Clark Esports brings home two divisional championships

Following a semester of competitive play that saw four teams make it to the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) finals round, Clark University Esports ended the fall season as NECC Navigators Division champions of two different games, Valorant and Rainbow Six. The Overwatch and League of Legends teams were runners-up in their competitions.

In addition, the program was nominated for the Tempest Award for Collegiate Esports Program of the Year. The Tempest Awards, presented by Cynopsis Esports, recognize the innovation driving the competitive gaming industry, from production and marketing to events and technology.

More than 500 competitive and recreational student gamers have participated in the esports program this semester, and the University has 20 teams that are part of the NECC league.

The Valorant Grey team was the only Clark team to go into their final match with an undefeated regular season record. During their final series against the Lambton College Lions, Clark fell behind but managed to win eight of the last nine rounds to earn the division title.

“Our Valorant team were considered underdogs and had to come back after being way behind in the match, which was a feat of its own,” says Coach Nicholas “Shifty” Travis, director of esports and recreational games at Clark.

Members of the Valorant Grey team include Rory Fayne ’23, Bridgitte Garcia ’26, Mihir Mahendra Koyande, M.S. ’24, Christian Octaviano ’25, and Sujith Rao Thumula, M.S. ’23.

Clark’s second division champion is the Rainbow Six Red team, which beat the University of Nebraska at Kearney for the title.

“It’s some of the best we’ve ever played,” says Jasper Louden ’25 about the match, thanking the members of the Clark community who stayed to support the team to the very end.

In addition to Louden, the Rainbow Six Red team is Patrick (Max) Ferris ’25, Zack Garzella ’26, Silas Palmer ’25, Nick Panetta ’25, and Brock Milaszewski ’25.

Clark’s League of Legends Obsidian team, which finished an extremely close second to the Gothic Knights of New Jersey City University, includes William Li, Jace Misiano ’26, Liam Quinn ’26, Liam Wang ’23, Pengfeio Zhang, MSIT ’24, and Parsec Zhu ’24.

Finishing second to the Catawba College Blue, Clark’s Overwatch Obsidian team — which only lost one match during the regular season —is Noah Bornstein ’24, Kristopher Cronshaw ’23, Sam Green ’26, Edward Greene ’25, and Torin Reid ’24.

Read more about the teams’ playoff performance »