Colby-Sawyer is in the midst of transition and embracing the momentum. The team is a member of the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) and the reigning New England (NERFU) conference champion. That will all change in fall 2018 when the New Hampshire school joins the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA), the country’s collegiate varsity league.
In March 2017 Colby-Sawyer announced the elevation of women’s rugby to varsity status and that summer hired Ken Pape as head coach. Pape had spent the previous four years at Big 10 Rutgers University, among other posts, and struggled to gain support or recognition from the NCAA Division I institution. Those frustrations have differed greatly from his experiences at Colby-Sawyer, a DIII school that reported 1,043 undergrads in fall 2017.
“I still can’t believe this has happened. … It’s such a difference,” Pape contrasted the genuine interest from the administration, fellow coaches and the student population. “I explained during the interview process that I intended to treat the club like a varsity program from day one, and they loved it. Right out the door they asked, ‘What do you need to be successful?’ And they made it happen.”
Pape felt that sense of investment from the current team as well, and select players were involved in the coach’s hiring. The leadership remained involved in everything from practice planning to the recruitment of future teammates.
“Everyone I talked to during the interview process, the first thing they said was: Have you met Vic yet,” Pape said of MVP Victoria Markarian. “She is a great leader on and off the field. She didn’t let my crazy get ahold of me and was constantly in my ear. Before every practice, we’d sit down with the other captain, Jillian Marcus. We’d have a conversation about what I’m working on and what I’m working with, and Vic was vocal on what her expectations were and what she wanted. Every game she dominated, just worked hard and improved.”
The 15s season began with a 40-point defeat to Johnson State, and that loss helped ignite Colby-Sawyer’s competitive drive. Markarian and Marcus lead from hooker and scrumhalf, respectively, and leaned on fellow vets to propel the squad. Flyhalf Nicole Moore was named Back of the Year, a monumental achievement considering she injured her ankle in week four and made a fantastic recovery to return as a key difference-maker.
“She is our link between the forwards and backs, and calls a great game,” Pape said. “She could have easily been MVP if Vic hadn’t had a monster year.”
No. 8 Marilyn Hohler was also influential in Colby-Sawyer’s win streak.
“She’s dominant in both tackles and with ball in hand,” Pape praised. “She’s the anchor in the scrums, and her defensive lineouts – she can jump and steal the ball without being lifted. She does it 2-3 times a game. She’s a real playmaker and hard worker.”
Colby-Sawyer went undefeated through the rest of the season and faced Johnson State in the conference final. The Chargers exacted revenge with a 29-24 victory and league title. The team advanced to the NSCRO national championship but bowed out in the Round of 16 to UMass Dartmouth.
Fifteens is over for the 2017-18 year, and now 7s becomes the focus of the spring. The first fixture occurs on Jan 20-21 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Pape and Endicott College head coach Emily Record are leading the New England All-Star 7s team that will compete at the first NSCRO All-Star 7s Championship in two weeks. The duo held hybrid clinics/tryouts for the conference 7s team, which, like many of its counterparts, is a first-year outfit.
“We could be a real contender. There a lot of women up here and unless you’re on an NSCRO all-star team, then you’re not getting a look,” Pape looked toward the event that will produce the NSCRO All-Star 7s team that competes in Las Vegas and USA Sevens CRC. “[NSCRO Women’s Commissioner and all-star 7s coach] Bryn [Chivers] will have a hard time picking a team.”
The New England squad includes eight Colby-Sawyer reps and players from the University of Maine Farmington, Keene State College and Johnson State.
“I’m really excited to work with Erin Buckland. She is an absolute monster,” Pape said of the Maine Farmington player. “When she runs the ball, it’s exciting because she’s powerful and elusive. She played 12, I believe, when [Colby-Sawyer] played her and she was really good, but they decided to go in a different direction with their attack. We’re small, so they tried to smash into the forwards, and they didn’t utilize Erin. So I was shocked when she started touching the ball.”
New England will compete in Pool A against the Mid-Atlantic, Lonestar and Upstate New York conference all-star teams, while Pool B will pit Allegheny, Ohio Valley, Prairie States and the South against each during pool play.
Following the NSCRO All-Star 7s Championship, Colby-Sawyer will join the New England College 7s Circuit, a new league led by veteran administrator Chip Auscavitch. The series involves 12 women’s DII and NSCRO teams and culminates with a championship. Among the many objectives, the circuit hopes to appoint teams to college 7s nationals. More details to come.
Meanwhile, Colby-Sawyer will be readying for its first varsity season in fall 2018. In late December, Pape indicated that six players had already committed and more than 60 have been accepted, but there are no plans to push out the current players and replace them with recruits. He’s hoping to add 20 newcomers to a returning squad of 25, knowing that that mix will be important in the early going. The school and team have set high expectations, which will play out in NIRA’s Tier 2 this fall.
NEW ENGLAND ALL-STAR 7s
Erin Buckland – Maine Farmington
Marilyn Hohle – Colby-Sawyer
Kate Hubbard – Keene State College
Olaide Junaid – Colby-Sawyer
Audrey Kahrs – Maine Farmington
Mariah Keeler – Colby-SawyerAcadia LeBlanc – Colby-Sawyer
Brianna Leonard – Maine Farmington
Victoria Markarian – Colby-Sawyer
Nicole Moore – Colby-Sawyer
Melenie Peters – Johnson State
Olivia Randlett – Colby-Sawyer
Darrian Sweatt – Colby-Sawyer
If you want to contribute to the New England All-Star 7s program, visit the team’s Go Fund Me page.