Washington D.C.'s Beltway Elite 7s Crowned Men's Premier Division Champions at the 59th Annu
Of the 139 teams that competed in the 59th Annual New York Rugby Sevens Tournament on November 25, 2017, among the most competitive were the six teams of the Men's Premier Division. With their two-year running history of tournament bragging rights, the Men's Premier Division defending Champions for 2015 and 2016, Boston's Northeast Academy, had much to lose. Unfortunately, they did. This year's bragging rights go the Washington D.C.'s Beltway Elite who defeated the Northeast Academy in the Men's Premier Division Championship Finals.
Above: The Beltway Elite (yellow, black and orange) chasing down a Quebec ball carrier (black, blue and white).
In competing at this level, runner-up status for the Cup Championship is still quite respectable so the Northeast Academy team can hold their heads high. So too is securing a finishing place as Tournament Plate Champion, claimed by Pennsylvania's Schuylkill River Rugby team and as the Bowl Champion, claimed by the R.C.C. Rugby Team of Sherbrooke, Quebec. The Schuylkill River Men's Premier team had won the Tournament Cup Championship in 2011.
The Nation's Capital, Washington, D.C. fielded another competitive team in the 2017 NYR7s Tournament, one comprised of D.C.'s Finest, members of the Washington, D.C. Police Department.
Above and Below: D.C.'s Finest Rugby Football Club in action against Drexel University.
The NYR7s Tournament NY7s is the nation’s oldest and largest single-day Rugby 7s tournament getting its start in 1958. Atlantis Rugby, founded in 1986, is an invitational rugby organization that fields youth and adult teams from across the United States and competes in Rugby Sevens tournaments throughout the world. Randall’s Island, which has been the site of the NYR7s Tournament since 1967 has served as the home for New York’s first professional soccer team, the NY Cosmos on which international soccer star, Pele, played. In 1936 in front of an audience that included President Franklin Roosevelt, Jesse Owens qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team with a victory in the 100 meter dash at the Randall’s Island Olympic Trials and went on to win 4 Olympic Gold Medals at the 1936 Berlin games. Jesse’s victory was reenacted in 2004 by U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Justin Gatlin to celebrate the opening of the island’s Icahn Stadium and recapture a bit of Randall’s Island history. On May 31, 2008, six time Olympic Gold Medalist, Usain Bolt, set a new world record for the 100 meter dash, also in Icahn Stadium.
More Tournament Photos at http://wr-photo.com/f704139621
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