Spring Break
Men's rugby will compete in the Western Rugby Playoffs
Brad Milner
The men's rugby team will travel to Rice University March 18-19 to compete in the first rounds of the Western Rugby Playoffs. Colorado State holds the third and final spot from the Eastern Rockies Football Union. Overall, it sits at the No. 5 seed and second in its pool.
With two wins, it will advance to the Western Playoffs Final Four at Rice University on April 1. Pool play begins with Rice University on Saturday; if the Rams win that game, they will play Texas A&M on Sunday.
If CSU makes it to the Final Four, the Rams will have to defeat the winner of pool A to secure one of two western seeds in the U.S. Rugby Championships Sweet 16 on April 15-16. The team is hoping to advance for the second time in the three years.
In 1998, the Rams faced eventual national champion California University in the Sweet 16 and lost 37-5. But they rebounded in consolation with a win over Clemson 24-19. Last year, they were not selected to play in the Western Playoffs.
A win in the finals will give the Rams a No. 7 seed at nationals and a first-round match against the No. 1 seed from the Southern California tournament. If they lose, they will get a No. 13 seed and play against Army.
A Feb. 27 win over Air Force proved the Ram ruggers had all the tools to compete with any team.
"It was a wonderful victory," Wolfe said. "The team played well and together for a full 80 minutes."
Though they are confident of their chances at making it back to nationals, the trip will take its toll. The Western Final Four is two weeks after the first rounds. Elimination rounds for nationals will be held in either Maryland or at West Point, and the U.S. Rugby Final Four will be in Tampa, Fla., nearly three weeks later.
"It's a bad set-up," coach Jesse Porter said, "as it is making everybody travel so much."
The road to nationals will be difficult with teams such as last year's Western champion Truman State and runner-up Wyoming. But then again, the team knows playing the best is the only way to show it is worthy.
Club Notes:
Women's polo advanced to the national championships by defeating Oklahoma and Texas A&M at the Central Regionals March 2-5.
The men's team fell short of the chance to defend its national title in a 25-9 loss to A&M in the finals. Nationals will be held March 27-April 1 at Brushy Creek, Texas with a first round game against the University of Virginia on March 28.
Alpine skier Michelle Madderom placed 21st in giant slalom competition and 15th in slalom last week at the United States Collegiate Skiing Association nat-ional championships at Loon Moun-tain, N.H. Her 15th-place finish sealed Athletic All-American honors.
Men's and women's ultimate frisbee will host the Rocky Moun-tain Invitational. The tournament will be held March 18 and 19 at the Intramural fields regardless of the weather. Schools participating include Nebraska University, Utah State, Colorado School of Mines and Wyoming.
A devastating 9-3 first round loss to Indiana University cost hockey a chance to play for the national championship. A 2-1 record was only good enough for a second place finish in their pool, but was a vast improvement on an 0-3 mark in 1999. The team finished 21-6 overall during the regular season.
A 2-2 road trip dropped men's lacrosse to 5-3 (2-0 Rocky Moun-tain Intercollegiate Lacrosse League). They played against top ranked teams from California and fell victim to Sonoma State and University of California-Berkeley and won against Stanford and UC-Davis. Road league games against Fort Lewis on March 24 and Utah on March 25 await the Rams.
A successful weekend before spring break raised the baseball team's record to 6-11 (1-1 league). The game against Texas in Greeley on Wednesday was canceled due to snow, and the reschedule date is not known. The team will travel to Lamar Community College on Sat-urday and AFA on Sunday before playing eight straight conference games.
