MacDowellRugby Elite VII Win First Tournament at Regina Ryback 7's

MacDowellRugby Elite VII after winning the Ryback 7s championship in over-time (from L to R: Nishant Jain, Robin MacDowell, Eamon Milligan, Mitchell Novak, Billy Howden, PJ Mancao, Mike Clarke, Marcus Hall, Dylan Turner, Dustin Nedohin, Mark Roney, Brayden Firth, Demitri Hofer, Jaskaran Singh, Brett Kannenberg)

Last Saturday, MacDowellRugby entered a team into their very first rugby tournament, the Regina, Ryback 7's. The MacDowellRugby Elite VII came away as the champions that windy Saturday on May 6th, defeating hosts and long-time champions, the Regina Campion Grads, in a close over-time win. The team went undefeated the entire day, beating the Grads and the Saskatoon Wild Oats in pool play, the Saskatoon Krems in the semi-final, then finally the Grads again in the final game.

Try-scorers for the day included Marcus Hall (6), Dylan Turner (4), Mitchell Novak (1), Billy Howden (1), Demitri Hofer (1), Dustin Nedohin (1), Robin MacDowell (1). There were also three MacDowellRugby Academy athletes that all saw playing time: Mitchell Novak, Eamon Milligan, and PJ Mancao. Coach Robin MacDowell said this about his expectations going into the tournament and his team's performance:

"I was very pleased by the composure this young side showed winning in overtime against a much more experienced Campion Grads Team who had won this tournament the previous 6 years in a row. All 3 of our Academy Players PJ Mancoa (Leboldus High School), Eamon Milligan (Notre Dame), and Mitchell Novak (University of Regina) showed they can play with the best senior players in the province! Marcus Hall has been working with me for 6 years and he has really turned into a class 7's player. He joined us just in time after spending the past 5 months on the westcoast playing for The Castaway Wanderers. Another player that stood out was our Captain Mike Clarke. Mike is a hard-nosed dynamic mobile forward with an endless workrate. He played every minute of The Ryback Tournament and lead us to victory!"

- Robin MacDowell