Atlantis Men, Women Go 12-1 in 2004 Caribbean Sevens

 Emil Signes

Port of Spain, Trinidad, 4-5 December 2004.  For the third time in the last four years, Atlantis took co-ed squads to the Caribbean Sevens in Trinidad and Tobago.  This was the 8th appearance at the tournament for the Atlantis men; the women have been there for all 5 years of the women's division. 

The Atlantis women won their 4th consecutive title, but the Atlantis men came up barely and painfully short, losing an overtime semifinal game to eventual champion Scottish Border Reivers, 22-17, after having tied the game on the last play of regulation. For the men, it was "more of the same;" in 8 appearances without a championship they have lost in the finals twice and in the semifinals five times.

Still, the weekend was a great success both on and off the field.

Kelsey Lynn of Stanford and Matt Scheemaker of Syracuse led all Atlantis try scorers with seven each. Princeton's Ruth Bryson led all scorers with 66 points (6 tries, 18 conversions), with Scheemaker's 35 high for the men.  The women outscored their opponents 237 to 5; for the men the 7-game point spread was 174-36.

The teams

Beverly Armstrong, Beantown
Christine Barber, Rochester Renegades
Tracey Bonikowski, Lehigh Valley Maulie Maguires (PA)
Ruth Bryson, Princeton
Casey Gallagher, Princeton
Koma Gandy, DC Furies  
Heather Heaton, At Large(capt.)
Liz Inkellis, Princeton
Natalie Johnson, Princeton
Kelsey Lynn, Stanford
Pam Samhouri, Lehigh Valley Maulie Maguires (PA)

Women's Team - Caribbean Sevens 2004
Top - Heather Heaton, Ruth Bryson, Casey Gallagher, Nat Johnson, Liz Inkellis, Tracey Bonikowski, Koma Gandy
Bottom - Pam Samhouri, Kelsey Lynn, Christine Barber, Bev Armstrong

Allen Andrews, Belmont Shore
Joe Brady, Rochester Aardvarks
Keith Cassidy, Philadelphia-Whitemarsh
Alcuis Christian, Dallas Elite / Dallas Harlequins
Jeff Gatlin, Dallas Elite / Woodlands (TX)
Thaddeus Hill, Dallas Elite / Fort Worth (capt)
Alex Nadiak, Buffalo
Larry Ramey, Detroit
Ruairidh Sawers, At Large
Matt Scheemaker, Syracuse
Mark Terrell, Dallas Elite / Dallas Harlequins

Men's Team - Caribbean Sevens 2004
Top - Reggie Tift (behind), Al Christina, Ruaridh Sawers, Alex Nadiak, Larry Ramey, Allen Andrews, Jeff Gatlin, Emil Signes
Bottom - Thaddeus Hill, Mark Terrell, Joe Brady, Matt Scheemaker, Chris Morris, Sean McKenna

Nonplayers were the management team of Sean McKenna and Chris Morris, and the coaching team of Emil Signes and Reggie Tift.

As usual on Atlantis tours, pre-tourney time was dominated (but not all-consumed) by practice. We practiced twice on Thursday and once Friday.  The heat was brutal, but all survived.  Everyone became thankful in advance for the tournament format of rolling subs among an 11-player squad.

At end of practice
We were out so long, that Al's #11 from his jersey was imprinted on his back by the sun

Thursday comprised double sessions + a poolside pizza night complete with the bestowing of nicknames, the first fine session and the first of multiple murders.  

Thursday prior to our afternoon practice brought something new – the first Atlantis earthquake.  Measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale, the earthquake actually shut me up during the 10-15 seconds that the hotel room we were sitting in shook continually. Captain Thaddeus missed this meeting and it turned out he slept through the entire experience.  For sleeping through an earthquake, Thad received the tour name “Rip Van Winkle.” A Richter 5.1 aftershock followed just before midnight.

Friday began with another long practice followed by a trip to beautiful Maracas Beach where everyone tried “Bake and Shark” sandwiches.  In the evening what is now becoming a ritual - a typical Trini dinner at Veni Mangé, a very nice restaurant on Ariapita Avenue.

 Saturday saw a clean sweep for both teams, with the only score against us being an 80 meter runback of a turnover by the speedy wing of the Northeast Warriors, the women's branch of the Trinidad Northern club.  Casey Gallagher made a huge chase to catch the player at the goal, and briefly held her from touching down; had her teammates supported as they should have, even this try would not have been scored.  By the end of Saturday's games, all eleven Atlantis women had scored tries.

Saturday evening the rookies went off scheming while the vets went for a roti run.

Sunday, while the women rested for their 2:40 PM semifinal, the men had 3 tough games in one of two 4-team Cup round pools, the top two teams to go to the semifinals.  Guyana's national team was their first opponent, and was as tough a match as figured - all Guyana's players are fast and fit, and we squeaked through 12-7.  Two more wins followed including a last-second 10-7 win over a West Indies side.

In the semifinals, the Border Reivers - exactly as they had done last year - claimed two injuries and added Guyana's speedy center and wing to fill out their 11-man rolling roster for the game.  The Guyanans scored two tries and, after we missed two easily-makeable conversions, the Reivers led 17-10 with no time left.  Thad Hill made a great break, but looked destined to score in the corner.  He managed, however, to keep the ball alive and after two passes it was centered by Al Christian.  Mark Terrell's conversion tied the game, but in the 5th minute of overtime a Reiver try sadly sealed Atlantis' fate.

The women on Sunday, however, had two repeat opponents and handled them easily.  Ruth Bryson had a hat trick in the Northeast Warriors game and Christine "Woody" Barber's two tries paced the team in the final vs. the Royalians.

Ruth Bryson about to score; Heather Heaton in support

 In the men's final, the Border Reivers disposed of T&T champion Carib RFC, reversing Saturday's result between the teams.

As opposed to previous years, the post-tournament celebration was held 100 meters from the pitches, at the Harvard Club. Also opposed to previous years, where the music was basic American rock, only Caribbean music - no less lively - was played at this event.  This experience, on top of watching and listening to a steel band perform at the pitch during the games – including a lengthy “pan” Christmas medley, gave participants a great introduction to Trini music.

Emilito shows his musical ability - plays the "scratcher" during post-tourney party

For those that could take an extra day off, there was Monday's beach party, unfortunately held in rainy and windy conditions at the beach - but fun nonetheless. Then back to the real world – for me, 362 unread e-mails + another hundred in the spam folder.

 Atlantis Women 6-0

36 Royalians 0
60 Caribs 0
31 Northeast Warriors 5
38 Aesculapians 0
36 Northeast Warriors 0 (SF)
36 Royalians 0 (Final)

 Name                  Tries Conv. Points
Ruth Bryson               6     18    66
Kelsey Lynn               7     1     37
Christine Barber         6     2     34
Beverly Armstrong     5     0     25
Tracey Bonikowski    4     0     20
Casey Gallagher          3     0     15
Liz Inkellis                  3     0     15
Pam Samhouri            2     0     10
Natalie Johnson           1     0     5
Koma Gandy               1     0     5
Heather Heaton           1     0     5
Total                          39    21    237
Opponents                   1     0     5

Atlantis Men 6-1

Day 1 Pool
42 Tarnished Turks (Turks and Caicos) 0
34 Harvard (T&T) 0
33 Rainbow (T&T) 0 

Day 2 Pool
12 Guyana 7 (Cup Pool 1)
26 Northern (T&T) 0 (Cup Pool 1)
10 West Indies RU 7 (Cup Pool 1) 

Cup Semifinal
17 Border Reivers (Scotland & later Guyana) 22 (OT) (SF)

Name                  Tries Conv. Points
Matt Scheemaker    7     0     35
Thaddeus Hill         6     0     30
Mark Terrell          2     9     28
Alex Nadiak           2     6     22
Jeff Gatlin               4     0     20
Al Christian           3     0     15
Ruairidh Sawers     2     0     10
Keith Cassidy         1     0     5
Allen Andrews       1     0     5
Larry Ramey          0     2     4

Total                     28    17    174
Opponents             6     3     36