Men's rugby club earns invite to national tourney

The Western Washington University men's rugby club has earned an at-large selection to the USA Rugby College 7s Nationals, which begin Nov. 30 in College Station, Texas.

Western is one of 24 teams -- 13 of them at-large selections -- to make the tourney.

The decision was a nerve-wracking one for head coach Adam Roberts, according to a recent post on the team's website, as there were at least 25 applicants for the 13 available spots.

The 24-team field, according to Rugby Magazine:

Automatic qualifiers:

• Cal
• Central Washington
• Dartmouth
• Davenport
• Life
• Lindenwood
• Northeastern
• San Diego State
• Texas
• Texas A&M
• Wisconsin

At-large selections:

• Air Force
• Arkansas State
• Bowling Green
• Cal Poly
• Colorado State
• Delaware
• Kutztown
• Navy
• NC State
• St. Mary's
• UCLA
• Virginia
• Western Washington