GRR: Sacred Heart
As Sacred Heart has begun the Tri-State Men's DII Conference season 2-0, Chris Coyne has been at the heart of it.
The former BC High standout is a big, powerful prop who has set the tone in the scrums, and thumps bodies out of the way in the breakdown and running the ball. He's also the club president, carries a 3.8 GPA, and was all-conference last season.
Sacred Heart moved to 2-0 in the Tri-State Conference North Division with a tough 26-22 win over Siena Sunday.
The result put Tri-State teams on notice as Siena is always a strong team in the competition, and Sacred Heart looked good in beating them.
Sacred Heart University has made quite the leap. This time last year, the Pioneers were competing in NSCRO and advanced to the championship against fellow small college Roger Williams. Today, Sacred Heart is an NCAA DI varsity program facing the likes of Notre Dame College, AIC, and Norwich. That’s a sharp uptick in competition, but fortunately, the program has Michelle Reed at the helm.
The sport of women’s rugby has been elevated to varsity status at Sacred Heart University, as announced Wednesday by Executive Director of Athletics Bobby Valentine. The program will begin varsity competition in the Fall of 2015 and becomes the 32nd Division I varsity sport sponsored by the Pioneers.