National Collegiate Rugby Release
National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) announced the final 28 teams that will compete for the Men’s Small College title at the Collegiate Rugby Championship in New Orleans. The 2022 CRC includes the largest field of Small College schools in the tournament’s history.
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NCR has expanded the Small College championship field based on the depth and quality of small college teams across the country. The participating schools include the winners of eleven automatic qualifying tournaments, as well as at-large bids.
Eleven schools competed in previous CRC Small College Championships, led by Susquehanna University with six appearances, followed by Christendom with three, Babson and Wisconsin-Stevens Point with two and single appearances by Wayne State, Colby, Endicott, Denver, Loyola Maryland, Richmond and Grove City.
Coach Gearoid Dunbar leads a talented New Mexico Tech team that barely lost to Christendom this past December in the NCR Small College 15s Championship final. Led by standout Milaan Van Wyk, they are looking to claim the 7s title. Conference Champions, including Susquehanna (MARC), Babson (NERFU), John Carroll (Allegheny), Endicott (Colonial Coast) and Virginia Military (Cardinals) will also be making a strong run at the title. With such a deep field, there will be opportunities for many other teams to break through into the knockout rounds.
The Small College division was added to the CRC in 2013, initially under the NSCRO banner, and has produced several memorable championship matches. In 2015, New Mexico Highlands University defeated defending Champion New England College when time expired when Ke’von Williams scored a brilliant try to earn the Vatos the title. Ke’von has since become a standout and captain for the Eagle 7s. In 2017, Christendom College (with a male student enrollment of approximately 200) defeated St. Mary’s College of Maryland in a thrilling OT final.
The tournament starts on May 28 with round robin play across the seven groups. Sixteen teams will proceed to the quarterfinals on May 29, with the bottom twelve teams playing consolation matches.
Broadcasting live on The Rugby Network, the semi-finals and championship matches will be played on May 30 in the Shrine on Airline stadium.
Hosted by Major League Rugby’s NOLA Gold, the 2022 Collegiate Rugby Championship will be held over Memorial Day weekend, May 28-30. As the largest college rugby tournament in North America, the CRC will include over 100 collegiate teams.
