Photos: Bobby Gable
As Davenport University head coach Greg Teliczan relished his team’s USA Rugby DI College Fall Championship, he looked to the near future with an element of uncertainty.
“No one knows,” Teliczan said in response to whether a DI national championship awaited in the spring. “As far as we’re concerned, this was our national championship.”
There hasn’t been a DI national championship in two years now, and it appears that there will be no DII national final (fall champion vs. spring champion) for the first time in 2017-18. But, in what is an expectation rather than exception when it comes to collegiate competitions, anything can change, especially at the last minute.
That’s what makes Davenport’s triumphs noteworthy. The team is only five years old, and when the non-varsity program was trying to establish itself and build momentum in those early years, the competitive landscape kept changing, contrasting it with other sports ruled by the athletics department. Fall 2017 was no different, as the Panthers readied for its first Division I season. The Big 10 was the closest DI conference, and Davenport applied for membership.
“They didn’t want us, so we had to go independent,” Teliczan said. “That’s even harder because you can’t schedule games until the conferences finish their schedules and teams know their bye weekends. The school helped us in terms of doing everything it could – if games fit into the budget, then we could travel.”
The fall schedule didn’t come together until late August, and Teliczan contrasted that timeline with other Davenport sports, which have their schedules at least a year in advance. It was a little extra stress, but in the end, it worked out – especially the trip to Virginia against UVA, which Teliczan highlighted as the team’s toughest game of the fall.
“We talk about it all the time with our athletic department,” the coach said of next steps. “They want us to grow and do better, but geographically, we’re kind of stuck.”
Teliczan asserted that the school remains supportive, and Davenport Director of Non-Varsity Sports Ryan McCosky flew to South Carolina to support the Panthers in their DI fall final. That continued exposure helps, and some of the effect is reflected in the roster. When Davenport debuted in fall 2013, 22 of 25 players hailed from Michigan. Today, the recruitment class features identified athletes like Megan Bird (Oak Creek, Wisc.), Mariah Pruitt (McMinn, Tenn.) and Alanna Girardin (Norwich, Vt.), and continues to attract in-state standouts like Bethany Gable (Grandville) and Hannah Baker (Grand Haven).
“When we try to get kids to come here, we tell them, ‘You will play right away.’ We won’t wait a year or two. And it’s made a huge difference,” Teliczan said. “We had a good game against Notre Dame College in the beginning of the season and we played them right away, sitting some of the older girls. We try to teach each kid 2-3 positions and move them around a lot, and that plays out well. They get a lot of playing time and it plays out on the field.”
Four freshmen started in the DI fall final against Notre Dame, including both flankers (Gable and Baker).
“Part of that was due to injury, but the other part is that they deserved it,” Teliczan said of the freshmen flankers. “They were quite nervous, but they were solid. We had a game plan and we went over it and over it, and forced it into everyone’s head. Once they got into the flow of the game and we shut down Notre Dame on a couple efforts, they were good.”
The coach explained that big-time defense and ball control were the main foci. Veterans like Allison Miedzielec and Amy Plambeck in the tight five, No. 8 Moreland, flyhalf Hannah Tennant and MVP outside center Danielle Ordway, who have played in several championship games, led by example.
“They were just really focused, but they also really stepped up – not just for this game but for the whole season,” Teliczan said. “When they found out they were playing Notre Dame – we’re the two main teams in the area – they were ecstatic. They wanted it more than anything and that trickles down through the team.”
Teliczan saved a little extra joy for Moreland, Ordway and Tennant – the three remaining founding members – who finished their 15s careers with a DI fall title. They’ve been so prevalent and instrumental to Davenport’s success and will enrich any senior club they join post-graduation.
“Hannah Tennant was spectacular,” Teliczan singled out the flyhalf. “It boggles my mind that when the [2016-17] DII All-Americans came out that she didn’t even make Second Team, while teams we demolished had their players make it. She is the unsung hero. She does so many little things – poaching on defense, kicking for goal, controlling the back line and the game for us. She works her tail off and never gets noticed.”
Davenport will likely pepper some 15s games (most notably against DI Elite Life University) during the otherwise spring 7s season, and is petitioning for official qualifier status for its April 21 7s tournament. There is, after all, a national 7s championship to chase in the New Year.