Photo courtesy Lee University Rugby Facebook (@LeeUniversityRugby)
Lee University has long been a dominant force in the South, even before the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) was born into existence. The Tennessee program is a regular in the 7s and 15s national championships, and takes the Mid-Atlantic berth to Marietta, Ga., this weekend.
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It’s been a couple of years since Lee last featured in NSCRO’s 15s national semifinals, and head coach Mike Freake began to ponder the program’s future path.
“I felt like we were almost at a tipping point: Could we be competitive in 15s or be more and more of a 7s program,” Freake said. “Numbers were tough the last two years, but this semester turned around. It made me think that we can be a good 15s program, too, which I think is important. I like that diversity; there’s more opportunity for players to play instead of just the quick girls. I’m excited and encouraged by returning to a decently sized roster.”
The roster has its share of super seniors and graduate students, and strong recruitment pulled talent from campus as well as freshmen with high school rugby experience. Freake credited the boost to president Ellie Long, who has a knack for building relationships, and super senior Sabrina Childress, a McMinn Tribe alumna, for directing social activities that engage players.
“Building community and culture has been a big focus,” Freake said. “So we start with that and then set some non-negotiables in terms of communication, support and attacking the ball – the three fundamentals we were working toward.”
Lee is an independent team and played teams like UT Chattanooga, Kennesaw State, UT Knoxville and Lander University during the fall. Some of those fixtures ended up being 10s due to opponents’ low numbers, and field time was further stressed as Freake attempted to give every player at least one half of playing time per game.
“We were undercooked, both in the number of games and 15s games, but also in the starting group not having much time together,” Freake said of the team’s readiness for NSCRO regionals.
“One of our 10s games was against Lander University, a new varsity program,” the coach continued. “The girls played a tough, very physical game, so they played good rugby. So they were nervous heading into the [Mid-Atlantic regional championship] but also knew they could play quite nice rugby.”
Lee must participate in the Mid-Atlantic pool of the NSCRO 15s Rounds of 16/8 because there is no southern pool. The previous two years, York College (2017) and Catholic University of American (2018) ended the Flames’ post-season at the regional level, and in 2019, Lee had the opportunity to address both of those defeats in Pennsylvania.
In the Round of 16, Lee faced the Mid-Atlantic’s York College, which plays DII teams during the regular season. The teams traded scores and went into the break knotted at 10. The second half, however, produced a surge.
“Our backline started to really function quite nicely,” Freake said of difference-makers against York. “Our 13 [Bailey Grubb] is a freshman but has high school experience, and she adds a lot to the back line. We’re able to create defensive problems around their outside channels because we have a good left wing and fullback. That combination with the outside center gives our flyhalf [Lauren Judkins] options. She has a good pass and can pick out who to hit, and those options in the outside channel worked nicely against York.”
Lee put down five unanswered tries in the second half for a 35-10 win. Sarah Crump (3), Sabrina Childress (2), Samantha Childress and Anna Gilliam scored the tries. Meanwhile, Catholic defeated Albright 26-25 in the Round of 16, setting up a rematch of the 2018 quarterfinals. Last year, Catholic knocked out Lee with a five-point win and went on to finish second in the nation to Wayne State College. It stung a bit, to be that close, and Lee was eager to see Catholic again.
“Having strength in your outside channels allows you to have 2-3 points of attack on the field. It’s more challenging for the defense,” Freake said of diversifying the team game. “That’s the big difference between this year’s team and last year’s; our numbers were lower and we were more one-dimensional last year.
“Catholic was just very even,” the coach said of the quarterfinal. “We had no massive supremacy in any area, just incrementally built a few scores while holding on defensively the whole time.”
Regional championship MVP Grubb (2), Heart and Soul award recipient Sabrina Childress and Crump scored tries, and Grubb kicked two conversions in the 24-5 win.
“They found their rhythm over the weekend. They worked things out and got into their structure and built some confidence,” Freake said. “Working through those hard games – defending well and building scores gradually – gives them the confidence that they can play tough teams and hang in there.
“It was a really big deal to beat those two,” the coach said of redemption. “They weren’t easy games; they’re both really quality teams and the girls had to dig deep.”
Lee will be the “local” team at NSCRO nationals this weekend, being approximately 100 miles from Life University in Marietta, Ga. The Flames will face Endicott College (Beverly, Mass.) in the national semifinals on Saturday, and then either Wayne State College (Wayne, Neb.) or MSU Moorhead (Moorhead, Minn.) on Sunday, Dec. 8. Although it’s been a couple years since Lee has competed at this final stage of nationals, there are still players who can ready the younger classes for the unique environment to come.
“We’ve been to regionals the last 4-5 years at least and we’ve been to 7s nationals every year now. We have senior players who have been great in giving the girls some perspective and confidence,” Freake said. “A lot of it is the first-semester players, and here we go traipsing off to a national championship. The seniors can say, ‘That was us and we did the same thing, and we were competitive at final four.’ That track record really helps.”
It’s been a month since the regional championships, an extended gap that relates to the late date of Thanksgiving. Freake appreciates the time to heal injuries and release some of the pressure to coordinate exams, but there is an on-field impact.
“It’s a really big deal to be going but at the same time, it’s a little bit of a blur,” Freake said. “It would have been nice to get a bit of a runout [last weekend] but it didn’t work out with other teams’ schedules. You’ve started to gel and groove, and get the structure going, and it would have been good to reinforce it with another game 1-2 weeks after regionals.
“Right now they’re overwhelmed with school and exams, but they’re enjoying practicing and they’re excited about final four. They’re thrilled to have the opportunity to go and finish the season on a high,” Freake concluded. “It’s just been exciting to have the numbers and see how many freshmen we have in their first year and the way they’re progressing. If we can keep them and keep recruiting, it looks good for our future.”
For more information, visit www.nscro.org.
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