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April 29, 2024
The inaugural class of the Collegiate Rugby Championship Hall of Fame was inducted Saturday during the 2024 CRC, surrounded by friends, family, 144 teams and thousands of fans. CRC founders Jon and Patti Prusmack were the first to be inducted, followed by Life’s KB Slaughter, Penn State’s Meya Bizer, Bowling Green’s Rocco Mauer and Ohio State’s Nate Ebner.
“This tournament to me is so important,” said KB Slaughter during her acceptance speech. “This is where you can bring not only the biggest schools, but also the smaller schools, as well, because 7s will always just be the bounce of the ball, and that's what makes the CRC so great.”
Slaughter led life to back-to-back CRC titles in 2016 and 2017 before breaking into the national team, winning the MVP of the Women’s Premier League, and a United Championship with the Experts in Premier Rugby 7s. She was cheering from the stands when her coach at Life, Ros Chou, led Brown to a second-straight Premier Cup title.
“Thank you to the CRC for making this happen every year and for inducting me,” Bizer said. “I want to thank the Penn State team. You guys molded so much of who I am, and I loved all of my time there.”
Bizer flew in for the festivities from England, where she plays for the Ealing Trailfinders in the top professional women’s league in the world. She led Penn State to three-straight CRC titles from 2013-2016, was a four-time All-American and is a two-time World Cup veteran.
“This jersey means so much to me because a lot of people had their hands in this,” said Rocco Mauer. “I want to thank the CRC because in 2010 I was just an unknown kid from Bowling Green, and you allowed me to fulfill my dream and become a USA 7s Eagle.”
Three-time Super Bowl Champion twice took notable breaks in his gridiron career to pursue rugby glory. After walking onto the Ohio State football team, he twice returned to rugby briefly to star in the first two CRCs. After winning his second Super Bowl with the Patriots, Ebner took a leave of absence to represent the United States in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“I want to thank all of the fans for sticking with me through the years. Through the rugby, the football, the Olympics, you guys were always positive, always encouraging, and with me every step of the way,” said Ebner.
“I want to thank the CRC for taking rugby to another level. I was a kid who grew up in an environment where there was no rugby. Being able to be a kid and aspire for big dreams in rugby and play in a massive stadium of people, the CRC did that for me.”
2024 Inductees
