July 6-7, 1996: Atlantis Wins 1996 Cape Fear
Sevens
(Atlantis tournament #50)
Emil Signes
July 23, 1996
JUNE 18, 2013 (rev. August 25, 2013)
Note of 2013: this is an article I submitted to
Rugby Magazine; an edited version was included in the
August 12, 1996 edition of Rugby. Success at Cape Fear
was always something we considered our #1 domestic goal of
each year. 1996 was also the first time we put an
Atlantis team in to Cape Fear, although we called it the
Flying Cats, and alternately the "Flying Cats of Atlantis."
I'm not sure why; it may have been that I piggybacked onto
another group of players that were also coming - I see about
half the players were players that had represented the West
Women Select in other years. Flying Cats will go as
another quickie nickname that we used at one time or another
over the years.
July 6-7, 1996. In what most considered
a major upset, Atlantis I handed NOVA I its first defeat of a busy
1996 sevens season, 24-14, in one of the most intense finals this
or any other sevens tournament has ever seen.
In the other significant championships, the Washington Furies
continued their dominance of the 1996 Eastern women sevens circuit
with a 24-7 victory over the Flying Cats of Atlantis, Picasso
defeated Raleigh 19-5 in the Masters’ Division, and OMEX defeated
Atlantis II 31-12 in the Plate championship. There were, in fact,
nine championship matches, and regardless of their results on
Saturday, every participant had the opportunity to play back for
one of them on Sunday (see Table below).
Division Championship
Games
Men's Championship
|
Atlantis I
|
24
|
14
|
NOVA I
|
Women's Championship
|
Washington
|
24 |
7
|
Flying Cats of Atlantis
|
Masters' Championship
|
Picasso
|
19
|
5
|
Raleigh
|
Open 2nd flight (Plate) Championship
|
OMEX
|
31
|
12
|
Atlantis II
|
"B" Division Championship
|
Charlotte II
|
19
|
8
|
Lexington Blackstone
|
Open 3rd flight (Bowl) Championship
|
Metro (MN)
|
24
|
0
|
Knoxville
|
Open 4th flight Championship
|
Fort Bragg
|
24
|
12
|
James River
|
"B" Division 2nd flight Championship
|
Cape Fear II
|
27
|
12
|
Cherry Point II
|
Women's Consolation Championship
|
Virginia Tech
|
5
|
0
|
North Carolina State
|
The other two games contested on the championship
field were the two open semifinals, won by NOVA over Team Bruton,
a side organized by Skip Yeager and featuring Scott Stephens and
Mike Coyner, 24-7 and Atlantis I over the Trinidad and Tobago
national team, 40-10.
Two new significant events characterized the 1996 version of the
Cape Fear Sevens: a) prize money and b) participation of a
national team.
Prize Money. In an effort to make the tournament more attractive
to potential top-level participants, Cape Fear for the first time
offered cash prizes for champions, as follows:
Tournament Champion $600
Tournament Runner-up $400
Plate
Champion $325
“B”
Champion $275
Women Champion $250
Masters Champion $225
Total $2075
National Team
Trinidad & Tobago. Comprised of 10 speedsters,
the T&T team got to the Cup semi-final where they ran into an
Atlantis team that was able to deny them possession. Atlantis was
able to exploit the T&T defensive pressure and managed a
surprisingly easy win in a game where everything went right for
them.
Nevertheless, the Trinidadians, who were hosted by local Cape Fear
families, proved to be one of the most appreciated of all visiting
teams ever to participate at the Cape Fear Sevens. Not only were
they awarded the Stilson Land Sportsmanship Award by Referee
Chairman, Jeff Magnum, but the comment was made that Cape Fear has
never seen a group of individuals more deserving.
They met every team at the halfway line. In five matches, there
was not so much as a rolled eye regarding a referee's decision, or
a late hit. According to Gregory Rousseau, T&T National coach,
"we were honored to be here and learn. We will take back to
Trinidad with us a tremendous amount of experience about rugby,
and about people, and about the States. The Cape Fear Club took us
into their homes and treated us like family, we never could have
expected more."
According to tourney director Bob Bogen, "the Trinidad and Tobago
National Rugby Team were undoubtedly the most gracious and polite
rugby players I have ever met, anywhere in the world. The T&T
guys gave our tournament a sense of Caribbean flavor, but more
importantly, they showed a whole lot of Americans what it meant to
be a sportsman."
Sunday evening, at a post-tournament party at the Bogen beach
house, sounds of Caribbean percussion instruments and island
vocalizing -- not to mention a limbo contest -- filled the air and
a great time was had by all. Cape Fear is considering a major
international event for its 25th annual tournament in 1999; the
T&T experience could only have fueled their enthusiasm for
such an enterprise.
Tournament Final
In an intense, even “nasty”, final, Atlantis raced
to a 14-0 lead and then staved off repeated comebacks by NOVA
before a Bill Russell try in the right corner put the game away in
the 19th minute.
Keith McLean, the oldest player in the game, and easily the player
of the match, began the game with a characteristic stiff arm
followed by uncharacteristic speed to finish off a 35 yard break
for a try converted by Wayne Whitko.
Shortly thereafter, McLean again broke through the NOVA line but
couldn’t finish. He passed the ball to Penn State All American
Wayne Whitko who moved it on to Brian Dettling for the try. Whitko
converted for the 14-0 lead, and the half ended with no further
scoring.
The second half began with great defensive sequences by both
teams, highlighted by John Flamish tracking down Nick Bell’s long
break. This sequence was finally broken when Chris Campbell
exploited an Atlantis gap and sprinted 50 meters untouched for a
try. Paul Hancock’s conversion made the score 14-7, and it was
suddenly anyone’s game again.
The third Atlantis play came from a midfield scrum. Whitko, who
had a marvelous tournament, was now at center and exploited a gap,
scoring the 40 meter unconverted try to give Atlantis a 19-7 lead.
Almost immediately, however, NOVA responded to a series of great
Atlantis tackles with even better support: just as Bill Russell
was forcing Prince Hill into touch, Hill got the ball to John
McDonell for a great try. Hancock converted, and with about 2
minutes left, the score stood at 19-14 Atlantis.
Losing your own scrum is usually fatal in sevens, and NOVA found
themselves in that situation shortly thereafter from a scrum at
its own 22 near its left touchline. Bill Russell stole the
emerging ball and moved it to the open side. When replacement
flyhalf Scott Davis saw Russell standing alone near the touchline,
he moved the ball back across the forwards and hit Russell with
nothing but space in front of him. The conversion attempt was
missed and Atlantis led 24-14 with less than a minute to go. The
game ended at the first scrum following the next kickoff.
All who saw it called it a great game by both teams. It was
certainly the best played and most significant of all Atlantis’s
domestic victories.
Lineups; Atlantis name preceded
by Atlantis number:
Atlantis I
|
|
NOVA I
|
123 McLean (T)
|
1
|
Campbell (T)
|
217 Dettling (T)
|
2
|
Whalen
|
58 Flamish
|
3
|
Bell
|
|
|
19
|
102 Russell (T)
|
4
|
Hancock (2C)
|
295 Whitko (T, 2C)
|
5
|
Dean *
|
199 Geraghty
|
6
|
O'Connor
|
134 Schor *
|
7
|
Hill
|
*replaced by 268 Davis
|
|
* replaced by McDonell
|
Ref: David Kimber (PRU)
|
|
|
Women’s Final
The Washington Furies came into the tournament as
huge favorites based on big stompings of traditional sevens power
Maryland Stingers during the past several weeks, and they didn’t
disappoint. Led by the playmaking of co-captain Jen Lucas and the
all around play and inspiration of fellow co-captain Nancy Fitz,
they transformed a 7-7 halftime score into a convincing 24-7
victory over the Flying Cats, a team affiliated with Atlantis that
featured three promising collegiate players -- including 19-year
old Tasha Mannino of Kutztown State whose 5.1 40 yard time is
currently the fastest known in the US -- among its eclectic side.
The Flying Cats drew first blood as Moira Redcorn and Sallie
Ahlert created a gap that set up an Ahlert try, converted by Kim
Cyganik. The Furies came back quickly and tied the score with a
try by wing Meg Madden converted by Rosie Kelly. Both teams
tightened up their defense and the score remained 7-7 at halftime.
Despite the continuing tenacious defense of the Flying Cats, the
Furies began to find some holes and capitalize upon them in the
second half. Center Nancy Fitz managed to fight the ball over the
try line to put the Furies up 12-7. Excellent team support put the
ball in the hands of Kelly who sped into the try zone and hit the
conversion for a 19-7 lead.
The Flying Cats continued to threaten throughout the half, but
several Cat breakaways narrowly missed being converted into tries
due to the pursuit of Furies defenders Jen Lucas and Maggie
Whitney. Additionally, both teams engaged in some hard-fought
scrambling for loose balls, mainly involving Flying Cats Mona
Rayside and Tracy Smith and Furies El Pfefferman and Whitney. The
Furies final try was initiated when Whitney won possession and got
the ball to flyhalf Lucas in the pocket. The ball shot out the
line and prop Kathleen McHugh fed Fitz, who looped around the
outside and ran into the try zone for the game's last try and a
final score of 24-7.
2013 note: Sadly, I haven't been able to find a
team picture of the Flying Cats.
Lineups:
Wash. Furies
|
|
Flying Cats of Atlantis
|
Atl #
|
Pfefferman
|
1
|
Redcorn ***
|
308
|
Whitney
|
2
|
Rayside
|
307
|
McHugh
|
3
|
T. Smith
|
310
|
|
|
|
|
Kelly (T, 2C)
|
|
Cyganik (C)
|
282
|
Lucas
|
5
|
Spirk
|
170 |
Fitz (2T)
|
6
|
Grebos
|
305
|
Madden (T)
|
7
|
Ahlert (T) *
|
280
|
|
|
* replaced by
Rodriguez-Redondo **
|
309
|
|
|
** replaced by Mannino
|
306
|
|
|
*** replaced by Warren
|
311
|
Referee
|
|
Dean Buchowitz (NC)
|
|
Other Finals
Louisville’s famed Picasso Seven disposed of
Raleigh in a hard-fought Master’s final and OMEX featured 20-year
old Rob Balnis in its 31-12 rout of Atlantis II in the Plate
Final. The other seven Bowl division teams were unfortunate to
find 1995 US final 8 club Metro (MN) there -- it had been one of
three 2-1 teams in its division, and came in third on criteria;
Metro easily disposed of all its opponents, including Knoxville in
the finals. Metro’s Thor Bolstad put up a couple of Dan Marino
passes to keep the crowd entertained.
Atlantis and the Cape Fear Sevens
Atlantis won the Cape Fear Sevens for the
second time in ten appearances, but even had it lost in the
final, a team populated with Atlanteans would have won: six of the
NOVA players in the final were Atlantis tour veterans -- the same
number as Atlantis started in the game (of the Atlantis squad,
only Wayne Whitko was an Atlantis rookie).
Furthermore, in the Plate final, a team with five Atlantis
veterans defeated a team with none. The winner, however, was OMEX,
and the loser was Atlantis II, whose nine players were all
Atlantis rookies.
In the women’s division, the Flying Cats, only the third
Atlantis women’s team ever, lost in the final, but their
conquerors, the Washington Furies, were not without an Atlantis
presence: the Furies’ co-captain and outstanding player Nancy Fitz
was a member of the Atlantis team that won the 1996 Hong Kong
Women’s Sevens.
The Atlantis Old Boys, champions last year, were not
allowed to participate this year; nevertheless Atlantis alums were
scattered among the participants.
Even the appearance of the Trinidad and Tobago national team
wouldn’t have taken place without Atlantis. It was at the
1995 Caribbean Sevens tournament that the Cape Fear Sevens
Tournament Director --and Atlantis manager -- Bob Bogen met the
key players in the T&T program and began the process that
ended up with Trinidad & Tobago’s participation.
So even though, of the 22 Atlantis teams that have participated in
the Open Division in the last 10 years, only 4 have made it past
the quarterfinals, Atlantis has made its mark on Cape Fear in many
other ways.
Cape Fear Sevens: not to be
missed
It seems that virtually every year, someone writes
that statement in this magazine, but it remains as true now as
ever before. Having completed its 22nd year (see list of winners
below), the Cape Fear Sevens combines fantastic fields, a large
number of competitors of both genders and every possible skill
level, a kind schedule (Saturday’s games are done by 4 PM) and a
great beach on which to spend both Saturday and Sunday late
afternoons with friends and competitors (the same people).
If you haven’t been there, go! But make sure you get your airline
tickets in April, when they will be about 1/3 the cost of what you
will have to pay in June.
Cape Fear Champions
Tournament Champions
1975 Univ. of Virginia
1976 Roanoke
1977 Norfolk
1978 Roanoke
1979 Norfolk
1980 Norfolk
1981 Richmond
1982 Duck Brothers
1983 Duck Brothers
1984 Bristol (England)
1985 Duck Brothers
1986 Harlequins (England)
1987 Duck Brothers
1988 Duck Brothers
1989 MOB
1990 Washington
1991 Artisans (England)
1992 Washington
1993 Old Blue (NY)
1994 Atlantis II
1995 NOVA
1996 Atlantis I
Women’s Champions
[need to get]
197x
1980
1981
1982
1983 Florida State?
1984 Florida State?
1985 Florida State?
1986 Maryland
1987 Southeast?
1988 Hartford
1989 Maryland
1990 T2 Twice
1991 ?
1992 Southeast?
1993 Southeast?
1994 Maryland
1995 Maryland
1996 Washington
Masters Champions
1991 Richmond
1992 Hilton Head
1993 Charlotte
1994 Raleigh
1995 Atlantis
1996 Picasso