NORTH Vancouver's Nathan Yanagiya helped lead the BC-1s to a cup win in the Vegas International High School Sevens rugby tournament last weekend.
The Carson Graham student and Capilano Rugby Club member crossed over twice as the 1s beat the USA All Americans 35-15 in a match that saw a record five tries from the Canadians. The BC-1s defeated the BC-2s 15-5 in a hard-hitting semi-final match.
In a press release B.C. head coach Shane Thompson said the results clearly show the progress that the B.C. Elite Youth Seven's program has been making.
"Our players competed with intensity this weekend and more importantly it was evident that our players have been playing and practicing sevens. These players have gone to the trials, camps, and super camps and after a year and a half it shows that we are moving in the right direction."
The BC-1s went 3-0 during the pool rounds with wins over Ontario, the Washington Loggers and the USA All Americans2.
Other Capilano Rugby Club members who made the trip to Vegas with the provincial teams included Marshall Fuller from Collingwood School and Tobin Sydneysmith from Sentinel.
. . . Another Capilano Rugby Club member came up big in Vegas in helping the women's national team claim the USA Sevens title for the second year in a row.
North Vancouver's Mandy Marchak scored one of Canada's two tries as the national team defeated the United States 14-5 in the championship final Sunday.
The win gave Canada its fifth consecutive major international tournament title. Rugby Sevens is due to be an Olympic sport in 2016 and Canada's women are proving to be one of the sport's dominant teams.
"This win means a lot," Marchak said in a Rugby Canada release. "We have 20 girls working really hard together every day, and having two teams competing here in Las Vegas has been great for our program. As for myself, I found that the new position I was asked to play opened up some more space for me, and allowed me to collect some important scores for our team. I am really excited about the direction our program is heading."
The team's next tournament will be the Hong Kong Sevens March 23-25, a competition that will feature the top eight teams in the world.
