Rugby Teams Dominate Virginia Rugby Union Opponents

By John Graham
Community SubmissionThe Longwood men's rugby team dominated Washington & Lee (W&L) University 54-10 on a rainy Family Weekend game at the First Avenue field Sat., Sept. 26. Longwood started slow but opened the scoring with a Patrick Baden penalty kick and a try from Preston Leep. W&L responded well with a penalty kick and try of its own which left the halftime score 20-10 in favor of the home team. Longwood overcame the wet conditions and mistakes to run in 34 points in the second half to leave no doubt as to the final outcome. Longwood scored nine tries in all: two each from Austen Lux and Dan Waite, one each from Leep, "Lumberjack" Betz, Paul Brockman, "TJ" Van Patten and "JJ" Kennedy. Baden added nine points kicking to give the final tally. Waite was named man-of-the match for his performance. The win puts Longwood in first place in the current Virginia Rugby Union (VRU) Standings.

Lineup: B. Hancock, J. Bittner, P. Parker, A. Lux, B. Rogers, J. Betz, T. Van Patten, P. Baden, J. Singer, P. Leep, J. Kennedy, D. Waite, P. Brockman, J. Kelly, D. Meadows.
Substitutes: B. Rictor, J. Abel, A. Randall, C. Boykin, M. Boatright, J. Shepherd

The Longwood women's rugby team traveled to Richmond to take on Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) at Pole Green Park. The game was a rout from the beginning with a halftime score of 29-0 in favor of Longwood. Four tries from Gabby Dixon, three from Emily Laura and one try each from Kaelynne Nill, Taryn Langmead, Kiki Witcher, Ashlee Irby and Kelsey Tarmy; combined with 20 points kicking from Nikole "Sharkbait" Widder-Varhegyi led to and final score of 80-0 for the defending Virginia Rugby Union (VRU) Champions.

Lineup: C. McGill, L. Witcher, J. Pappas, S. Railton, T. Langmead, A. Irby, B. Lewis, A. Hartley, N. Widder-Varhegyi, E. Mitchell, E. Laura, K. Nill, G. Dixon, K. Tarmy, M. Hull
Substitutes: A. Harris, J. Estep-Johnson

This coming weekend, the men are playing at the University of Richmond. The women's next game is Sat.,Oct. 17 at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg. For more information, visit longwoodrugby.org