As they prepare to host the BC High School 15s Rugby Provincials next week, the Lake City Falcons sent its junior squad (grades 8-9) to the sevens provincials last weekend on Vancouver Island.
Held at Brentwood College, the Falcons, coached by Natasha Johnson, Morley Wilson and Braden McCallum, stormed out of the gates on day one of the tournament.
“The girls played their hearts out in the first day of the tournament,” Johnson said. “I was very proud at how well all the girls on our squad played together with strong passing, creating holes in the opposition’s defence line.”
The Falcons upended Hugh McRoberts 37-7 with four tries from Jade Meldrum, and single tries from Dusti Bonner and Katelynn Hill, before defeating Shawnigan Lake 24-10 on the strength of tries from Meldrum (2), Kayceeanna Sapp and Shanti Dorio.
In its final game of the round robin the Falcons blanked Vanderhoof 19-0 with tries from Grace Turner, Hill and Cambria McGregor.
All conversions on day one were kicked by Hill.
“Our games in the first day ranked us No. 1 in our pool landing a spot in the semifinal,” Johnson said.
Day two began with the semi versus Brentwood College.
“The girls started the game off very strong with Katelynn Hill scoring in the first minute,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, one of our players had an injury in the first half and the team struggled after, losing to Brentwood in overtime.”
The final score was 27-22, with Meldrum collecting three tries, and Hill adding another, putting the Falcons in the bronze-medal match against Gleneagle secondary.
There, the Falcons were defeated 15-5 with Meldrum notching the lone try for Lake City, placing them fourth overall in the junior division.
“The girls then enjoyed two days of watching Kayla Moleschi play with the Canadian squad at the [Women’s Sevens World Series] in Langford,” Johnson said.
“We’re now working to get our full squad of 25-plus girls ready to compete at the 15s BC High School Provincials next week in Williams Lake.”