| Courtsey of RugbyMag- Provo, Utah—The Varsity Cup announced today that Central Washington University (CWU) has been selected to participate in the 2013 Varsity Cup National Collegiate Rugby Championship. CWU comes into the Varsity Cup after the forced departure of the University of Utah following a recent administrative suspension of the Utah rugby program.  Alex Lee photo.
The Wildcats immediately join the Varsity Cup this postseason with an on-going participation commitment through the 2014 and 2015 seasons. As an NCAA member institution Central Washington University is led by current head coach Tony Pacheco, who concurrently serves as the USA Rugby Collegiate All American 7’s head coach. CWU boasts an 8-0 regular season record in 2012-13 and a #7 national ranking in RUGBYMag.com’s all-division rankings. The Wildcats also field one of the country’s top 7s squads with CWU being 2011 USA Rugby Collegiate 7s Runners-Up and a spate of recent 7s rugby tournaments victories over the last year, including an appearance in February’s acclaimed USA Sevens Las Vegas Invitational where CWU advanced to the Cup Championship only to fall to a strong University of Victoria 7s team. CWU’s Director of Rugby Bob Ford says the invitation to join the Varsity Cup Championship was an opportunity his program couldn’t afford to pass up. “The competition structure is something that will provide consistency to our program,” Ford said,”And will provide our players with access to a high level of rugby on a regular basis. This is an opportunity we did not see on our immediate horizon and one that required careful consideration in a compressed timeline. We look forward to the competition the Varsity Cup provides and are excited about promoting the growth of rugby.” The decision to invite the CWU Wildcats into the inaugural Varsity Cup came after timely but careful consideration with the participating Varsity Cup universities’ administrators and coaching staffs. “We had significant interest from a number of programs,” said BYU’s David Smyth, “In the end, all of the Varsity Cup universities were unanimous that inviting Central Washington was the best course. We’re pleased to have a team of the caliber of the Wildcats join the Varsity Cup Championship.” CWU will slot into the vacated #4 seed and meet the Air Force Academy in the Western Super-Regional hosted on the campus of UCLA. Kick-off for the AFA vs. CWU match is set for 2pm PT on Saturday, April 20th. Meanwhile the hosts will take on 2012 National Collegiate Rugby Champion BYU in the Varsity Cup Western Super-Regional concluding match at 4pm. The inclusion of CWU doesn’t affect the Eastern Super-Regional as 2011 National Collegiate Rugby Champion California takes on Notre Dame and Navy meets Dartmouth. Both Eastern Super-Regional matches are also scheduled for April 20th and are set to be played at 1.30pm ET and 3.30pm ET respectively inside the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. |
Category Archives: Rugby
CWU Playoff Update
CWU RUGBY is moving to: www.wildcatsports.com
April 4, 2013
After careful consideration Central Washington University has notified USA Rugby that they will decline their right to a post season challenge match on April 20th at the #2 California Seed. The Wildcats will continue to meet their regular season obligations for the 2012-13 season by hosting St. Mary’s College of California and Cal Poly on April 6th and 13th respectively.
CWU Hammers Santa Clara in D1-A Opener
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-CWU Rugby sent a message up and down the West Coast on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats (2-0) beat the Broncos 61-5 in their Division 1-A opener. Tries were scored by Jacob Bates, Aladdin Schirmer, Josh Bower, Tanner Barnes, Doug McKinley, and Shleby Williams and Sean Wanigasekera led the team with four. CWU will continue being road warriors as they take on Sacramento State on Feb. 2nd in Sacramento.
More information can be found at the Ellensburg Daily Record
CWU Rugby Prepares for D1-A Season
By JOSH PETRIE sports editor
Central Washington University has one of the premier collegiate men’s rugby programs in the nation, but it doesn’t fit in geographically with its peers. The closest worthy adversaries are in California and the Mountain time zone.
The Wildcats were a staple of the Division 1-A Pacific Conference, but with more California schools moving up came fewer willing to travel north. So CWU will go it alone this season, becoming the top flight’s only independent squad for the 2013 season.
“It wasn’t really our preference. We wanted to stay,” CWU head coach Tony Pacheco said. “As they added schools, some of those schools voiced they didn’t want to come to Ellensburg, basically. So I think to kind of appease the masses, we came up with a creative solution to play as an independent.”
For the full article please go to: Daily Record
USA Rugby National 7’s Championships to be Streamed on ESPN3 and Youtube
COLLEGE STATION, Texas-Central Washington Rugby is looking to build on their 2nd place finish at the 2012 USA Rugby National 7’s Championships in College Station, Texas.The tournament kicks off Nov. 30th and concludes Dec. 1st. All the action will be easy to follow from your computer or tablet as they will live streamed on the USA Rugby YouTube TV Channel. The cup semifinals as well as the championship will be streamed on ESPN3.
Following CWU Rugby as never been easier. Follow the team on Facebook and get instant results of matches or follow the action on Twitter via @USAEaglesRugby, @Goffonrugby, @RUGBY_Magazine and @Pat_Clifton. Use hashtag #College7s to join the conversation. Also follow @CWURECREATION for updates on Central Rugby.
ESPN3 Live College 7s Schedule | Saturday, December 1, 2012
11:40am CT – Women’s Cup Semi Final 1
12:00pm CT – Women’s Cup Semi Final 2
12:20pm CT – Men’s Plate Semi Finals 1
12:40pm CT – Men’s Plate Semi inals 2
1:00pm CT – Men’s Cup Semi Final 1
1:20pm CT – Men’s Cup Semi Final 2
5:30pm CT – Women’s Cup Final
6:00pm CT – Men’s Cup Final
CWU Rugby Ready for Another Shot at a National Title
ELLENSBURG, Wash.-Since finishing 2nd in the inaugural USA Rugby Sevens Championship, Central Washington Rugby has been waiting for another chance. The Wildcats dominated qualifying. Winning both of the Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference (NCRC) Seven’s warm-up tournaments by healthy margins. The national qualifier was held in Seattle and like the previous tournaments, CWU continued their dominance winning their third straight NCRC 7’s Cup. Central received an automatic bid for winning the qualifier and will look to improve on their second place last year.
The USA Rugby 7’s Championship will take place from Nov. 30th thru Dec. 1st being held on the campus of Texas A&M once again. “Texas A&M is a great host,” said Club President Jacob Bates,” the facilities are top-notch and provide an excellent national championship vibe.”
The pools have been released for the 24-team tournament and CWU has been placed in Pool C with the likes of Kutztown, Virginia, and the Texas Longhorns. The schedule has not been released as of yet, but we will keep this post updated when it is released.
Men’s Rugby Looks to Defend Northwest 7’s Title
ELLENSBURG, Wash.-The trip to Texas A&M and a National title will have to go through Memorial Stadium once again for the CWU Men’s Rugby team. The annual 7’s competition brings together Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference (NCRC) foes in Seattle.The winner advances to the USA Rugby 7’s National Championship in College Station, Texas.
Central Washington Men’s Rugby team has thoroughly dominated the competition throughout the NCRC 7’s Series. Winning both tournaments at Oregon State University and Washington State University. The Wildcats have not lost in 7’s competition this year and will look to continue that trend.
Even though the Wildcats are favored, they will see some stiff competition from Western Washington and Oregon State. Western was a 2011 USA 7’s Rugby National Championship participant.The Vikings played the Wildcats in the Cup final at the Palouse 7’s tournament hosted by Washington State. The Beavers also played the Wildcats in the Cup final at their home tournament where the Wildcats won a hard fought match.
Central Rugby has won every NCRC 7’s Championship tournament since it’s inception in in 2010. The Wildcats are also looking to improve on a second place finish at the USA Rugby 7’s National Cmapion
Tickets can purchased at this link: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/264831
Schedule is Below with CWU matches bolded
Opening Ceremony
8:40 CWU WOU
9:00 WWU BSU
9:20 EWU ISU
9:40 OSU UPS
10:00 CWU UO
10:20 WWU WSU
10:40 EWU UI
11:00 OSU UW
11:20 UO WOU
11:40 WSU BSU
12:00 UI ISU
12:20 UW UPS
1:00 Seed #1 Seed #8
1:20 Seed #2 Seed #7
1:40 Seed #3 Seed #6
2:00 Seed #4 Seed #5
2:20 Seed #9 Seed #12
2:40 Seed #10 Seed #11
3:00 L1/2/3/4 L1/2/3/4
3:20 L1/2/3/4 L1/2/3/4
3:40 W1/2/3/4 W1/2/3/4
4:00 W1/2/3/4 W1/2/3/4
4:20 L5 L6 11th/12th
4:40 W5 W6 9th/10th
5:00 L7 L8 7th/8th
5:20 W7 W8 5th/6th
5:40 L9 L10 3rd/4th
6:00 W9 W10 1st/2nd
CWU Rugby Wins Big at NCRC 7’s Series
CWU Rugby continued their dominance in Northwest 7′s as they outscored opponents 165 to 0. They will travel to Washington State this weekend as they continue the Northwest 7′s series. More information on their dominance can be found at this link.
http://www.rugbymag.com/news/colleges/collegiate-sevens/5941-cwu-breathes-clear-air-of-victory.html
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