Photo courtesy Claremont Foxes Women’s Rugby Club
The National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) is holding its first-ever Women’s Pacific Coast Championship on April 1-2 in Ashland, Ore. Four teams representing the Cascade, West Coast and Gold Coast conferences and Washington state will compete for the title, which affords a berth to the NSCRO 15s National Championship in fall 2017.
RELATED: Wayne State, NSCRO’s 15s Champ • Claremont Ready to Contend • West Coast Seeks NSCRO Input
The NSCRO 15s season has been contested in the fall; therefore, small schools that competed in spring-based leagues could not participate. But NSCRO Commissioner of Women’s Rugby Bryn Chivers wanted to get the Pacific Coast involved and got creative in creating the championship. In the fall, one Round of 16 berth will be for the Pacific Coast’s spring 2017 champion. That set-up has been seen before (back when the women’s club championships were held in the fall and SoCal named its reps during the spring prior), but there is an asterisk. The Pacific Coast runner-up will have the option of challenging the champion in fall 2017 to account for player turnover and any other factors that might affect the strength of a team between seasons.
Two semifinalists hail from California: Claremont Colleges (Gold Coast, i.e., SoCal) and CSU Monterey Bay (West Coast, i.e., NorCal). Both teams competed in their respective DII competitions during the regular season, and Claremont had to defeat fellow NSCRO-aligned Occidental for the championship berth. The Foxes accomplished as much with a 36-10 victory and finished second overall in the DII Gold Coast conference.
Western Oregon also competed in the Cascade’s DII regular season, and the former conference champion had to overcome Southern Oregon for the seed. The Lady Wolves triumphed 76-0. Washington’s University of Puget Sound is an at-large team.
On a related note, the NSCRO 7s Championship, which occurs April 29-30 in Pittsburgh, has also allotted for a Pacific Coast representative. More to come.
NSCRO WOMEN’S PACIFIC COAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Southern Oregon University
1376 Iowa St., Ashland, Ore.
Saturday, April 1 – Semifinals
12 p.m. Western Oregon v CSU Monterey Bay
2 p.m. Puget Sound v Claremont Colleges
Sunday, April 2
10 a.m. 3rd Place
12 p.m. Championship
For more information, visit www.nscro.org.