The Panthers playing DI competition at Nash Bash. / Photos: Jackie Finlan
After two consecutive DII national titles, Davenport University is now a DI collegiate program. The team is operating as an independent, as the only local DI conference rejected the Panthers’ membership bid, and compiled a schedule that, should all go well, make Davenport an attractive addition to the post-season.
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But it’s been a frustrating process, according to Davenport head coach Greg Teliczan. While discussions about the Panthers’ promotion to DI had been on-going, it wasn’t until late June that the move was confirmed. The most natural fit in terms of location (Davenport is in Michigan) was the Big 10, but the conference – most notably, Penn State and Notre Dame, according to Teliczan – resisted, because Davenport isn’t a Big 10 school. There was a DI Mid-American Conference that included Bowling Green, Central Michigan and Western Michigan, but that competition folded and those teams have dropped into the DII Great Lakes, Davenport’s previous league. The only other DI competition in the region is the Midwest, which includes seven teams from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.
“I don’t think it was a good move for us,” said Teliczan, who referenced the fact that Davenport won both national titles with 16 and 17 players. “But USA Rugby kinda pushed us into that position. It is what it is.
“As far as the school goes, they were excited that we were going DI because it looks better. But the problem was that it got thrown at us at the last second,” the coach added. “Before when we were in Great Lakes, teams would just forfeit and say, ‘We’re not going to play you,’ or just not return e-mails. It was ridiculous. But now that we don’t have a league, we have to wait for everyone to schedule their league games [before considering to add to us].”
As Davenport played the waiting game, the athletic department pushed back on budgets.
“As a coach, you want what’s best for your players, and getting the opportunity to travel is one part of enjoying the game,” said Teliczan, who also recounted a time when rugby was the big homecoming sport at Davenport. “There was tailgating, the BBQs, everything was around the rugby stadium. The women played before the men – it was electrifying. But now they’ve added football and cut back on everyone’s budget, including travel.”
Teliczan was able to get Michigan (which had Sept. 24 open up after Ohio State dropped out of the Big 10), Michigan State, Clemson and Kent State to travel to Grand Rapids. Notre Dame College, UVA and Bloomsburg were also interested in playing Davenport, but the school initially said no.
“I explained that since we’re DI now, we’ve got to travel, because there aren’t many teams we can play,” Teliczan said. “At first the school told us that they couldn’t do it, until I finally said, ‘We have no games. I promised these kids coming in that we’d play.’ At the 12th hour, the school said they’d do something for us.”
The trio was added to the away schedule, and now the Panthers have a solid lineup building toward the DI fall championship. The schedule includes teams from varsity NIRA, Big 10 (2), Mason Dixon (2), Allegheny and Mid-Atlantic conferences.
This fall will be a whole new world for Davenport, and the team’s fortunate to have top experience in returners like Collegiate All-American Danielle Ordway, who was most recently seen with Tiger Cubs at the Lupus Intus 7s; fellow graduate student Maddie Sparks, a wing who teamed up nicely with Ordway for lots of tries; halfbacks Olivia Ortiz (who also earned Junior All-American honors this summer) and Hannah Tennant, both of whom represented ARPTC at club 7s nationals; and a host of hard-hitting, mobile forwards like Hunter Moreland, Veronica Overbeek, Amy Plambeck and Hannah Garcia.
They’ll extend Davenport’s brand of play into Division I and get a nice injection of talent from newcomers like Midwest Thunderbirds Megan Bird, who has loads of select side and international experience, and Bethany Gable, sister to Army All-American Bayleigh; Mariah Pruitt, a standout on the fifth-best high school team in the nation, McMinn Tribe (Tenn.); and Alanna Girardin, a senior transfer and big finisher from NIRA’s Norwich University.
As for the post-season, the Michigan team will need to apply for an at-large berth to the DI fall playoffs and may be required to contest a quarterfinal play-in match against another at-large team or conference runner-up. Play-ins will be contested the weekend of Nov. 11, and the round of 8/4 takes place Nov. 18-19. The DI fall final will be held the weekend of Dec. 2.