Photos courtesy Winona State Women’s Rugby
While it took some time to finalize the brackets of the USA Rugby Women’s DII College Fall Championship, one thing was always certain: A new fall champion will be named this year. Davenport University, the two-time reigning fall and national champion, is competing in Division I now, and teams are readying to write their names into the record books.
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Winona State is arguably the top contender, as the 2013 fall champion faced Davenport the previous two fall finals. Only a handful of DII college programs can claim the consistent success that the Black Katts boast, and the Minnesota squad is eager to maintain its winning history.
That said, the Black Katts are very young this year, with only one senior and three juniors populating the roster, according to Winona State coach Josh Krzewinski. There are many freshmen consistently getting A-side time, “which is fun,” the coach said. “Half of them started playing rugby in high school, so it’s going to be an exciting future.”
Winona State cultivates good relationships with the Wisconsin and Minnesota high school coaches, and one notices recent grads from the Bruisers (Abby Andler), Knightmares (Emily Becker and Tiffany Raash) and Armstrong (Dania Tapia) making an impact. Several freshmen and/or first-year players are found in the back line, and backs captain Ellyn Grossen is there at scrumhalf to direct the attack. Lock and forwards captain Gabriella Calametti is the leading voice in the pack.
“League competition was pretty much the same as the last few years,” Krzewinski said after the undefeated regular season and 82-5 win over North Dakota for the Northern Lights title. “We just come in and focus on what we need to do, what we need to work on and want to accomplish. We come in with goals, work on them during the week and try to accomplish them during the games.”
That’s part of the culture that the upperclassmen impart to the younger players – tapping into that inner drive and pushing beyond what the opposition is giving. Thus far, the coach has been impressed how the newcomers have embraced that mentality and work ethic.
“There’s always that question [of how good you really are],” Krzewinski said in advance of the fall championships. “We haven’t been tested a whole lot defensively, so that’s one thing we continually focus on – defensive structure. But you just don’t know how you’ll hold up if a team challenges you more in the scrum or in the lineouts.”
Winona State will begin to understand its relative strength this weekend, as it hosts UW Eau Claire in the fall Round of 32. The Great Waters team applied for an at-large bid in advance of the post-season. The victor will head to Lemont, Ill., on Nov. 18-19 and face Sam Houston State in the fall Round of 16.
“There are only three or four players on Winona who have had that experience of losing to Davenport the last two years,” Krzewinski said. “Sure, in the back of some of their minds they’re thinking, ‘There’s a chance here,’ [to win the fall title] but I haven’t heard any of that talk, which is good.”
To view the full DI & DII college fall brackets, click here.