Most schools are known for the national titles their major sports win.

For example, Miami is associated with football and Duke is associated with basketball. In the rugby world, people have known the name Sacramento State for the past few years.

Now, after two rebuilding years, the rugby team is preparing to reclaim its position as one of the strongest rugby programs in the country.

“We have a lot of team speed, probably one of the fastest teams that Sac State has had in a while,” backs coach Chris Miller said. “We’re a little young, but there’s a lot of improvement. I’m not saying that we’re going to win a national championship, but we’re going to do very well.”

National titles are not something that one normally associates with Sac State. However, in 2000, the Sac State men’s rugby team managed to accomplish it, winning the Division II Rugby National Championship.

The following year, the team moved from Division II to Division I and continued to play well. In 2001, the team made the playoffs and lost in the first round to Central Washington. The following year in 2002, after losing only three games all year, Sac State made the playoffs and lost to eventual national runner-up Utah in overtime. The past two years, however, have been tough, as the team struggled, even missing the playoffs last year.

The team will be working hard this year, as it transitions from practicing only two days a week to five.

“We hired a trainer from a new training facility in Rancho Cordova called Velocity. We hired a guy by the name of Victor Hall who used to do strength and conditioning here with Harry Kutzer,” Miller said. “We’re trying to take the program and make it more of a varsity-style, training five days a week.”

Despite two lean years there is a sense of hope this year, as the Hornets have returned 13 of 15 starters from last year’s team.

Team captain Matt Foster and vice-captain Mike Rios, along with vice-captain Anthony Burr, a senior criminal justice major, form the backbone of a mostly young team, with Rios and Foster having played since high school.

“We’re going to be in the best shape of any team we play this year,” said Rios, a senior communications major. “We brought in a trainer for strength and conditioning and it has really opened up our eyes.”

“Our main focus right now is just getting shape, getting guys into the gym, getting them strong and preparing for the spring,” said Foster, a senior criminal justice major.

The team is still looking for interested players with a desire to play. Practices start at 6 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and at 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Anyone interested in joining the rugby team can contact the team at the following E-mail address: [email protected].

“We just want to be the best competitors that we can so that we can continue the tradition that was started here,” Rios said.