UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION
April 2007
2007 Mountain Sectionals “Thunder in the Mountains”
by Brandon May
Beautiful scenery, sunny weather, sounds of Thunder? That’s right, Thunder… Thunder in the Mountains to be more exact. The 2007 Mountain Sectionals Tournament affectionately called Thunder in the Mountains took place March 23-25 in sunny Salt Lake City, Utah. Six teams battled it out for the Art Berg Mountain Section Challenge Trophy, and provided some of the most exciting competition in USQRA history. For the first time in the history of the Mountain Section, 3 Division 1 teams fought over 2 Division 1 spots at Nationals, with the 3rd team heading to Division 2.
Fridays games at the famous Crimson Court at the University of Utah started with Utah and Texas squaring off on Court A, and Phoenix and San Antonio shooting it out on Court B. Texas handled a much younger Utah team easily handing them a 58-24 defeat. On court B, Phoenix continued their old ways, defending their title with full force, and held San Antonio to 40 points in a decisive 51-40 victory.
The second set of games on Fridays schedule pitted Denver against Pasadena on Court A, and Phoenix against Utah on Court B. The Harlequins kept a strong Pasadena team at bay to come away with a 55-29 victory, while on Court B, Utah had the impossible task of trying to keep up with the defending national champs. Phoenix allowed only 19 points in their win over Utah, 49-19.
Friday concluded with Denver and Texas squaring off on Court A, and a Texas showdown between Pasadena and San Antonio on Court B. The Denver / Texas game was one of the most anticipated games of the event, and despite a shot clock issue at the start of the game, it was a highly competitive match between these two powerhouses. The game was kept close right down to the few final minutes, when Denver pulled away, and then set the cruise control to secure a 51-44 victory. Over on Court B, Pasadena kept pushing hard throughout the game, and in one of the closest games of the event, was able to fend off San Antonio’s solid offensive efforts to take a 46-44 win.
Saturday Morning the teams returned from the Marriott to the Crimson Court to once again do battle. The morning started with a very strong Denver team playing against Utah on Court A and Phoenix going head to head with Pasadena. Denver pulled away from Utah right out of the gates and never looked back, except to say thanks for the 53-26 victory, while, on Court B Phoenix cleaned up against a well prepared and very tough Pasadena team. Unfortunately for Pasadena, Phoenix was just too tough down the stretch, and took a 59-42 victory.
Game 2 on Court A saw the second of our Texas Showdowns, with Texas playing San Antonio. On Court B Utah matched up against the strong Pasadena team. Texas easily defeated San Antonio 56-35, while the Pasadena team did the same to Utah, taking a twenty point win, 50-30.
Saturdays final matches were perhaps some of the most exciting, putting 2 former defending national champs against each other, Texas and Phoenix, in what would be a superb game that ran into OT to decide a victor. On the other court Denver showed their strength while playing against San Antonio. In the Texas vs. Phoenix game, the two teams traded goals for much of the game, neither able to close the door on the other. It wasn’t until overtime that Phoenix was able to get an edge, and keep it, and seal the door on Texas 53-52 with just seconds remaining. Denver was able to put away San Antonio easily, taking a 61-39 win.
Sunday morning, the teams were moved to just playing on Court A for the final series of games. In the first match Utah and San Antonio squared off. San Antonio and Utah traded goals for a while, but Utah was unable to keep pace and fell behind, and by halftime was unable to get within striking distance. San Antonio sealed the deal with a twenty point victory over Utah, 55-35.
The Second game of the day was between Texas and Pasadena, both headed to D2 Nationals. It was our final Texas Showdown of the event. A very strong Pasadena team pushed hard trying to gain any advantage they could over the Texas Stampede, but as the clock ran out, Texas came out on top beating Pasadena 48-41.
The Championship game on Sunday put Phoenix and Denver bashing chairs trying to determine the winner of not only the Art Berg Mountain Section Championship Trophy, but also, as both teams were headed to D1 nationals, it was more of a battle of seeding and bragging rights. The game started off with teams trading goals, and neither able to pull away from the other. After 3 quarters, the game was still as close and it was at the start. A few quick steals and turnovers allowed Phoenix to grab a slight advantage that they held on to until the final buzzer, defeating Denver 50-47.
Along with the standard All-Tournament awards, we also added a new annual award to our event, called the Craig H. Neilson Spirit of Rugby Award. The Neilson award is something given, and voted on by our team, to someone who has not only for the event, but also for the team and sport, gone the extra mile, and made a difference in peoples lives, and the team and events functionality. Tim and Karen Daynes, the heart and soul, and founders of the Utah Scorpions were given the award as a way to help recognize all that they do not only for the team, and friends, but for what they did to put this event together. The other All-Team awards were: 0.5 – Jason Regier (Denver), 1.0 – Scott Hogsett (Phoenix), 1.5 – Robert Ramos (San Antonio), 2.0 – Brent Poppin (Phoenix), 2.5 – Ross Morrison (Denver), 3.0 – Shinichi Shimakawa (Phoenix), MVP – Chance Sumner (Denver), and Sportsmanship – Brandon May (Utah).
The Utah Scorpions would like to thank all of the players, teams, staff, volunteers and fans for making this event one of the most successful sectionals events in USQRA history. With substantial media involved, and helping to draw more people in, early estimates put the fan attendance at 4000-5000 people throughout the 3 day event. We hope everyone had fun, and a great time in Salt Lake City! We would also like to thank our plethora of volunteers and massive number of sponsors, without them this event would have been nothing more than a dream.
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