Sport Clubs Going the Extra Mile

Sailing

Over the course of their 2025-2026 season, the sailing team racked up 29,230 miles. The furthest they traveled was 7728 miles for the Peter Wenner Rainbow Invite in Honolulu, Hawaii, where they placed seventh.

“[It was] truly my favorite regatta I have ever attended,” said Evie DuBois ’26, former sailing club president. “We have not always traveled this frequently or far. In fact, we increased our travel regattas out of state by one each semester.”

By expanding both the distance they travel and the number of regattas they attend, the team continued to gain experience. But the competitions aren’t the only perk of the team’s travels.

“When we travel we have fun, while maintaining competitiveness,” DuBois said. “We will get there and do some sightseeing and get dinner as a team. After competition on Sunday we will also get food and take a look around the area before heading back to College Station. When we fly, we try to go on hikes or see the area to take advantage of our travel.”

Men’s Rugby 

The Men’s Rugby team travelled 11,336 miles, from road trips taking the players through conference competition in Texas to plane rides to Maryland to compete in nationals.

“We try to make at least one trip like [Maryland] once a year,” said Jonathan Trzecki ’27, president of the men’s rugby club. “Last year, we had the opportunity to go to Tennessee, we went to Notre Dame, Kentucky, Atlanta. We go all over Texas, and this season we’re going all over Texas again, and we got some other big stuff planned as well.”

This year, the team went undefeated in the Lonestar Rugby Conference and reached semifinals in the fall, and won the Lonestar Conference Sevens Championship in spring in Waco, Texas. They then travelled to Boyds, Maryland for the men’s Division I-AA Collegiate Rugby Championship National 7s, where they had an upset win in the quarter finals against the No. 1 seed North Carolina State University. 

In order to keep the success running, the team encourages anyone who’s interested to try out – no experience required. While national tournaments are a highlight, Trzecki said the program’s continued success depends on bringing in new players each year.

“We encourage everyone to come out,” Trzecki said. “We don’t have official tryouts like a lot of clubs do. Every week, there’s a position open on the time, and if you want to compete, you can go get it. My first year, I played all over the second side and had a blast, and then I was fortunate enough to play on the top team my next year.”

Ice Hockey 

Throughout their season, the ice hockey club racked up a total of 9,665 miles. They had a fly away trip to Los Angeles, California, went to American Collegiate Hockey Association regionals in Salt Lake City, Utah and a bus trip to Nashville, Tennessee for the Southeast Collegiate Frozen Showcase. They competed against University of Texas during Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference playoffs, and while they didn’t do as well as they wanted, they were still able to progress to regionals.

“For the first time in 15 or 20 years, we were ranked big enough to go regionals without winning our conference,” said Cade Willis ’27, president of the ice hockey club. “It was an exciting year. We didn’t do great at regionals, but it was still really exciting that we made it there. It was a step in the right direction, and we’re hoping that continues going forward.”

While long trips can be exhausting, traveling outside Texas gives the team extra motivation.

“In our heads, we’ve come all that way,” Willis said. “A lot of teams like to look down on us because we’re from Texas,hockey doesn’t really belong in Texas. We like to go play those teams up north and show them that we can hang, so that’s always really fun.”

Polo

While the polo club didn’t travel the most miles among sport clubs this year, the team still logged 9,741 miles. The footing of the team’s existing stadium was updated, allowing the club to stay close to home and practice for their tournaments. 

This year, both the men and women’s team played in nationals, with the women’s team making it to the finals and the men’s team to the semifinals. Although they didn’t hold onto their national title from last year, there was one win that meant so much more — one of the horses, Zury, won best playing pony.

“I [play a] big hand in taking care of the horses, which is a lot of work, so it’s always good to see yourself rewarded through your horse’s success,” said Raegan Schwab ’27, president of the women’s polo club. “[Zury] was trained by a Texas A&M Polo alumni Kayla Nash, and she donated that horse to us, and so we were able to play her and win with that horse.”

Polo’s travelling preparation includes more than just the players and sports equipment — they are in charge of transporting 12 living, breathing animals. For in-state tournaments, the team must prepare to haul the horses around the state and find a place for them to stay. But for out-of-state tournaments, the team rents horses from providers at the location they’re travelling to, posing an entirely different challenge.

“Those are horses that we’ve never been on before,” Schwab said. “With the club horses, we play those horses every single week, [and] we know them very well. Each horse is very unique — they all move different, play different [and] have their little quirks and tweaks. You’re having to manage your own skill, but you’re also having to manage the skill that your horse provides to you, so that’s why it’s a little bit more complex and can be a little bit more tricky.”

Crew  

The crew club travelled 7,721 miles throughout their season. One of the furthest the team travelled was for the American Collegiate Rowing Association, also known as ACRA in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, travelling 1846 miles. At the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships, rower Francisco Andrade ’27 won his single event, the club’s highest finish ever, while their double placed second, helping the club qualify for ACRA in the first time in program history. 

“We’ve never really qualified for ACRA, we’ve never even gone, so it was a new experience,” Caitriona Lifton ’27, president of the crew club, said. “They did really well, and both the single and double [they] came away with the best academic awards.”

For Lifton, those results reflected how far the program has come in recent years.

“It’s nice to see the slow progression of us getting into finals,” Lifton said. “We’re going against division teams, teams that are being paid to row. It really pushes us, and it’s really beneficial to see the growth over the years. We’re actually competitive in these, and we’re doing really well.”

What’s next?

Students interested in joining the clubs won’t have to wait long for opportunities to get involved. Many sport clubs will be at Rec-A-Palooza and Club Crawl this fall semester. The ice hockey club has open tryouts, typically occurring the weekend before the fall semester starts. In the fall, the crew club will host Learn-to-Row, where people can try out crew with no commitment. The polo club hosts Open Ride, where any student can come and ride the team’s horses for a few nights — no experience needed.

To learn more about sport clubs visit the Rec Sports website and check out our blog to see last seasons’ accomplishments.