By Anthony Himes
When you take a look back at Mesa State’s athletic history, you can easily be impressed with some of the teams that have played here or by some athletes that have put a jersey on. It’s a rich history full of tradition and pride. There is, however, one thing you will not see, a national championship from any team.
On March 24, the women’s rugby team will travel to Norman, Oklahoma to play in the West Regional Tournament, a tourney they were invited to for winning their division. After an undefeated season, most games ending in blowouts, the girls have a real good shot at winning the three games over the weekend to advance to California and then to try and win the national championship in Pennsylvania. These girls can bring the first national championship to Mesa State.
I know rugby is not an actual sport on campus. It’s an “emerging sport” that hardly gets any budgeting. They get enough money from the school to purchase one, maybe two game balls, everything else is from their own pockets. If they do win it all, there won’t be a banner atop of Brownson Arena commemorating the amazing feat. The fact that a representative from this school would mean a lot to this community.
The ladies have played like a team better than anyone else at Mesa State. Their chemistry on the field is like none other. Of course they mean business, but you will see the smiling and even fun on the field, just like they do with each other off the field. When a team is led by girls like Mack Lewis, who is also captain of the U.S. Rugby team, and Booby Bouchard, we know good things are going to happen.
With eight combined athletes competing in Nationals for swimming, wrestling and indoor track, maybe one of them will bring home a national title. I will be keeping a close eye on all of them and will be rooting for them, but they all have a very tough job. It’s the rugby team that has the greatest chance because they have the best team. They have been able to dominate all season long and it’s obvious that they are hungry for a lot more.
When you see the team selling hats in the College Center or at McAllister’s raising money, it would be a great buy on your part to get the hat. Not only are you helping raise money for the team so they can get the equipment they need, but you are helping the best team on campus. You are helping bring a title to Mesa State. A championship means that you were the best of the best. It doesn’t matter if the team is officially a sport on campus. If the team does, and most likely will, bring a big trophy to Grand Junction, we should all celebrate it. We should all take pride in what the rugby girls did for us. They deserve a lot more credit then what we give them. They truly are a great tem on campus that should be recognized as a sport.