By EVAN THOMPSON, sports editor

Finally, after a forced relocation to compete as an independent, years of battling through D-1A teams and national competitions, the Wildcats have reached the pinnacle of collegiate rugby: the Varsity Cup.

Following the departure of the University of Utah, Central Washington accepted the invitation to participate in the 2013 Varsity Cup National Collegiate Rugby Championship, with an on-going commitment to compete through the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

“The opporunitiy get’s Central Washington’s name out better,” senior Jacob Bates said, president of the rugby team and a four-year member of the team. “The Varsity Cup is very exclusive. Every team person there is going to be tough to beat and we have to play mistake-free and play at our A-game to beat those guys.”

The Wildcats will fill the vacated No. 4 seed and will play against three-time former National Collegiate Champion Air Force Academy in the Western Super-Regional, which will be hosted on UCLA’s North Athletic Field. Kick-off is slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 20.

The Wildcats will still fulfill their commitment to D-1A by finishing out the 2012-13 season when they play Cal Poly on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Varsiy Soccer Complex in Ellensburg.

Team’s like Western Washington, Santa Clara and Sacremento State are in the past; instead, the Wildcats will face the most prominent programs in the nation at the championships: Air Force, BYU, California-Berkely, Dartmouth, Navy, Notre Dame and UCLA.

“There’s just a been a lot of success, it’s almost been a domino effect,” Bates said. “It’s just been a great thing to see, from the beginning of the club until now.”