ATLANTA, Ga.- Head Coach
Tony DeRemer and the West Chester women's rugby team are finishing their preparations in advance of the Inaugural USA Rugby 7's Collegiate Championships at Kennesaw State in Atlanta, Georgia. The Championships will begin on Saturday, May 14
th, with West Chester's first game to be played at 10:40 on Saturday morning vs Brown on Field Two before facing Dartmouth and Lindenwood on the main stadium field at 3:15 and 5:25, respectively.
The action throughout the weekend will be broadcast live on NBC's Peacock Streaming Service from 10 a.m.-to 6 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, with action from the Tournament also being nationally televised on CNBC on Saturday afternoon from 2-4 p.m., which may include coverage of the Golden Rams 3:15 game vs Dartmouth. Television coverage will resume on Sunday beginning on CNBC from 2-4, with the final games appearing on NBC from 4-6 p.m. on Sunday evening.
No strangers to postseason Tournaments, Coach DeRemer and the Golden Rams have been fixtures in the postseason throughout the years, including back-to-back appearances in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association 15s Championship game in November 2019 and 2021. When asked about the opportunity to play at the Inaugural USA Rugby 7's Collegiate Championships, Coach DeRemer said, "It feels great to be a part of this. This is our seventh year of playing 7s, and we have improved each year in our record and how we play. I am very proud of how much we have improved over this time, and the opportunity to play in this Tournament is an honor and a true testament to the hard work and dedication we have all put into this program," continued the Golden Rams head coach.
Over the course of the 2022 season, West Chester has played to a record of 10-5 in four tournaments, including a perfect 3-0 day at the Bloomsburg 7's Tournament to open the season and a 3-1 day at the Emperor 7's Tournament hosted by Princeton on Saturday the 16
th, which proved to be the team's final regular-season tournament after the team's final Tournament of the Spring at Army was canceled.
"Having so much time off since our last Tournament isn't as helpful as some might think," acknowledged DeRemer. "So much of our game here at West Chester is relying on game fitness, and this is even more important in 7's play as it is such a high speed/high endurance game with the two seven-minute halves. We have done what we can to mimic this, working with seven-minute fitness intervals followed by a minute off and working out hard on hot days to prepare for the heat we are expecting in Georgia this weekend, but not playing since April 16
th is still a challenge," explained DeRemer.
So far this season,
Autumn Czaplicki (Pillow, Pa./Line Mountain High School) has continued her stellar career, as she leads the team in scoring with 15 trys and three conversions for a team-best 81 points on the season. Earlier this Spring, Czaplicki set the new program record for career trys in 7's competition, registering her 46
th at the Harvard Crimson 7's Tournament to pass
Lili Riley, who previously held the record with 41 on her career.
Julianna Aliprandi (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Hills) has been the Golden Rams primary option on conversions this spring, successfully hitting 25 conversions and two trys for 60 points. Freshman
Brooke Crago (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Township) has been very productive as well logging eight trys of her own for 40 points on the season. In addition to the impressive Spring seasons from Czaplicki, Aliprandi, and Crago, West Chester has remained very balanced throughout the season as 14 different Golden Rams have managed to score trys for West Chester this year as the team has scored 57 on the season along with 29 conversions for a total of 343 points on the Spring season.
"We benefit from both the local and major Tournaments we go to during the 7's season," explained DeRemer. "The local tournaments like Bloomsburg and Princeton allow us to bring more players and help build our depth, while the bigger Tournaments like the Harvard Tournament we attended in April allow us to play big, top-level teams like Harvard, Army, and AIC, which gives us a great opportunity to test ourselves and continue to develop," stated DeRemer.
When asked about his final message to his team on Friday night in advance of the tournament opener on Saturday, DeRemer said, "I am going to tell them to take in the experience. This is a big event, and it is an honor and testament to our hard work to get to play in this event. Everything I have read about it talks about it being geared toward player experience, so while we certainly want to play our best and come away with some good results, we also want to enjoy the awesome experience of being a part of this inaugural Tournament," concluded DeRemer.
West Chester will begin its Tournament campaign on Saturday morning vs Brown before facing perennial powers Darthmouth and Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon.
