Austin Brown throws the ball into a lineout in the men’s rugby team’s last game at home for the year against Fresno State. Photo courtesy of Andrew Nakamura.

Men’s Volleyball

Men’s volleyball ended Carthage’s 14-match winning streak in a four-game match. The team continues their tromp across the country, with Continental Volleyball Conference championship semi-finals on April 13 and finals the next day.

Men’s Lacrosse 

With a 2–1 record, men’s lacrosse looks to their fourth game of their season against Saint Mary’s College, a major rival in their division. The game is at the Upper Field on April 13 at 1 p.m.

Women’s Rugby

Women’s rugby continues its undefeated streak, adding another win of 20–15 against Washington State University in the first installment of nationals for the team. The team is now on to regional playoffs, the next step toward national championships, against CSU Northridge on April 13 at 10 a.m. at Stanford University.

Men’s Rugby 

Men’s rugby crushed the competition in a 65–24 match against Fresno State in their first installment of conference playoffs. Chico State is the next team in store for a faceoff with men’s rugby on April 13 at Chico State.

Women’s Lacrosse 

After a 9–3 overall season record and a 3–1 conference season record, women’s lacrosse has finished at the top of the Division II North Conference. This weekend on April 13 they will face off against UC Santa Barbara, a tough opponent who also finished at the top of their conference, the Division I Central Conference. Women’s lacrosse is also looking further into the future, for regional playoffs on the weekend of April 20.

UCSC Men's Rugby Team after the Ben Quaye Memorial Collegiate Tournament, prepping for their first official game on November 5th. Photo by Kyan Mahzouf.

The UC Santa Cruz men’s rugby club played nonstop last Saturday, competing in more games at the Ben Quaye Memorial Collegiate Tournament than any other team that day. Six games in six hours.

Held on the Upper East Field, the tournament marked the launch of the fall 2011 rugby season and tested UCSC’s new rookie team. Tournament play meant half the standard rugby period, making them 20 minute halves. The tournament featured Northern California schools including CSU Monterey Bay, San Francisco State, San Jose State and Sierra University.

The tournament was held in rememberance of former UCSC rugby player Ben Quaye, a senior wingback who was found dead due to severe head trauma along Almar Avenue in February of 2010.

Out of a total of six matches UCSC lost five, with the lone win against Cal Poly. UCSC’s rookie team and veteran team alternated matches throughout the day. Coach Jeremy Sanford felt the slugs had not given enough energy on the field to win; In a post-game huddle Sanford addressed both rookies and veterans with encouragement.

“We’ve got to go tooth and nail at all times,” Sanford said.

Freshman inside center Alec Saucedo dislocated his ankle and was off the field for 20 minutes.

Saucedo’s teammates were visibly shaken by his injury. After the tournament, many of the rugby players had a conversation over whether Saucedo would return from injury to play again. Jonny “Tsunami” Lim, a freshman outside center, spoke highly of Saucedo’s character.

“Alec is a good teammate,” Lim said. “He’s always joking around, but in practice he’s intense.”

Medic on duty Dylan Corry evaluated the injuries that occurred Saturday.

“There were more injuries than expected,” he said. “Thankfully I needed to do fewer preventative measures than expected. San Jose State brought some guys to help me.”

For the rookie team, composed of first-season players, rugby is tough to master. Junior winger Graham Churchill said the complexity of rugby’s strategy was especially difficult to grasp.

“Rugby is like a chess game because the strategy is dynamic,” he said. “If we don’t interlock and find each other, we lose the game.”

Churchill noted communication in rugby is key. He felt he was calling plays he was uncomfortable with calling from his position as a winger. In rugby, the player who plays in the center of the field, the fly half, is the play-calling leader on the field.

“It was a little like chaos out there,” Churchill said. “I shouldn’t be yelling out plays. People need to listen to the fly half so we know what to do.”

Freshman lock Noah Stid felt he needed more conditioning. He described himself as tired, having played three games that day. Churchill said he felt he needed to start tackling better.

“I want to hit tackles running,” Churchill said. “I let them [the opposing team] come to me. It’s a rookie mistake.”

The Ben Quaye Memorial Collegiate Tournament also featured awards, given to the most outstanding off-the-field player and to the best rookie player. Jo Witt of SFSU took home the most outstanding off the field award, which depicts exemplary sportsmanship, while UCSC’s own Noah Stid was recognized as the best rookie of the tournament. Stid was shocked when he won the award.

“I didn’t think I would win,” Stid said. “I was really tired in the third game.”

Despite the day’s injuries and losses, team coach Sanford is optimistic the team’s prospects this season.

“Everything needs to be tightened up,” Sanford said. “With so many new players, we’re just getting started. It’s fun. We have a lot of potential.”

The UC Santa Cruz club rugby team will play CSUMB at home on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Members of the men’s rugby team practice on the lower East Field during their Thursday practice. The team is preparing for a memorial match in honor of former team member Benjamin Quaye, who died February last year. Photo by Prescott Watson.

Shade slowly crept over the lower field last Thursday afternoon as the men’s rugby team huddled in a scrum. Grasping each other’s shoulders and grunting inaudible commands, grass flew as each scrimmaging team struggled to hook the ball to their eightman. As the sun continued sinking, loud guffaws and sideline banter pierced the air as men watched their teammates on the field.

“Just a year ago, we didn’t even have enough players to field a full scrimmage,” senior forward Colin Dalton said. “Now we have 30 on the pitch and then some.”

The men’s rugby team, a club sport, has seen exponential growth and improvement in the last year. This is due in part to its new coach, Jeremy Sanford.

Sanford, who joined the team in 2008, began exercising more control over the team’s development in 2009.

“He brought a lot toward the infrastructure side of the club,” team president Philip Brody said. “He really wanted us to get together a student committee that was accountable. He wanted us to embrace the fact that we are the ones who should be making the decisions.”

The development of this mentality has led the club to be completely student-run.

“Our coaches are our coaches — they don’t do any of the administrative stuff,” Brody said. “That’s what we do.”

The rebuilt team will take part in a match against rival San José State University this Saturday. The match will serve as a “then and now” memorial event to honor those who have helped UCSC men’s rugby since its founding in 1967 as the first club on campus. It will also be played in remembrance of club friend and teammate Benjamin Quaye.

Quaye died in the early morning hours of February 7, 2009 the day after the team’s victory against Humboldt State University. The night that the teammates heard the news, they gathered at a Chinese restaurant and remembered their friend.

“We told stories about Ben and we were crying,” team captain Michael Richtik said. “We then walked over to where he passed and we all said something about him. The next weekend, about 20 of us drove down to be at his funeral.”

There, the team gave Quaye’s mother his jersey, and retired his number for the remainder of the year.

“It was tough,” Brody said. “It definitely took the wind out of the sails for a while.”

Though it was initially difficult, Sanford and teammates agree that the loss of their teammate was one of the major factors that brought the team closer.

“This season, the team is especially tight-knit,” Sanford said. “The loss of Quaye was a big blow to everyone … but it helped pull the team together, so this year there has been a real emphasis on teamwork and commitment.”

Friends, family and fellow students of Benjamin Quaye came to a memorial service held at Oakes on Sunday afternoon. Photo by Morgan Grana.

A small display was created in honor of Quaye at the memorial service. Photo by Morgan Grana.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon this past weekend, the Oakes Learning Center filled up with childhood and college friends, family, professors and men’s rugby teammates. All of them came to say their final goodbyes to UC Santa Cruz fourth-year Benjamin Quaye.

Quaye died one month ago to the day of the memorial, sustaining severe head trauma after hitting his head along the railroad tracks beside Almar Avenue in the early morning hours of February 7.

In front of a picture slideshow backdrop, various members of the UCSC community and beyond stepped up to the podium to share stories about Quaye and how he impacted their lives. Among the speakers was Quaye’s best friend Raul Chavarin, who grew up with him in the Southern California town of Altadena.

“I found out from [his] parents because I was housesitting for them, and they called and told me,” Chavarin said. “I couldn’t accept it. I was in denial [and] I was very angry because I didn’t know the details yet.”

Sociology professor Wendy Martyna, who was one of Quaye’s teachers the past two quarters and described him as a “very intelligent and engaged” student, said her class was equally shocked upon hearing the news.

“There was a real sense that it could’ve been them, a reminder of life’s unpredictability and a real commitment to make good use of their life as a result,” Martyna said.

Quaye’s mother Beverly credits the university with being supportive and forthcoming immediately after hearing about her son’s death.

“They were very engaging from the beginning,” Beverly Quaye said. “No one had an issue with addressing this. The university was extremely understanding and genuine.”

Oakes College Provost Kimberly Lau says that many people at Oakes and UCSC as a whole have responded in the wake of Quaye’s death, which led to the planning of an on-campus memorial.

“There have been a wide array of responses and this memorial tribute is a testament of one way they’ve come together to celebrate his life,” Lau said.

Amid the memories of Quaye as a men’s rugby teammate, student and friend that were shared throughout the memorial service, many honed in on Quaye’s intrinsic passion and desire to help others, which led him to decide to pursue a career as a social worker.

“Ben was my brother and he was a good person before he came [to UCSC], but coming here heightened his social awareness and he was a better man for it,” said Quaye’s older brother Josh. “He wanted to help people before he came here, but UCSC gave him the tools to put his desires into action. He was well on his way to becoming a social worker and influencing others’ lives.”

Beverly Quaye also believes her son’s time at UCSC helped shape his post-graduate goals.

“This school experience had a very big impact on him,” she said. “… The university is more focused on developing the human personality and individual, and I think that was very fitting for Ben and his values. … He was committed to doing something meaningful for society.”

Meanwhile, many at UCSC are planning ways to permanently commemorate Quaye on campus. His rugby teammates are currently looking into establishing a scholarship in Quaye’s name or renaming the Lower East Field after him, and Oakes College administrators plan to plant a tree in the Oakes Garden in his honor.

“We’re going to plant a tree in his honor to memorialize him,” Provost Lau said. “… We just want to have something as an ongoing symbol of his presence.”

While his friends and family agree that Quaye will be remembered for his big smile and infectious personality, his brother Josh says Quaye’s lasting impact will come down to one thing in particular — his inherent desire to help others.

“For those who knew Ben best and truly loved him, we’ll all be more keenly aware of what’s going on in our society,” Josh Quaye said. “Ben really wanted to help people who couldn’t help themselves. I’ll always remember him because he always wanted to put people first.”

~~~~~~

In lieu of flowers, the Quaye family is asking for donations to Hillsides, a center for foster care and special-needs children who have been abused, where Quaye volunteered this past summer. Donations can be made at www.hillsides.org.

Quaye (second to left in second row) is pictured here in a team photo. Courtesy Robbie Bellue.

Flowers, pictures and a cross mark the spot where Quaye died on February 7. Photo by Rosario Serna.

His favorite song was “Hate It Or Love It” by 50 Cent. He loved getting into heated discussions with his teammates about rugby, music and his hometown teams, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers. He was set to graduate in the spring with a degree in sociology, then continue on to become a social worker and mentor for troubled youth.

Now, the UC Santa Cruz men’s rugby teammates of Benjamin Quaye, a senior back wing who was found dead along Almar Avenue on Feb. 7, are trying to cope with the loss of one of their core players.

“I first heard the news from Jeremy, who’s one of the assistant coaches, and my heart dropped,” six-year head coach Robbie Bellue said. “Like anything, death is a part of living, but it’s not easy … especially after seeing my rugby players’ faces when they heard the news. I could tell it was going to be a long path to make sense of it all.”

Quaye’s body was found in a shallow ditch along the Westside railroad tracks by a jogger on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 7. An autopsy performed the next day found that he died of severe head trauma, apparently from slipping down a gravel embankment and hitting his head. Although toxicology reports have not yet been released, his friends and police confirmed that he had been drinking that night at the Parish Publick House, a bar in the Almar Shopping Center.

“My initial reaction was of course shock and disbelief,” said Beverly Quaye, Ben’s mother. “I couldn’t believe it was true. It was very difficult.”

Senior fullback Cody Juric says he has been haunted by the fact that he wasn’t there with his teammate that night.

“Every game and every second we’re supposed to support our teammates, and what tore me up is that I couldn’t do anything when he was struggling for his life,” Juric said. “… We couldn’t be there.”

Junior flanker Phil Brody says what struck him and other teammates especially hard was the suddenness of Quaye’s death.

“This is a kid who was running around and playing one of the best games of his life the day before [he died],” Brody said.

The day before Quaye’s body was found, the men’s rugby team played an away game against Humboldt State — one of their biggest rivals — and won 29-12.

According to his teammates, Quaye was a significant part of that victory, but had an impact on the team that expanded beyond his athletic ability. Bellue says Quaye stood out on the team for his leadership and mentoring abilities.

“I always said if we had 15 Bens we’d be okay, because Ben did everything he could with what he had,” Bellue said. “There were new guys that came on weeks ago that Ben had a profound influence on. [He was] constantly helping players work through their own trials.”

One such new player was freshman lock Michael Greer.

“Ben had a way of touching everyone he met. Whether you knew him for eight years or eight days, he had a way to affect you even after knowing you for a short time,” Greer said in an e-mail to City on a Hill Press. “… He was a leader on the field and an awesome one to follow. It is still hard to believe he is no longer here and that I won’t ever see him again, though I can clearly picture him and his big smile any time I like.”

Quaye’s mother says that although she always knew Ben made an impact on people, she didn’t realize the full extent of this until his death.

“What was so amazing to me during this whole grief process and celebrating his life was the impact he had on people in general,” Beverly Quaye said. “We had a vigil and mass and there were over 200 people at each one, standing room only … whole families came because they all knew Ben and they all wanted to say goodbye to Ben. Most kids who are 21 years old don’t have an impact like that on people.”

Juric says that while Quaye was a great player and teammate, he was as influential off the field as he was on it.

“He always looked on the bright side of things — always so carefree, and always had this youth and exhilaration,” Juric said. “There are so many words to describe him, but one word it comes down to is ‘stoked.’ … He was definitely brother Ben.”

His teammates plan to honor Quaye by getting patches of his initials sewn into the sleeves of their jerseys. They are also exploring the possibilities of founding a scholarship in his name or renaming the Lower East Field for him.

Most importantly, however, they will show their dedication on the field.

“We feel sorry for the next team we’re going to play,” Juric said. “There’s going to be hell on the field in honor of Ben.”

“We’re going to play with a homicidal rage,” Brody added, referring to this Saturday’s upcoming game at Sierra College.

Although the men’s rugby players will eventually move forward in the aftermath of their teammate’s death, Juric says Quaye will never be forgotten.

“No 15-player team will be able to beat us,” he said, “because we have a 16th player out there in Ben.”