GRR: Women DII College
Kennesaw State is dense with nervous energy, as four college national championships prepare to play out tomorrow. For women’s DII finalist UC Riverside, it’s an experience that almost never happened. The Southern California team fundraised for trips to Albuquerque and Pittsburgh, but cashed in every favor to afford the trip to the spring championship.
There are a few debutantes at this year’s Women’s College 7s Championship. The competition welcomes west coast additions UC Davis and Humboldt, which were both spring 15s playoff teams, as well as Rutgers, which represents one of two teams located north of the Mason Dixon line. And then there’s Montana State, which until this spring, hadn’t made much noise on the national or regional scene.
The Women's National College 7s Championship (May 23-24, Denver) brings together a diverse group of teams that took very different paths to the final tournament. Some teams qualified in the fall, others are playing 15s until this weekend, while others still are very new to the game of 7s. While there are some regrettable absences, the 16-team field provides a nice cross-section of the country.
This weekend is it. The fall and spring college champions will meet at Kennesaw State this Saturday and contest the women’s DI and DII national championships. First-year varsity program Central Washington will challenge reigning DI titleholder Penn State, while UC Riverside will attempt to continue its spring winning streak against Notre Dame College.
As the only Midwest representative in both the DI and DII ACRA 7s championships, Davenport did its region proud this weekend in West Point, N.Y. The Panthers outscored its five opponents 166-38 and is the undisputed DII ACRA 7s champion.