Portal:1969 Spring Men

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1969 Spring Men Portal

Given club status, but still allowing the members to compete in intramurals made for a very fit team. The first three scheduled games (BYU, Regis, American Eagles from Fitzsimmons) were snowed out, leaving no experience as spring break started. But the highlight of the spring season was that week-long tour to Utah that began in Denver and meandered through the ski slopes of Vail and Aspen before two mid-week matches with the University of Utah and BYU. Although losing to BYU, ranked 8th in the nation, beating Utah was reportedly the first time a Colorado team had ever beaten a Utah team. Alta ski basin was the next stop before the return to Denver and a Sunday match with Regis College. Coach Osur demonstrated his wild nature on the pitch easily transferred to the ski slopes.

We continued to sweep Colorado teams, capturing the ERRFU tournament with a victory over a men’s team, the Denver Highlanders, on a great break and score by Doug Metzler. Finishing the first ERRFU Seven’s by taking 1st, 2nd, and our third team tying for 3rd was the greatest way to christen this tournament, which went on to become the Denver Seven’s.

Low points in the season were a disappointing loss to Cal Berkeley (ranked 4th in the nation) on a wet and muddy field (although the trip was great!), and another loss to BYU in the Rocky Mountain Championship. Finished 23rd in the nation according to the (only) national communication, 1969 USA Rugby Log.

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Team Record

A Side Record

Opponent	Date	Score	Notes
BYU		14-17	at BYU. (rated 8th in nation) Tries by Zedaker and MacDonald, conversion by Dyer, who also kicked two PKs Click here for 69 BYU photos
Utah		19-5	at Utah. Tries by Coppinger, Olson, R Bennett and Fenwick, PK and two conversions by Dyer
Regis		28-0	at Regis. Tries by Laws, MacDonald, Skinner, Zedaker, Bloor, Miller and Johannes. Dropped goal and conversion by Laws
Cal Berkeley	5 Apr	6-32	at Cal. (rated 4th in the nation) Try by MacDonald and PK by McNear on a muddy field against an experienced and 40lb/person heavier team; See here for 69 Cal photos
CC	13 Apr	8-3	at CC. Tries by J Miller and Laws with a conversion by Metzler
Cranwell	16 Apr	14-0	at AFA. Tries by Forsythe, M Bennett, and a conversion and 2 PKs by Dyer
DU	19 Apr	16-3	at DU. Tries by Metzler and Beezley with 2 PKs and a conversion by Dyer
Mines	20 Apr	9-0	all points by Dyer on PKs
Highlanders	26 Apr	8-3	Coors' Cup Championship Game. Try by Metzler, conversion and PK by Dyer
Mine's / ERRFU Sevens (Later to be Called Denver Sevens)		1st, 2nd, and tied for 3rd places	At Denver 1969 sevens report (championship decided by coin flip!)
BYU	3 May	6-19	at AFA. Rocky Mountain Club Championships. Tries by Beezley and M Bennett
CSC		15-10	at AFA. all 69er team with tries by Forsythe, Miller and Crittendon; conversions by Busching and Morehead; click here for 69er match photos
Fitzsimmons Eagles		14-3	at AFA. all underclassmen with tries by Marshall, Rajczak and Schmidt; one conversion by Stanberry and a PK by Marshall
Season Record	9-3

B Side Record

Opponent	Score	Notes
13 Apr CC B	6-3	at CC. Tries by Simmons and Doherty
5 Apr Berkely B	8-10	at Berkeley. Try by Osur, converted by Westmoreland and PK by Westmoreland
19 Apr DU B	16-0	at DU. Tries by Davis, Graber, Tibbetts, Osur and conversions by Stanberry (2)
3 May BYU B	23-14	Tries by Tibbetts (2), Drexler (2), and Porter with conversions by Stanberry (2) and Marshall

69 Roster

Last Name	First Name	Class
Beezley	Michael	69
Bennett	Robert	69
Bennett	Milt (Merit)	69
Burns	John J	69
Graeber	Glenn	71
Chase	Jim	69
Coppinger	Roy	69
Crittenden	Burr	69
Busching	Kit	69
Morehead	Wally	69
Rajczak	William	71
Stanberry	Carl	72
Dyer	Les	69
Forsythe	Hugh	69
Johannes	William	69
Joyal	George	69
Laws	Harry	69
McNear	Alan	69
Metzler	Doug	69
Miller	James E Jr	69
Pillari	Tom	69
Raab	H	69
Skinner	Earnest	69
Fenwick	Lindsay	71
Doherty	TJ	69
Bewers	Geoff	70
Connelly	Steve	70
Haines	R	70
Krasnicki	Phil	70
MacDonald	Angus J	70
Martin	M	70
Olson	O	70
Schmidt	Gary	70
Westmoreland	Thomas	70
Yakabowskas	Carl J	70
Bloor	Alan E	70
Passmore	Stephan B	70
Marshall	Robert A	70
Simmons	Bill	70
Hooper	Victor J	70
Tibbetts	Dan	69
Porter	Dave	71
Stienke	Buck	71

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Post Season Experience/Records

Post Season Selections

Burr Crittendon - ERRFU and Western

Gary Schmidt (70) - ERRFU and Western

Post Graduation Involvement

As a Player

Milt Bennett - Boston RFC, Colorado Springs (Captain), American University (Captain 76-83), Denver Barbarians (Captain, Outstanding back award 81, )

Terry Brady - Scott AFB

Roy Coppinger - Boston, Washington DC (?which team)

TJ Doherty - CCK (Taiwan), Little Rock AFB, Scott AFB

Les Dyer - Ft Worth

Harry Laws - Hawaii Harlequins, San Antonio, Rapid City, Frankfurt Americans, Okaloosa, Clark AB

Selected to Representative Teams

Burr Crittendon - ERRFU and Western (69)

Gary Schmidt (70) - ERRFU and Western

Milt Bennett - ERRFU (78, 79, 80), Western (78 and 80), New England (75) to include their touring side to UK and France in 75

Roy Coppinger -Potomac (77) New England (75 and 78) to include their touring side to UK and France in 75

Harry Laws - All Europe Military (81), Gulf Coast (83)

Starting Other Teams:

Terry Brady - Scott AFB

TJ Doherty - Scott AFB

Les Dyer - Ft Worth

Harry Laws - AFA Alumni, San Antonio, Rapid City, Orchard Park (NY) High School boys and girls, Middle school boys, Carmel (IN) High School Girls, Middle school boys and girls, elementary school.

As a Referee

Harry Laws - Colorado, Philippines, Japan, Washington DC, Indiana, Midwest, also as an evaluator, referee coach, and IRB Educator and Trainer of referees

As a Coach

Harry Laws - Carmel (IN) and Orchard Park (NY) High School boys, girls and Middle school boys and girls.

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Leadership

Staff

Head Coach - Al Osur

Assistant Coach - Mont Hubbard (USMA '64)

OIC - Alan Osur

CIC - C2C Angus MacDonald

Captains

C1C Les Dyer

C1C Roy Coppinger

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Media

Click for scores, roster and more -> File:1969 How it began.pdf

Click here for more 1969 Spring Men pictures

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Memorable Events

Winning the Coors Cup and establishing a winning tradition

Gary Schmidt Played last May in the Colorado-Utah all star match

Rated #23 in the nation due to strong performances against BYU (#10) and Cal Berkeley (#3)

(From Dave Porter) As it is for many others, my experiences with rugby at the Academy became an integral part of my progressive development as a military officer. It was my good fortune to be assigned to Cadet Squadron 24 during my first two years at USAFA. I had played rugby in high school and relished the opportunity to play with our intramural team in the spring of my doolie year. Our 1968 Wing Championship Team provided the foundation of what was to become the Academy Rugby Club. The 24th Squadron culture was unique: it was as rebellious as it was rugged and defiantly individualistic. This fighter pilot spirit carried forward to the academy rugby club as well. This spirit was undoubtedly what made the club a favorite of BGen Olds much to the chagrin of other more traditional and conservative officers. An incident which illustrates this spirit well occurred during our participation in the 7s tournament sponsored by Coors in Spring 1969. The Academy had entered two teams, and, at the end of the day, we were to play each other for the Coors Cup. As I recall, it was the battered & weary senior team that suggested that we have a “boat race” (with each member of the team chugging a tankard of beer sequentially while sitting in an imaginary canoe) rather than actually play the final game of 7s for the championship mugs. Predictably, it was “no contest” and the senior team took home the first place mugs. Fortunately the 2nd place mugs were just as serviceable…

The spring break would have no stories to tell were it not for the truck mounted camper holding the only beer at BYU.