GRR: Lindenwood Women
Lindenwood University's women's rugby team is joining NIRA, the NCAA varsity competition.
Standing alone atop women’s college rugby, Freda Tafuna knows she’s not alone. In fact, playing this ultimate of team sports has always been a team game for Tafuna, on and off the field.
Harvard pulled off a major championship double, beating Lindenwood in the final of the CRAA Women's Premier 7s to bookend their fall 2023 NIRA D1 title.
Playing at Aveva Stadium in Houston, Harvard topped the 10-team field that included NIRA (NCAA Varsity) teams plus D1 Elite programs Lindenwood, Life, and Penn State.
Freda Tafuna of Lindenwood has been named the 2024 winner of the MA Sorensen Award as the top female collegiate rugby player in the United States.
In a wild barnburner of a D1 Elite final, Life University somehow got by Lindenwood to win their first-ever Women's D1 Elite Championship.
These two teams had been in the final against each other five previous times—every final since the 2017-18 season (2020 was COVID-canceled), and Lindenwood has prevailed each time.