Last weekend was a big one for the College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) in terms of narrowing down its Division I and Division II spring 15s contenders. The DI spring quarterfinal is set. The DII spring final is one game away from locking up the championship match. Last Saturday also saw several qualifiers take place for the CRC 7s, which is run by National Collegiate Rugby (NCR). That championship occurs the weekend before (April 26-28, Boyds, Md.) the CRAA Spring 15s finale, and its four women’s brackets are filling out nicely. [Lead photo: Alex Ho, @hoiho_photo]

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DI SPRING 15s

The CRAA DI Spring 15s Regional playoffs now knows its eight participating teams. They’ll assemble at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz., from Friday, April 19 (quarterfinals) and Sunday, April 21 (semifinals). The two weekend victors will then advance to the spring championship on May 4-5 in Houston, Texas. Information moving forward should come from CRAA.

The Pacific Mountain contested its playoffs and two great games occurred between the Pacific Northwest and NorCal teams on Saturday. Western Washington beat Stanford 33-24 in the conference final and takes the No. 1 seed. The Cardinal also heads south with the No. 2 spot. Cal beat Oregon 29-14 in the 3rd place match and is rewarded with the third and final berth to regionals.

The Pacific Desert held its final regular-season matches, and they determined the SoCal/Arizona conference’s top-three teams to regionals. Grand Canyon had already secured the No. 1 spot with an undefeated record, and Arizona State (6-1) finished second in the standings after a 42-5 win against. Univ. Arizona (3-4). Claremont Colleges and UCLA were both 4-2 heading into Saturday’s match, and the Foxes, in their first year of DI, won 10-5 to advance into the post-season. Prop Sydney Riley and reserve Naomi Schiavoni scored Claremont’s tries.

As previously mentioned, Virginia Women’s Rugby is the Blue Ridge champ, and Univ. Florida is the Florida champ, and they complete the eight-team regional bracket. Now it’s on CRAA to seed the teams and announce the bracket.

TRB would have loved to attend this tournament, but according to the CRAA website and socials, there’s no indication that women’s college 15s rugby — outside of the DI Elite — is occurring this spring.

DII SPRING 15s

The CRAA DII Spring 15s Championship is one game away from finalizing its title match. Eckerd College has already secured a spot in the May 4-5 finale in Houston, having won the Florida conference. The Sirens will know its opponent on April 20.

UC Irvine went undefeated in the Pacific Desert conference and is the champion. The West Coast conference held its semifinals and championship last weekend in Sacramento, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo took top honors. The Mustangs beat UN Reno 97-5 in the semifinals, while Sacramento State eliminated San Jose State 48-17 in its Saturday match. Cal Poly had the legs for a Sunday win against the hosting Hornets, and will take its title for SoCal for another playoff.

UC Irvine vs. Cal Poly SLO happens on April 20 at CSU Long Beach. Winner advances to the DII Spring 15s Championship in Texas and will face Eckerd.

CRC 7s

The overall event occurs Friday-Sunday, April 28-30, and the four women’s divisions — Premier, DI, DII, Small College — play out on Saturday and Sunday. NCR has done a nice job to update the rugby public on the teams qualifying for its nationals and will no doubt push out another recap from the weekend. In the meantime, the following teams have touted their CRC-qualifying accomplishments after last weekend’s wins:

– Univ. Arkansas – Mid-America regional qualifier
– Columbia University – Won Tri-State conference for the 3rd-straight year. TBD if it attends CRCs. (Fairfield Univ. finished runner-up in a 22-0 final.)
– Univ. Michigan – Qualified Wolverine 7s
– Missouri S&T – Mid-America regional qualifier (Small College)
– Notre Dame College – Upstate NY DI champion (Prem Division)
– Siena College – Upstate NY Small College champion (Hofstra finished runner-up in a 17-15 final)
– Univ South Dakota – Prairie States conference champ (Small College div)
– St. Bonaventure – Upstate NY DI runner-up
– Syracuse University – Upstate NY (DI)