The Oregon Club Sports women’s rugby team is going to Disney World, but they haven’t really won anything yet.
The Ducks will be competing in the national tournament Sweet 16 in Orlando, Fla., this weekend. They enter the tournament as the overall 15th seed, and third seed out of the Pacific Northwest.
The women defeated UC-Davis last weekend in the Pacific Coast Regional Tournament to earn a berth in nationals.
“We can do a lot if we just find that one game where everything falls into place,” coordinator Erica Kelly said.
Everything about the season seems to have fallen into place for the women, Kelly said. The Ducks have never made it to the national tournament and the level of play at regionals was more than they ever expected.
Kelly said that Oregon has a very dedicated team with rookies who have made a difference.
“We have a really cohesive team,” Kelly said. “We just want to go out and play our best.”

UO water polo

in nationals, too
The Oregon Club Sports women’s water polo team is two weeks away from the national tournament. And this year they will go on their own merit.
The Ducks competed in the tournament last year but only on a default because Washington could not raise enough money. But after defeating the Huskies 4-2 in regional tournament this year, Oregon leaves for Atlanta knowing they earned it.
“We have to go in with confidence,” junior coordinator Amanda Studdard said. “We want to do as well or better than last year.”
Oregon walked away with a fourth-place finish last year. They enter this year’s tournament seeded fourth out of the 12-team field.
The women have been on a two-a-day practice schedule recently. They are very confident in their defense, but on offense they need to work on movement and shooting, Studdard said. Most importantly, the Ducks are just having fun, she said.
“We play much better when we are having fun and need to keep that frame of mind,” Studdard said.

Ducks host triathlon
The Oregon Club Sports triathlon team hosted the third annual Duck Bill Chill Triathlon on Saturday.
It was a sprint distance triathlon that consisted of a 500-meter swim, a 12.4-mile bike and 3.1-mile run that began in the pool at the Student Recreation Center and weaved in and out of campus.
The Ducks had almost 80 competitors this year, a large improvement from last year, and were satisfied with the outcome.
“Our event gives a good opportunity for newcomers to get their feet wet, and for veteran triathletes to kick off their season,” head coach Jay Williams said.
The Bill Chill Triathlon is put on as a fund-raiser for the team to raise money for their big season race, May 3 through 5. The team will travel to Lake San Antonio, Calif., to compete in the Wildflower Seagate National Collegiate Championships.
The Ducks compete in the Olympic distance consisting of a 1.5-km swim, 40-km bike and 10-km run on a rigorous course. Williams will compete in the event, which is more than twice the distance of the Olympic course.