The annual Ducks vs. Alumni game ended on a high note for the women’s Club rugby team as freshman Autumn Manelick ran the ball into the end zone. Manelick capped off a final valiant offensive effort that began halfway down the field, but the five points that resulted from the score came too little, too late for Oregon; the Ducks lost 60-5 on Saturday at Southbank Field.
“We actually did better than I thought,” Ducks head coach Greg Farrell said. “We’re missing seven of our starting seniors today, and they are our most experienced players, so we fielded a really young team, and I think they did well.”
Stephanie Hyde, a sophomore on the team, echoed the sentiment.
“We were predominantly rookies today,” she said. “We were a little rusty because our season ended seven weeks ago, but we drew on this year’s experience, and it was a pretty good game.”
Four of Oregon’s regular starters were away at tryouts for the National Rugby team — a testament to the successful season the Club team had this year. The Ducks were undefeated and won the Pacific Northwest Championships.
“We have a really good team to build off for next year,” said Farrell, who has been with the team for five years. “This Alumni game was a good experience for our younger players, and a chance to give them a glimpse of what they could be in four years.”
Until Manelick’s try in the closing minutes of the second half, the Alumni had nearly confined the Club team to its half of the field. Oregon had some difficulty advancing the ball up the field, straining to contain the Alumni’s defense for most of the game.
Still, the showdown was a nice homecoming for the Alumni, some of whom traveled overseas to come back to Eugene and play.
“I flew up here from Hawaii,” said Lea Payton, 25, who graduated in 2002. “I come back every year because, hey, it’s a tradition.”
Payton started playing with the team in 1998 and continues her
involvement with the Club even
after graduation.
“We’re all pretty close,” she said. “Rugby just brings you together.”
This is also the mentality that Sherri Michl has taken. Michl, 30, was one of the original Dirty Ducks when the team was first founded as a Club sport in 1997.
“This was a chance to get to see good friends and play some more rugby. These were the people who defined my last couple of years in college,” said Michl, who plays for a rugby club in Portland. ” We have a special kind of camaraderie, and it really doesn’t matter who wins or loses.”
The Ducks vs. Alumni game was started last year as a team fundraiser and a way to solidify ties between the current team and its Alumni.
“We play a game, then go out for a team social where we auction
off some jerseys to the Alumni,
and hopefully get enough money to buy new uniforms for next year,” Farrell said.