This time last year, Baldwin Wallace University was building momentum for its debut in the now-named National Collegiate Rugby (NCR). The Yellow Jackets intended to compete in the Ohio Valley conference‘s small-college division, when Covid-19 intervened and paused all progress. As a recently resuscitated program, Baldwin Wallace was vulnerable to these types of delays, but the Berea, Ohio-based team stayed active, kept training, and has made fantastic gains in a conference-driven 7s series. [All photos: Christine Varga]
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“It felt like we were spinning our wheels a bit with Covid taking the season away,” Baldwin Wallace coach Mark Montgomery reflected on 2020. “The team took a blow in a big way. They had worked so hard the last couple of years, and they just weren’t expecting everything that happened with Covid. But I’m happy we turned it around. We were able to bounce back and have a season, which is huge.”
Photo: Christine Varga
The players were able to return to campus in the fall, and the team stuck to its training regimen until the “all clear” phone call came in. The Ohio Valley conference then pitched a 7s series for any members that were cleared to play in the spring, and the Yellow Jackets signed up alongside Grace College, Findlay University and Tiffin University.
“We’re a little ahead of ourselves in where we originally thought we’d be by now,” Montgomery reflected on the last year. “And we definitely didn’t expect 15 players for our first year either. It’s been a blessing. It makes things a little easier when you have some opposition to play against.”
Montgomery heaped a lot of credit on team president Jill Wood, who held “us together in lifting and organizing meetings and being the lead for us in on-campus recruitment,” the coach explained. “[Without her,] we aren’t in the position we are in today.”
Photo: Christine Varga
The 7s series began on March 27 at Grace College’s home pitch in Winona Lake, Ind. Baldwin Wallace arrived with just four players who had ever played rugby before.
“The first game we tied with Tiffin and the girls were just very caught off-guard,” Montgomery said of the 10-10 decision. “They’d seen another team and how that opposition feels in the scrums or other contact aspects, like the rucks, and how much more aggressive someone other than their teammates will be toward them. Once they got their bearing, they took off for game two, and game three was also better. Great progression throughout the tournament. As coaches, we saw what we wanted to see by game three, and the players were so full of questions and seeking answers.”
Baldwin Wallace beat Findlay 29-0 and Grace 19-12 to finish the first round 2-0-1.
Montgomery praised Anna Schubert – founder of the current team – for her role at scrumhalf. She almost wasn’t able to participate this season due to conflicts with work, but fortunately she was able to work it out and inject that experience and leadership onto the pitch.
“She did a really good job of applying pressure around the scrum and breakdown, which was much needed in the first week, especially when everyone was trying to slow the game down,” the coach said.
Freshmen Molly Cancian and Sarah Schubert – younger sister to Anna – also showed well. They are Baldwin Wallace’s first high school recruits and represent Ohio’s Brunswick Valkyries and St. Joseph Academy Jaguars, respectively. The two first-years play beside each other in the back line, and together they account for more than 90% of the Yellow Jackets’ points after two rounds.
“We keep a pretty strict module for our daily habits and activities,” Montgomery said of post-tournament reactions. “And then every week we address with the team: What do you want more of? Less of? And we adjust the practice plan accordingly. After week one they were really seeking more reps at scrums and more pressure in that aspect. And then little things, like coming through the gate – all those things that are hard to practice before you have live reps in a game.”
Photo: Christine Varga
Tiffin University hosted the second round on April 10, and Baldwin Wallace defeated Tiffin 24-5, Findlay 32-5 and Grace 24-10.
“Leading in we really wanted to make sure we stayed connected as a defense and unified, because we had seen some opportunities that other teams could have capitalized on us and would have hurt us in the long run,” Montgomery said. “They made those adjustments and executed well. Offensively, we wanted to start having more bodies involved in the scoring. A lot of new players made some strides in the aspect of open-field running. Salayna Hritz and Kaleigh Loyd both had big runs.”
Baldwin Wallace now leads the standings – again, a place the team didn’t expect to be after its second tournament ever.
“They were very surprised [with their performances] – even after week one,” Montgomery said. “We came back to practice that Monday and we asked them, ‘A month ago, when we found out that we finally had games, did you ever imagine that you’d leave that experience 2-1?’ They all shook their heads, ‘No.’ They had no clue what to expect, and they were super shocked when we read them some of their stats and they realized what they have accomplished as a team.”
The staff told the players that they had outscored opponents 138-42 and no team had scored more than two tries against them in any game. The defense averaged seven points against, and everyone on the roster has had the opportunity to play.
This third leg will occur at home in Berea, Ohio, and the competition will welcome guest Robert Morris University, a western Pennsylvania team coached by NCR Women’s Open Commissioner Angela Smarto. There’s some excitement in playing a new opponent, but the Yellow Jackets aren’t looking past their conference mates at all.
Photo: Christine Varga
“Grace and Tiffin really push us in different aspects,” Montgomery said. “Grace has speed. No. 11 [Johanna Leichty] and No. 14 [Grace Schrader] are really fast, and it’s a tough task playing them. They had a tough Week 2 but I expect them to bounce back. Tiffin is aggressive and quick with the pop passes that keep you on your heels on defense and trying to recover all the time. It’s neat to see different aspects and styles of play, so our defense gets practice adjusting.”
When the Ohio Valley series ends, Baldwin Wallace will have one more fixture on the calendar: CRC May Madness 7s in New Orleans. When the team realized it was eligible for the Memorial Day Weekend tournament, Assistant Director of Campus Recreation Christine Varga, the lead advocate for the women’s rugby team within the administration, created a tour proposal that the university backed. The whole trip – save one team dinner – is fully funded. And for those players who don’t have commute options during the extended stay on campus, because their hometowns are in Cincinnati or Columbus, Ohio, the university is putting them up in dorms for the 4-6 weeks of preparation.
“The university has done so much and we never expected that,” Montgomery said. “They saw an opportunity to support the women’s rugby team and they’re running with it.”
So maybe Baldwin Wallace isn’t where it thought it’d be during its first year back as an official club, but that new trajectory has taken the Yellow Jackets atop the standings and now to New Orleans. Good things await.