Photo: Central Washington University Athletics
Central Washington is one of eight teams competing in the DI Elite bracket of the USA Rugby College 7s Championship, but it’s been some time since the Wildcats have played a competitive match. The team’s 15s season ended in November and the squad has played just one 7s tournament this spring (and a 15s friendly against BYU). To say the least, the team is eager to play some games.
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In March, Central Washington competed in the Vancouver 7s for the first and only tournament of the spring.
“It’s a great tournament but the difficulty for us was the short transition from training indoors to suddenly playing in a quality 7s tournament and then subsequently not facing any 7s competition for 9-10 weeks,” Central Washington coach Trevor Richards explained.
Richards served as interim head coach in the fall and then applied for the full-time position once it officially opened. The hiring process bled well into the spring, and thus the schedule was in a holding pattern until the vacancy was filled. By the time Richards was hired as the full-time head coach (the athletics department announced the hire on April 25), it was too late to build a schedule.
“Additionally, my time has been split between coaching the women’s team and then being an assistant with the men’s team,” Richards added. “With all that said, the team has been working really hard, eating adversity for breakfast all year long, and they will be ready for nationals.”
Central Washington is deep in top-notch rugby players, many with All-American experience, who are driving performance.
“We will be looking for our experienced skipper, Leah Ingold, to drive the team around the park,” Richards praised the flyhalf. “Then we have the skilled and powerful combination of Nate Serevi and Sui A’au that will be integral to our success. Furthermore, players like Michel Navarro, Jenny Johnson, Joanna Moreira, and Spencer Boldt, among others, bring a dynamic mix of experience and abilities.”
A’au, Johnson, Moreira, Boldt and Ingold all helped Central Washington finish third at 2017 nationals and have experience playing in that Glendale elevation.
“They understand that there’s a lot of hard graft and attention to detail that is needed before any success can be achieved,” Richards noted. “We’ve emphasized nailing the core details of play while allowing them freedom to be creative. We shall see what the finished product looks like next week!”
The schedule has not been released, but Central Washington will join three other NIRA teams in Army, Dartmouth and Harvard; three DI Elite teams in Life, Lindenwood and Penn State; and Davenport, which is rounding out its first DI season. That’s a densely good lineup.
“Sevens in general is definitely one of the highlights of the year for a number of our players,” Richards concluded. “Then you combine Infinity Park, top-level opponents, and the prospect of a National Championship; a natural excitement is going to develop.”
It’s mutual! The women’s games will occur Saturday-Sunday, May 19-20, and live-stream via The Rugby Channel.
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