Five sevens tournaments served as qualifiers this weekend as teams are looking to accumulate enough points to book a spot at the USA Rugby Club 7s Championships in Kansas City, MO.

Tournaments in San Diego, Baltimore, Lamont, IL, Newport, RI, and Austin, TX all were qualifiers.

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Track The Summer 7s Qualifier Winners

Mid-Atlantic

Beltway Elite won the Rites of Spring in the Mid-Atlantic over National Athletic Village (NAV) 7s. 

There’s more here, but suffice to say Beltway has reloaded nicely and NAV is looking pretty good, too.

Midwest

In the Midwest, the Detroit Tradesmen surprised the Chicago Lions to win the Firehouse 7s in Lemont, IL.

“We really are loaded this summer,” enthused Detroit manager and club VP Ryan Koenig. “And it truly was a team effort and took all 12 to get the job done.”

Conrad Bontrager, Ahmad Harajly, and Emosi Mulevoro combined to lead the squad. Harajly as played for the USA Sevens team and is a fixture for the Tradesmen.

“DJ Pinneo played almost every minute on the wing and came up with some big long runs in the final,” added Koenig. 

And it doesn’t hurt to have former Tongan sevens player Soni Hafoka, or Michigan State standout Gavin Spisak on the team, either. They, along with Eric Jenks, provided impact depth all day.

“This is the first year the Tradesmen have had the time to prepare to make a serious sevens squad,” said Koenig. “We have been so involved with making late playoff runs in 15s that we have not had time to make the quick turnaround for sevens. This year is obviously different with not having much to play for in the Spring. The boys are feeling good and getting more interest from our other top 15s players which could add some dangerous new combinations that we haven’t been able to use yet.”

Already, beating Cleveland Rugby Academy twice and galloping past Chicago 38-12 in the final, the Tradesmen are making noise.

Southern California

In the OMBAC 7s in Southern California, the Belmont Shore Blue team and the Belmont Shore Gold team both did well and met in the final. They ended up just kind of phoning in that game, which is a function of having a club run two teams. But, the more experienced Blue side is a little better than the younger Gold side. Both looked good this weekend.

OMBAC and Oceanside are chasing these two.

Red River

Les Bleus won Bloodfest in Austin, TX, but the Dallas Reds took the top spot among qualifier-eligible teams, with New Orleans and Austin Huns following up.

Northeast

Old Blue New York won the Newport 7s over rival Mystic River. 

This was a tight, back-and-forth final. NYOB seemed to get the key momentum-shifter with Connor Wallace-Sims scoring just before halftime to make it 12-7. But Mystic replied to tie it. Late in the second half, Kyle Granby called his own number and charged over for the game-winner, 19-12 Old Blue.

pic.twitter.com/fK2UCThRj5

— Old Blue RFC (@NYOldBlueRFC) June 22, 2019

Old Blue had to work for it, though, with a tie in pool play and a close game with NYAC. NYAC pushed Mystic in the semis, as well, and could be a late Sumer contender. Mystic was led by Peceli Rinakama and Mikel Facey.