This fall, Colorado men’s water polo returned to the National Collegiate Club Championship for the eighth time in 25 years. The Buffaloes won the Rocky Mountain Division tournament, which earned the team a spot at Nationals, Nov. 12–14, 2021, in Huntsville, Alabama.

Despite the club’s longtime success, they faced a number of challenges: the cancellation of the 2020 season, nascent relationships among teammates and no prior experience at Nationals. 

“Coming off a season with no team, a lot of our players were true freshmen and sophomores and juniors who didn’t play the year before,” said head coach Adam Hurd (�����Dz�’17).&�Բ�����;

Men’s water polo practices in the �鶹��Ѱ�����Recreation Center pool and is funded by player dues. Players are divided into A and B teams that compete in weekend tournaments. Only the A team goes to Nationals.

In the Rocky Mountain Division, Utah is Colorado’s undisputed rival. While �鶹��Ѱ�����beat Utah in their first match of 2021 in early October, Utah dominated the rematch 14-7 two weeks later.

“The second game was a wake-up call. That motivated us to work harder and practice more seriously,” said first-year player Benji Budic (��������’25).

The A team faced Utah again in the Division Championship Oct. 31, winning 16-9 and avenging Utah’s 2019 conference tournament victory over the Buffs. Getting to Nationals involved more than beating Utah. Each player had to pay their share of the $20,000 trip. To help defray costs, the team set up a GoFundMe page, which later became a �鶹��Ѱ�����donation site.

Then, their flight to Huntsville was canceled — and team president Patrick Tippens (AeroEngr’22) spent an off day changing each player’s ticket and incurring hefty fees.

“We didn’t arrive until 4 a.m. and we had a game at noon,” Tippens said. “That was brutal.”

The fourth-seeded Buffaloes beat Georgia Tech 12-7 in that opening match before losing 16-11 to eventual National Champion Michigan State. After a 12-10 overtime loss to McKendree University, the Buffaloes defeated Pennsylvania 9-8 to earn seventh place in the nation. 

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Photo courtesy �鶹��Ѱ�����Men’s Water Polo 

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The 1967 �鶹��Ѱ�����rugby team, the university’s first. 

By Shane Brown

In the spring of 1967, a group of �鶹��Ѱ�����law students which included Clark Weaver&�Բ�����;(������’69),&�Բ�����;Bob Machester(������’69),&�Բ�����;Rick Ranson&�Բ�����;(������’70),&�Բ�����;Larry R. Gaddis (IntlAf’63; Law’69) and first-year �鶹��Ѱ�����law professor Jonathan “Skip” Chase started the �鶹��Ѱ�����Men’s Rugby Club. Most had played at other schools as undergraduates, and they were looking to create that same oasis in the troubled land that was university life in the age of Vietnam.

There were only two other teams in the area that first spring, the Denver Barbarians and the Colorado School of Mines. �鶹��Ѱ�����practiced and played games across Broadway at Baseline Junior High, with their first game being against the Barbarians.

The spring of 1968 saw the opening of a rivalry with Brigham Young Universty. The BYU team had experienced players from the South Pacific islands, with several of the gentlemen looking like they were “10 X 10.”  The crowd that day was big and the match exciting. �鶹��Ѱ�����lost a nailbiter on a penalty kick in the final minutes.

By the fall of 1968 more teams were forming, and the morning before the CU-Air Force football game, the rugby crew played its first match against the newly formed Air Force Academy team. That fall they also played in the first match of the Aspen Ruggerfest tournament’s inaugural year.

The motivation for playing at Ruggerfest was to play against better, more experienced teams from around the country at altitude.

�鶹��Ѱ�����rugby was a motley bunch the first couple of seasons, rummaging through the trunk of Ranson’s car before each match to figure out what jerseys they’d wear, but they were building a rugby tradition in Colorado. Fifty years later, the current club is 60 players strong, BYU is still a regular opponent and Air Force is a conference rival.

Former rugby coach Sean Edris addresses the alumni players at the 2017 reunion match. 

Over Labor Day weekend the club celebrated its 50th anniversary on campus. The highlight was a match pitting alumni against current �鶹��Ѱ�����players. About 40 alumni from all five decades participated.

David Bennet (DistSt’72), who first played for �鶹��Ѱ�����in the spring of 1969, played wing with finesse and showed the young’uns how to make a good pass. Pete Doody (Engl’81) showed that he can still hook. And Rich Frankenheimer (Econ’81) was a flash down the sidelines on several outside runs.

Dean Niro (CivEngr’88) played against his son, current �鶹��Ѱ�����flanker Zack Niro (EnvDes’19), and had a big smile on his face trotting away after taking down his son.

The ’90s were represented by Dan Hernandez (InfoSys’98) and Shane Brown (AeroEngr’95; MS’99), who showed that guys in their 40s can still out ruck 20-year olds. Dan Bludeau&�Բ�����;(�ᾱ����’01),&�Բ�����;Jeff Sorenson (MCDB, BioChem’01), Eric DeKruif&�Բ�����;(������Ƿ��Բ���’03),&�Բ�����;Chad Slaby&�Բ�����;(��dz���’03),&�Բ�����;Marc Maginn (Bus’04) played like they were still in their prime. The depth of the alumni team came from the most recent graduates.

Charlie Barkmeier (Econ’15) summed up the consensus of the newly minted alumni that this game really hurts when you’re no longer playing every day. Many additional alumni watched from the sidelines, and while everybody had fun, the alumni back on the field again playing the game they love had the most.

Planning has begun for a 2018 alumni event, again scheduled for Labor Day weekend, when the Club will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their 2008 Big Four run (collegiate rugby’s version of the Final Four).

The �鶹��Ѱ�����Men’s Rugby Club, coached by Murray Ian Wallace, competes in the Rocky Mountain Conference of D1-A rugby, the highest level of collegiate rugby in the U.S.

For more information about the upcoming 2018 event, check out the club’s website or email info@curugbylegacy.org. 

The 2017 alumni rugby crew at their Labor Day weekend reunion. 

Shane Brown (AeroEngr’95; MS’99) played for �鶹��Ѱ�����Boulder’s rugby squad from 1991-95 and from 1997-99. He lives in Boulder and serves on the board of directors of �鶹��Ѱ�����Rugby Legacy, the team’s alumni group.

Photos courtesy Shane Brown 

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Tennis Boogies to Nationals

�鶹��Ѱ�����club tennis has officially punched a ticket to the national championship tournament. On Thursday, April 13, the team heads to Orlando, Fla., to test their mettle against the best college clubs in America.

“We are pretty strong, but the competition at nationals will be very hard,” said sophomore Emma Schilling (Psych, StComm'19), who will play women’s doubles and mixed doubles matches. “There’s kids at other schools who have played Division I, and have now joined the club team instead, so we see a lot of amazing athletes. It’ll be fun to go compete and see how we do.”

The �鶹��Ѱ�����team tries to keep things lighthearted, combating nerves by dancing. Their mantra is “lets boogie” — and that’s exactly what they plan on doing no matter the outcome in Florida.

Lacrosse, Ice Hockey, Triathalon…

Men’s lacrosse is 12-3 heading into its final game of the season April 15, against Colorado State. Ben Wharton (IntPhys'17) and Colin Macilvennie (A&S'20) scored four goals each in a March 19 match up against Chapman 17 to 15. ... �鶹��Ѱ�����men’s ice hockey just wrapped up the season, with Alex Temby (Fin'17) receiving WCHL all league first team honors and Matt Anders (A&S'18), Jake Bauer (EBio'18) and Ben Hull (Econ'19) receiving all league second team honors. … Our very own �鶹��Ѱ�����club triathlon team is the 2017 MCTC regional champ!

Swimming

CU’s women swimmers placed first at their national competition April 7-9 at Georgia Tech. So did the divers. … Men placed fourth and the �鶹��Ѱ�����squad placed third overall — the same as last year. … The 130-member co-ed swim team has won nine national titles, most recently in 2015.

Sko Buffs!

Have a tip? Email Kelsey Pilipovich (Jour’18) at Kelsey.Pilipovich@Colorado.edu. 

Photo courtesy �鶹��Ѱ�����men's hockey 

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The �鶹��Ѱ�����triathlon team celebrates at the Rocky Mountain Triathlon Collegiate Championships in Lake Havasu, Ariz. The team swept the men’s, women’s and overall titles.

Three �鶹��Ѱ�����club sports programs won national titles during the spring season: swimming and diving, freestyle skiing and the crew team (women’s novice eights). In addition, �鶹��Ѱ�����triathlete Jessica Broderick won the female overall individual title at the Collegiate Nationals, leading the �鶹��Ѱ�����women to a runner-up team finish. Meanwhile, two other club sports lost in national championship games — women’s lacrosse and men’s Ultimate Frisbee. All of the athletes involved will be recognized for their successes during a home football game this fall.

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