Cross-Border and Cross-Division Highlights College Weekend

01.16.2026College Men

UCLA returns to action at the Storer Classic. Photo J. Dalton Photography.

Author: Alex Goff

With the Dr. Martin Luther King Day weekend, many colleges are not playing rugby games, but we do have a few of note.

Cal and UCLA will meet up in what is essentially a preseason game in the Storer Classic. Loyola Marymount, USC, and Fresno State also compete in that tournament.

Western Washington travels north to Langley, BC to play Trinity Western in a stern early test for the Vikings.

This kicks off an intense winter/spring season for WWU which sees them play Canadian, D1A, and D1AA competition through to what they hope will be a national CRAA D1AA appearance.

Their in-state rivals, the University of Washington Huskies, have been on a trip to California. They lost to a Saint Mary's side on Tuesday and will take on San Jose State this coming weekend. It's a good chance for them to see what other styles of play are out there and take on the classic rugby tour ethos.

In a D1A/D1AA crossover, Grand Canyon will take on Arizona State this weekend. With so many shifts in the California Conference in D1AA, ASU could be in excellent position to push for honors there.

The same could be said of Stanford, which opens up their winter/spring with a game against D1A UC Santa Barbara. UCSB had a nice win over UC Davis last week.

ARC beat UCSC in a D1AA/D1A crossover, and this week ARC plays the B and C sides for Saint Mary's.

Prop Ab Faaliga impressed defensively and scored a try. Lock Nio Vuki scored two tries while No. 8 Tre Robinson was a turnover machine (in a good way).

The backs saw good work from the 9-10 combo of Dylan Alexander and Callen Edgeton (in his first college rugby game), while center Juancarlos Romero was a playmaker and converted all four of the conversions he attempted.

Caleb Smithee was an insightful runner.

Five freshmen scored tries in that game for ARC.

"That group played with discipline and heart and represented the depth of our program extremely well," said Head Coach Zach Switchenbank. "Overall it was a great day for our program. Santa Cruz showed true class and character from their coaches to every player on their roster. I’m incredibly proud of how our group competed."

Now it's a different challenge and they will have to be alert against the Gaels.

And Finally ...

And finally Arizona visits Saint Mary's to play the Gaels' A-side. That game was 12-10 in favor of Saint Mary's last year and Arizona was rather unfortunate not to come away with the win. Certainly Saint Mary's is taking this game very seriously.

Arizona, this past fall, beat Colorado 45-0, beat Cal Poly 46-22, and lost to Lindenwood 34-21. They are strong throughout and have benefited from some experience for their young players last season; certainly they are playing with confidence.

Links

Saint Mary's Downs GCU