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Old Blue’s three teams at the Northeast championship /// Photo courtesy Old Blue •
The Club 7s National Championship bracket has begun to fill out, as four teams have confirmed their trips to Commerce City, Colo., Aug. 13-14. On Saturday, the Atlantic North named its two representatives, while the Pacific Northwest determined its teams heading to the Pacific North championship.
SATURDAY, JUNE 16
Old Blue and Boston will represent the ATLANTIC NORTH at club 7s nationals. The finalists entered the Northeast championship with very different build-ups. Old Blue had dominated the Empire series but also worked with multiple lineups as national team and age grade commitments kept the roster in flux. In Saratoga Springs, however, important leaders like Tiana Stroughter, Frankie Sands, Danielle Walko-Siua, Kat Ramage, Kate Daley and more were all available. Also of note, Old Blue fielded three sides in the qualifier division.
Boston played regular, strong competition in Beantown and Providence throughout the New England series and entered the Northeast competition as NERFU’s second seed. Core players like Deanna Nash, Paige Stathopolous, Lisa Van Eerde, Tara Roberts and Morgan Roberts drove Boston’s success during the summer, and collegians like Jade McGrath (Boston College) and Abigael Yotts (Boston University) injected some young talent into the squad.
On Saturday, Old Blue continued its dominating ways during pool play, defeating Old Blue III 39-0, Lions NYC 63-0 and Boston 22-5, before knocking out New York in the semifinals. Boston advanced to the semifinals after pool play wins against Old Blue II (22-0) and Lions NYC (31-0). Boston eliminated rival Beantown in the final four.
At this juncture, Old Blue and Boston were already heading to the national championship, and the Northeast final was simply for place. The rematch was a good one, as Old Blue held off Boston 10-5 for the Atlantic North trophy.
At nationals, Old Blue will compete against the Red River champion and runners-up from the Pacific South and South during pool play. Boston will compete in Pool D against the Pacific South and Midwest champions and Mid-Atlantic runner-up.
Seattle and ORSU reconfirmed their top status in the Pacific Northwest and will represent the region at the PACIFIC NORTH championship. We previewed the Roy Lucas 7s (READ MORE), and the tournament did not disappoint. The local favorites proved stronger than the visitors, but there was also more at stake for the Pacific Northwest teams, which were competing in their final qualifier.
The expected teams advanced to the semifinals – ORSU vs. San Diego, Seattle vs. Glendale. The Surfers, which had fallen just short of Seattle 19-12 in pool play, suffered another single-score defeat to ORSU, 12-7. The Saracens shut out the Raptors 31-0 for the final’s berth.
The title match was a rematch from the Can-Am 7s final the weekend prior. ORSU needed sudden-death overtime to win that qualifier, and Saturday’s championship was equally as thrilling. After trailing by two tries at the half, Seattle rallied for a 22-19 win. Stay tuned for full report.
REPS DECIDED JULY 23
Scion continues to lead the MID-ATLANTIC standings with 2.5 qualifiers won. Yesterday’s Slug 7s was unable to contest the title match, and so finalists Scion and NOVA banked 20.5 points each (the average of 1st and 2nd places’ typical allotment of points).
Both teams went 3-0 through pool play. Scion shut out Philly 53-0 in the semifinals, and NOVA captains Kelley Frank and Kathryn Hemlock led the way in a 17-12 final four win over the D.C. Furies.
There is one more qualifier on July 23, and the top-two teams in the standings will advance. Scion is in first (64.5), NOVA second (56.5) and Philly third (52).
ARPTC clinched a RED RIVER seed to nationals after its second-straight qualifier victory last weekend. Austin has advanced to both of those finals, and even though the Valkyries are the favorite for the second seed, the team still needs a good performance this weekend during the local qualifier.
The SOUTH championship will be held July 23, and there are only three teams in contention for the two berths to nationals. Reigning South champ Orlando is the favorite and joined by fellow Florida rep Phoenix, a select side coached by Eyal Hakim. The team involves players from the University of Florida, Florida State, Florida Atlantic and Ft. Miami. Charlotte rounds out the South championship in its first season of competitive summer 7s and offered a second side to fill out a four-team division. The Atlanta Harlequins declared early on that it was not playing competitive 7s, and the True South did not contribute a team.
REPS DECIDED JULY 30
The MIDWEST contested its third qualifier Saturday – the Duck 7s – and the first-year Chicago Griffins celebrated a final win over the Youngbloodz (stay tuned for full report). The standings have not been publicly updated, but below are the finishes from the three events thus far:
• Madtown 7s (June 18)
Final: 1823 29-17 Youngbloodz
3rd: Chicago Lions 22-10 Grand Rapids
5th: Chicago Griffins 20-17 Cincinnati Wolfhounds
• Rock ‘n’ Roll 7s (July 9)
Final: Cincinnati 15-14 Grand Rapids
3rd: 1823 41-0 Chicago Lions
5th: Legacy 15-0 Cincinnati B
• Duck 7s (July 16)
Final: Chicago Griffins 46-0 Youngbloodz B
3rd: Youngbloodz A 58-0 Iowa
There is one more qualifier this weekend (Rock Hard 7s) before the July 30 championship at the Chicago Blaze fields. Contenders 1823 and Chicago Lions were also busy this weekend, as the former won the Steel City 7s in Pittsburgh and the latter trained with ARPTC.
San Francisco will host the PACIFIC NORTH championship, which sees Pacific Northwest toppers ORSU and Seattle take on NorCal’s best, Life West and Berkeley. The Gladiatrix won the first two NorCal qualifiers, while the All Blues won last weekend’s Silicon Valley 7s. This region – despite the fact that it placed its three teams in the top five at 2015 nationals – receives only two seeds this year.
Pacific South is a shoulder shrug, as it is still unclear how SoCal will name its two reps to nationals. The San Diego Surfers will undoubtedly attend, but whether they’re named through a series, one-off championship or take the seed on interest alone, has yet to be confirmed.
