2024 Division 1-A Rugby Championship Explained

The 2024 Division 1-A Rugby Championship is the twelfth season of the Division 1-A Rugby championship, the annual university rugby union competition run by USA Rugby for teams from the top twelve college teams in the United States. Navy entered as defending champions having won their first Championship, capping a perfect 18–0 2023 season.^[1] St. Mary's beat Navy in the final 26–22 in the final to secure their fourth championship.

Teams

Sixteen clubs from the six major conferences compete in the 2024 National Championship playoffs.

The distribution of teams is:

• PAC Rugby Conference

three teams

• California: two teams
• Rocky Mountain: one team
• Independent: three team
• Rugby East: five teams
• Mid-West Conference: two teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament.

Standings

Rugby East (North)^[2]

scope=col		scope=col	Team	scope=col	Record	scope=col		scope=col
1	Navy	7–0	4	32
2	Life	5–1–0	6	26
3	Notre Dame College	4–1–1	3	21
4	Mount St. Mary's	4–2	2	18
5	St. Bonaventure	4–3	2	18
6	University of Mary Washington	3–3	4	16
7	Army	2–4–1	4	14
6	Kutztown	2–5	6	14
9	Queens	2–4	3	11
10	Southern Virginia	1–5	3	7
11	Penn State	0–6	3	3

colspan=4

Big Ten East
scope=col		scope=col	Team	scope=col	Record	scope=col	Points
1	Ohio State	3–1	12
2	Michigan State	2–0	8
3	Michigan	1–4	5
4	Notre Dame	0–3	2
Big Ten West
scope=col		scope=col	Team	scope=col	Record	scope=col	Points
1	Indiana	4–0	16
2	Illinois	1–1	4
3	Wisconsin	1–1	4
4	Purdue	1–2	4

Mid-West

scope=col		scope=col	Team	scope=col	Record	scope=col		scope=col
1	Lindenwood	3–0	2	14
2	Davenport	2–1	3	11
3	Adrian	0–2	0	0
4	McKendree	0–2	0	0

California^[3]

scope=col		scope=col	Team	scope=col	Record	scope=col		scope=col		scope=col
1	Cal Poly	7–1	+422	8	36
2	Saint Mary's	7–0	+525	7	35
3	UC Santa Barbara	5–3	+118	5	25
4	Long Beach	5–2	+66	5	25
5	UC Davis	4–4	–144	4	20
6	San Diego State	3–5	–132	6	18
7	Santa Cruz	1–5–1	–291	2	8
6	Santa Clara	1–7	–266	3	7
9	Sacramento	0–1–6	–298	1	3

Independent^{[4] [5]}

scope=col	Team	scope=col	Record	scope=col
Central Washington	8–3	+79
Grand Canyon University	4–4	+63

Pac Rugby Conference^[6]

scope=col		scope=col	Team	scope=col	Record	scope=col		scope=col		scope=col
1	California	3–0	+176	3	15
2	UCLA	2–1	+29	2	10
3	Arizona	1–2	–38	2	7
4	Utah	0–3	–170	1	1

Rocky Mountain^[7]

scope=col	Team	scope=col	Record	scope=col
BYU	5–0	+339

Bracket

Playoffs

Round 1

--------------------Notes:

• The Mids improved to 11-0 at home on the season outscoring opponents, 606-110
• Beitia scored the fifth-fastest try to begin a game in team history
• Krieger led Navy with 16 points in the win, which is the eighth-most points scored in a single game in program history
• Krieger's effort helped him pass 300-points scored in his career.

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Quarter-finals

--------Notes:

• Krieger's point total helped him become the first mid to score more than 200 points in a single season (219)

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Semi-finals

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Final

Rudy Scholz Award

Winner

• Wyatt Parry – BYU

Finalists

• Eduan Van Heerden – Lindenwood
• Wyatt Parry – BYU
• Evan Roode – Arkansas State
• Dom Besag – Saint Mary's

Nominations

• Caden Crist – Cal
• Calvin Liulamaga – CWU
• Cole Semu – BYU
• Dom Besag – Saint Mary's
• Eduan Van Heerden – Lindenwood
• EJ Freeman – Arizona
• Erich Storti – Saint Mary's
• Evan Roode – Arkansas State
• Hayden McKay – Mount St. Mary's
• Ishma-eel Safodien – Life
• Jack Phillips – Kentucky
• Oliver Corbett – Brown
• Peyton Wall – Indiana
• Remy Thomson – Notre Dame College
• Roanin Krieger – Navy
• Tiaan Mosconi – West Point
• Vaughn Schmitz – Navy
• Wyatt Parry – BYU

2023–2024 First Team All Americans

• Emilio Shea – University of California – Berkeley
• Cade Crist – University of California – Berkeley
• Connor Devos – Lindenwood University
• Alejandro Martinez Tapia – Lindenwood University
• Will Sherman – University of California – Los Angeles
• Logan Ballinger – Life University
• Kaipono Kaioshi – Saint Mary’s College
• Ben Haugh – United States Naval Academy
• Solomon Williams – University of California – Berkeley
• Wyatt Parry – Brigham Young University
• Dominic Besag – Saint Mary’s College
• Erich Storti – Saint Mary’s College
• Oscar Treacy – Central Washington University
• Josefa Toiaivao – Saint Mary’s College
• Tayson Hammer – Brigham Young University
• Quinton Tindal – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
• Campbell Robb – Central Washington University
• Leon Best – Life University
• Hayden McKay – Mount Saint Mary’s University
• EJ Freeman – University of Arizona
• Jake Cornelius – United States Naval Academy
• Rand Santos – University of California – Berkeley
• Ronan Krieger – United States Naval Academy

Notes and References

1. Web site: Navy Caps Off 18-0 Season With Dramatic Final Win Over Cal . Goff Rugby Report . 6 May 2023 . 7 May 2023.
2. Web site: Fall 2023 Standings . Rugby East . 12 December 2023.
3. Web site: California D1A Conference Wraps Up With Positives For Many . Goff Rugby Report . 22 March 2024.
4. Web site: Central Washington University 2024 Men's Rugby Schedule . CWU . 26 March 2024.
5. Web site: Grand Canyon University Club Sports 2023-24 Men's Rugby Schedule. GCU club sports . 26 March 2024.
6. Web site: Bears Handle Utes On The Road . Cal Bears . 27 March 2024.
7. Web site: SCHEDULE . BYU Rugby . 29 March 2024.