NIRA Newcomer Queens, ‘Adapt and Attack’

Queens University of Charlotte (N.C.) debuted in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) last weekend and celebrated with a 62-35 win over Sacred Heart University (Conn.). Fall 2019 marks the Royals’ third official season, and the NCAA varsity league is the third competition in which the program has participated. That process has seen Queens develop into a resource for schools considering the elevation of club rugby to varsity, and consequently cultivated a class of students who are comfortable with change.

Queens Director of Rugby Katie Wurst has been deliberate in the Royals’ path to NIRA but the women’s team head coach lauded the student-athletes for successfully treading that course.

“This group of juniors right now were part of the very first true freshman class, so they’ve done quite a bit of work to build the program from the first brick on,” Wurst said. “That has led to a lot of resilience and learning and intrinsic motivation because it’s something you’ve created from the beginning. And now they’re taking their first steps as upperclassmen.”

Junior Abby Berberich is team captain and among the influential originals who have been defining the rugby program since day one. The Illinois native has seen the team from the DII Carolinas conference, to the now-named Blue Ridge DI conference, and now NIRA.

“Every year, there’s been a new, exciting change,” Berberich said. “We have a motto, ‘Adapt and attack,’ and we’ve applied it to those changes.

“My freshman year, we were a first-year program and everyone took a leap of faith – not really knowing much about Queens or maybe even rugby,” Berberich continued. “I was only playing for four months when I came here, so it was truly a leap of faith. My sophomore year we shifted to play more elite teams [in DI club] and now being a part of NIRA and the NCAA, it’s incredible.”

Berberich and peers have worked hard to integrate the incoming class, putting their shared experiences to good use in easing the transition to collegiate rugby.

“The new freshman group has gone through a different process. When we were a club team we fell under the umbrella of our athletic department and were fortunate enough to start off by following many NCAA processes, making for a smooth transition when you check that box,” Wurst cited the NCAA eligibility center and visitation protocol as examples. “There’s a different awareness for recruited student-athletes, and these steps and stages inspire a sense of interest, and drive to want to play at a high level.”

Fortunately new assistant coach, Dana Meschisi, will aid in that pursuit of higher-level rugby. The longtime Scion Siren is also a former USA 7s Eagle and relocated to North Carolina after club 7s nationals.

“I want to introduce more of that elite-level-type training and incorporate more high-intensity sessions to reduce fatigue on the field, which aids in injury prevention,” Meschisi said. “My background is in strength and conditioning – it’s what I’ve been doing the last 10 years after graduating from Florida State in 2013 and then playing with Scion.”

Meschisi is still an active player – a role model that both Wurst and Berberich appreciate – and currently rehabbing a broken ankle sustained at club 7s nationals. While no one wants to start a new job with an injury, Wurst noted the value of the student-athletes witnessing the recovery process, especially from such a high-achieving subject.

The Royals had a two-week pre-season, which Berberich described as a balancing act between setting the tone for a high-intensity season and forming those off-field bonds necessary for chemistry and performance. Queens is competing in NIRA’s Tier 2, which involves Division I and Division II schools, and opened against DI Sacred Heart University on Aug. 31. The teams met in Harrisonburg, Va., to split the travel distance.

“We had to fight for every point on that field. Sacred Heart put up great competition and it helped to play an elite-level game first,” Berberich said of last year’s Tier 2 runner-up. “That was our first game together as the Queens 2019-2020 program. We went out there and expected nothing, just willing to fight and put it all on the field. It was super hot and everyone was struggling with the conditions, but we knew they were just as tired. It was a battle of grit to the end.”

Queens took a 45-7 lead into the break. The Pioneers found more success in the second half and outscored the Royals 28-17, but too much damage had been done in the first half. Queens won 62-35.

“The biggest surprise was seeing the score at the end. I was keeping track but it’s hard to do that when you’re playing. Just knowing how much of a fight it was, the score didn’t reflect how hard they worked against us,” the captain said.

The game also offered a first look at some of Queens’ new freshmen. Alle English (Lakewood, Ohio) and Jenna Klenz (Divine Savior Holy Angels, Wisc.) scored two tries apiece and were coming off of very busy summers. The duo traveled to Ireland with the Midwest High School Thunderbirds and also Canada with the High School All-Americans. Try-scorer Megan Reed (Westfield, Ind.) was also overseas with the Baby Birds. Also from “The Crossroads of America,” first-year Angelica Rodriguez (Warsaw, Ind.) scored her first NCAA try.

“It was such a relief,” Berberich said of banking that first NCAA varsity win. “Players just laid down and we were dumping water on ourselves in that heat, but it was an amazing feeling.”

Berberich viewed the victory with the measure of someone who has continually ventured into the unknown.

“You can’t get ahead of yourself with anything,” Berberich said. “We don’t know what’s coming, so we have to ask, ‘What else can we do? What else do we need to work on?’ We’ll watch our film and watch film of our opponents, but we can’t stop working or continue at the same pace. We have to continue to push.”

Queens is focusing its energies on first-season success in NIRA, and so there’s only one non-NCAA game scheduled this fall on Family Weekend. But after two years of playing split-season 15s with 7s tournaments sandwiched in between – a load that stressed player welfare – Wurst is happy to focus on development opportunities in the spring. The athletics department also appreciates the clear separation of the 15s and 7s seasons.

Wurst embraces the idea of being ambassadors for the sport – whether it’s the student-athletes themselves being good community members or getting involved in youth rugby, or the program being an example for other schools. Guilford College (N.C.) and Lander University (S.C.) both contacted Wurst for insight into how to transition to varsity. And when they asked for potential coaching candidates, Wurst didn’t hesitate in recommending Emily Record and Buck Billings for the position, respectively. Record is the former Queens assistant coach and did good work with Wurst, who endeavors to promote such talent; and Billings, former McMinn Tribe (Tenn.) head coach, would bring his team to campus on tour.

“We talk about the concept of, ‘Wear the crown,’ and it’s really about using opportunity to make a difference,” Wurst said. “I see the players do it every day. It’s my favorite part of the job, seeing how they grow and make an impact in collegiate athletics, and I think that’s such a great opportunity.”

Queens is off this weekend before traveling to Harrisonburg again to face LIU Post (N.Y.). The NIRA Tier 2 season culminates with playoffs on Nov. 9 and championship on Nov. 16.

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