ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk honored the men's rugby team as the winner of the 2022-23 NAAA Director of Athletics Cup.
The Director of Athletics Cup was established to recognize intercollegiate excellence and the Naval Academy varsity team that exemplifies itself as a standard bearer in academics, leadership, varsity competition, conduct, aptitude for commission and honor.
Men's rugby claimed the honor following its first season as a varsity program in which the team compiled an 18-0 record and won the Division I-A National Championship.
Navy outscored its opponents, 760-208, and posted an average margin of victory of 30.6 points. Navy's offense averaged 6.2 tries per match and only surrendered 1.2 tries per contest defensively.
The Mids won eight games against opponents ranked in the top 20 of the College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) power rankings and outscored their ranked foes, 274-128.
Navy opened the 2022-23 campaign during the fall and posted an 11-0 record to claim its first Rugby East Conference Championship. Highlighting Navy's fall season were wins over academy rivals Air Force and Army. The Mids dominated No. 19 Air Force, 71-0, to claim the Lt. Col. Shea Memorial Rugby Cup for the seventh-straight season. Navy defeated No. 1 Army, 27-14, later in the season for its first win over the Black Knights since 2019.
Navy had a league-leading nine athletes receive Rugby East All-Conference accolades.
Lewis Gray,
Jack McMahon,
Ben Haugh,
Roanin Krieger and
William Webb were named First Team Rugby East All-Conference. Additionally,
Jack Aleman,
Nick Janowsky,
Tanner Russell and
Vaughn Schmitz garnered Rugby East Honorable-Mention distinction.
The Mids resumed competition in the spring and won an additional four matches, two of which were against teams ranked in the top 10 of the CRAA power rankings. Navy defeated No. 4 California, 33-28, for its first victory over the Golden Bears. The Mids also won their second match of the season against No. 8 Army, 34-26.
Navy earned the top seed in the CRAA Division I-A Playoffs and defeated Army, 30-6, in the quarterfinals. The Mids surrendered just two penalty kicks in the match, which marked the first time Army had been held without a try against a U.S. school in its nine-year varsity history.
Navy took down Lindenwood, 12-10, in the semifinals to set up a rematch against national powerhouse California in the title match.
The Mids faced their largest deficit of the season (15-0) and trailed for over 60 minutes in the championship match, but a go-ahead score from
Landon Opp in the 68th minute was the difference maker to win the game, 28-22.
Following Navy's first national championship win, Gray was selected as the winner of the 2023 Rudy Scholz Award. The award is presented annually by the Washington Athletic Club to the top men's college rugby player in the country.
Gray ended the season as Navy's top scorer with 166 points. The senior led the Mids with 17 tries and finished tied as the team leader in made penalty kicks with seven. Additionally, his 30 made conversion kicks ranked second on the team.
Navy's center scored in 15 of his 17 appearances during the season. He contributed a season-high 30 points on four tries and five conversion kicks in Navy's, 59-12, victory over Mount St. Mary's on Sept. 17.
The Jupiter, Fla, native also made a crucial play in the final minutes of the national championship game. California drove inside Navy's five-meter line, but Gray forced a turnover to prevent a go-ahead score and allow Navy to regain possession to run out the clock.
Gray also claimed The NAAA Sword for Men, which is presented to that man of the graduating class who is considered by the Association's Athletic Council to have personally excelled in men's athletics during his years of varsity competition.
Men's rugby will begin its 2023-24 season against Notre Dame on Friday, Aug. 25 in Dublin, Ireland. The match will be held at Trinity College at 11 a.m. ET (4 p.m. Dublin time).
