PRESS RELEASE (5.28 Article updated to reflect Univ. Iowa’s departure)
NSCRO would like to welcome the Midwest D1 Women’s Rugby Conference who are joining NSCRO in the fall. They are the first Women’s D1 conference to make the move to the new Women’s Open Division. The addition of strong D1 teams like the University of Minnesota who were a D1 Final Four team will require changes to the planned structure of the open division.
NSCRO Open Division Commissioner Angela Smarto commented:
We are trying to be inclusive, although adding the D1 teams requires the creation of an elite tier. We’re willing to do this in order to provide a new home for the D1’s while maintaining parity for the teams in the open division.
The conference is made up of four teams from Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
Iowa State UniversityUniversity of MinnesotaUniversity of Northern IowaUniversity of Wisconsin – Madison
Current D2 Fall Champions Winona State will also compete in the conference in the fall.