Sophomore K.J. Washington runs the ball past a grounded defender.
The Murray State Rugby Club held its annual alumni scrimmage Saturday afternoon. The current team triumphed over the alumni in the best of three games.
Relatively few alumni could make it to the game, so the teams played seven on seven with seven-minute halves, with one of the teams comprised of both active and alumni players.
Four alumni were in attendance Saturday: Andy Biggs, Kurt Ladendorf, Shawn Linder and Ian Stamps. Biggs and Linder both had long road trips to attend the game, coming from Texas and California, respectively.
“The whole point is to get together with people who have played at Murray State in the past and just have fun,” Biggs said. “It’s fun to see where people have gone and what they’ve done since college.”
The first game started unfortunately as two players, alumnus Ian Stamps and current player Branson Schroeder, were injured within the first five minutes of action. Play continued, however, and Murray State bettered the alumni 7-6.
The alumni responded in the second game with a 6-5 victory of their own to even the series.
The third and final game was tied at seven at the end of regulation, forcing a sudden death overtime. Murray State pulled out the win in the end, scoring the first point in overtime to win the game 7-6 and clinching the three-game series.
“It’s really cool to be able to play with the guys who helped grow this program on campus,” said Sophomore Travis Nelson. “It was a super fun experience.”
The Rugby Club now turns its attention toward attracting new interest in the program.
“There will be 15 guys that show up for everything and are super dedicated,” Biggs said. “But there needs to be more people involved in the program.”
The current players have plans to set up booths at Summer Orientations to attract incoming freshmen. They are actively seeking new participants and will provide more information to those interested.
Story by Peter Northcutt, Staff writer