The National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) begins its championship season this weekend and sees 10 of the 19 member teams in action. The season will culminate on Nov. 9-10, when Tier 1, Tier 2 and Division III name their national champions.
RELATED: New NIRA Website
UPDATE: GAME CANCELED
Reigning national champion Dartmouth College and Notre Dame College are, like last year, playing each other in their season openers. The Big Green warmed up with a scrimmage against Canada’s Concordia University on Aug. 23. Ariana Ramsey scored three tries in that 36-12 win and is half of the Dartmouth duo that represented Team USA in its silver medal run at the Pan Am Games this summer. Eagle teammate Emily Henrich is spending the year at the Chula Vista Elite Training Center. Returners Marin Pennell, Sophia Haley and Becca Jane Rosko were all active with the All-Americans this summer. Dartmouth has added six new faces, including scrimmage point-scorers Kristin Bitter and conversion kicker Lillian Johnson.
Falcons head coach Luke Markovich added alumnae Danielle Walko-Siua and Hannah Long to the coaching staff, and signed nine freshmen, namely from Ohio, to bolster the ranks. This season, watch for Saher Hamdan to make a difference. The sophomore had a fantastic first year and then followed with a summer with ARPTC, competed at club 7s nationals, and was also selected to the USA U20 team for the Tri Nations tournament in England.
The other Tier 1 match sees Harvard University travel to Quinnipiac University. The 2018 national runner-up has brought on former Eagle Sylvia Braaten to the Crimson coaching staff, as well as eight new student-athletes. Three of the first-years are from Canada, one is from England, and the four Americans all have rugby experience: Darby Eck (Sparta-Rock, Mich.), Lucy Jacobsen (Capital, Idaho), Alex Pipkin (North Bay, Md.) and Jordan Roe (Conestoga, Pa.). Across the extensive roster, Erica Jarrell remained active and traveled to England for the U20 Tri Nations tour.
The Bobcats’ Clara Lemal-Brown and Allison Koenig also represented the U20s overseas and are back for their sophomore years. There are 10 new student-athletes in Hamden, Conn., three of which hail from Canada and England. NorCal is well represented in Pleasanton’s Gracie Cartwright and La Morinda’s Grace Gitchell; as is Vermont with Madeline Folsom (Essex) and Ashton Matthews (South Burlington). Libby Moser (North Central, Ind.), Briana Ceolin (Simsbury, Conn.) and Erin Terwilliger (Orchard Park, N.Y.) were all exciting players on their high-achieving high school teams.
In Tier 2 and Division III … Queens University of Charlotte makes its debut in NIRA and is traveling to Harrisonburg, Va., to play Sacred Heart University. The Royals have added 10 student-athletes this season, including Alle English and Jenna Klenz, who traveled to Ireland for the Midwest Thunderbirds tour as well as Canada with the High School All-Americans. The Pioneers have arguably their best recruiting class yet, with first-years from 2019 NIT championship finalists DSHA (Makinzie Youngblood, also a Midwest T-Bird) and Catholic Memorial (Stephanie Wilson); Washington state champion Kent (McKenzie Jumper) and Massachusetts state champion Lincoln Sudbury (Samantha Carroll), among others.
Colleen Doherty takes over as LIU Post head coach this season and is joined by fellow Quinnipiac alumna Lindey Wise as assistant coach. The roster currently reflects 12 players and half are freshmen. The first-years do bring good experience, as three Metropolitan-region players are joined by players from the Buffalo area, Tennessee and Wisconsin. The Pioneers will play Brown University, which has a promising roster this year despite just four freshmen adds. Emerson Goodrich keeps the Pleasanton connection alive and well, and she joins alumnae Olivia Duba and Marion Sellier. Kate Molloy was also indispensable to Lincoln-Sudbury’s Massachusetts state titles.
Colby-Sawyer College returns for its sophomore year in NIRA and its 11 recruits hail from all over the country: California, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington (2) and Wisconsin. Those numbers will be influential in the team’s opener against Molloy College, which currently lists 16 players, four of which are freshmen from the local area, on its roster. Graduate Caroline Nickels has joined head coach Melissa Olman on staff.
But if any team has struggled with roster numbers, it’s Castleton, and the Vermont team currently lists 13 on its roster. Five are freshmen, so hopefully that core of players can build some momentum for a 15s team in the near future. New England College is a NIRA newcomer and as such has recruited from on-campus but also brought in rugby players – like North Meck’s Jordan Stuckey. It will take some time, as Castleton can attest, to build out the program but the 15 players is a good start.
NIRA SCHEDULE – WEEK 1
Harvard @ Quinnipiac
Notre Dame College @ Dartmouth
Sacred Heart v Queens (@ Harrisonburg, VA)
Colby-Sawyer @ Molloy
LIU Post @ Brown
Castleton @ New England College