FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- It was Saturday, March 23rd and a very brisk spring morning on the campus of the University of Mary Washington. A beautiful campus and rugby complex, located in Fredericksburg, Virginia, home of the Chesapeake Rugby Conference champion Eagles. The occasion was the Mary Washington Seven's Tournament and the arrival of two Kutztown Rugby seven's teams, KU-1 and KU-2. This day marked the beginning of the regular sevens season for the Golden Bears. A season that will be comprised of nine grueling, tournament weekends. Culminating in the USA National Rugby Sevens Championship and the Collegiate Rugby Championship, broadcast on ESPN, June 1 & 2. During this journey, the Golden Bear's coaching staff will field a total of three separate teams, KU-1,KU-2 & KU-3. All combining their efforts to develop, tweak, test and overcome injuries, while attempting to establish the most proficient and dynamic twelve man squad possible, for the national championship events at the end of the season.
Each of these regular season tournaments consist of four to six games, culminating in forty five to fifty six games in the span of the seven's season. The teams competing in Fredericksburg were Virginia Tech University, Notre Dame College (Ohio), Georgetown University, James Madison University, Salisbury University ,Mount St. Mary's University, University of Mary Washington, North Carolina State University ,Old Dominion University and Kutztown University 1 & 2.
The KU-1 side finished the day at 3-1 with victories over Old Dominion 29-0, Virginia Tech 29-0 and James Madison 24-19. The lone loss was a see-saw, semi-final battle with an excellent Notre Dame College team, 28-26. The deciding factor being a Kutztown conversion attempt that went wide. That was the point difference between a championship appearance and the battle for third place. Leading the way on the afternoon for the Golden Bears KU-1, was Keagan Barnes with four trys, Dmontae Noble with three trys and
Gerald Lowe (Pretoria, South Africa/Die Hoerskool Menlopark) with two trys. Single touch downs were scored by
Brandon Boon (Unionville, Pa./Unionville),
Angel Santiago (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent),
Tai Kauwe (Orem, Utah/Pleasant Grove), Sam Devine,
Breyten Maritz (Cape Town, South Africa/Paul Roos) and
Brock Stinson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado ). The conversion attempts were lead by Thorn O'Connell, at 7/11 and
Brandon Boon (Unionville, Pa./Unionville) was 1/2. This tournament was an excellent team effort as the Golden Bears finished on the podium in 3rd Place. Keagan Barnes led the KU-1 team scoring with twenty points on four trys.
KU-2 also finished the day at 3-1, defeating Mount St. Mary's 26-0, North Carolina State 26-0 and Va. Tech in overtime 17-12. Their only setback was at the hands of the eventual tournament champion, Mary Washington 43-5. The leading scorer on the day was James Meyer with four trys. James Jaques and
Ryan Nolan (Drogheda, Ireland/Drogheda) had two trys, followed by Tyler Valovicin,
Casey Renaud (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington) and
Blake Andrews (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown Area) with one try each. James Jaques was 7/11 on conversions and scored two trys, to lead the Golden Bears in overall scoring with 24 points.
It was a good start to the regular season. A day of competition that allowed the coaches and players an opportunity to examine
personal performance and team dynamics. Rugby Sevens is an awesome, unpredictable, edge of your seat, sport. It is built on speed, resilience and split second decisions. The Golden Bears will continue to build, in their quest to remain one of the nation's most consistently successful teams, in collegiate rugby.
RUN WITH THE BEARS !
