Staggs also scored. Curley kicked three conversions, too.
“It was really wonderful at the DII final to have a whole section filled with the DI team, just going crazy with lots of cheering and shouting. Our games otherwise have been split [home and away] so it was nice to be together,” Watts said. “It’s a really unified energy across both sides.”
While the team trains together and implements the same patterns of play, the two squads do have very different build-ups. DII was relatively straight-forward, with crossovers from the other pool and DI mixed into the regular season. Standings determined which teams advanced to the Competitive Regional finals. Division I, a three-team league, used standings to name the champion. Prior to the DI team’s final league game – a 12-12 tie against the Dallas Harlequins – the Valkyries had contested three double-header weekends in less than a month in the Gold Cup.
“It definitely made the schedule very busy,” Watts said of the injection of the Gold Cup. “It was good for momentum but a challenge in keeping players healthy. I think this is the least amount of rest we’ve had in-season.”
The Valkyries lost their first two Gold Cup games to the Mid-Atlantic’s Raleigh and NOVA – which Watts singled out as the toughest weekend – and then defeated Boston, Monmouth, Chicago and Detroit at home to end 4-2 overall.
Austin DI played its last game on April 28, so it’s had time to recoup, refine its game, and check in on the two teams’ opposition at nationals: Arizona’s Tempe for DI and Old Pueblo for DII. All focus is centered on winning on day one, which Watts explained has been a challenge for the DI team the last few outings, and then look forward. Regardless of what happens – in mid-90s heat! – a good hometown crowd will be watching Austin write a new chapter in the history books.
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