WEST COAST SEVENS PREVIEW: ARIZONA LOOKS TO BUILD IN THE BAY AREA
West Coast Sevens
Treasure Island
San Francisco, CA
October 22-23
Kyle Rogers and the Wildcats look to build on last year's strong Sevens finish this weekend.
Oct 20- Arizona has named the side that will travel to San Francisco for the 2016 West Coast Sevens as the Wildcats begin the first of two preseason tournaments this weekend.
Arizona is led by Kyle Rogers, who will captain the side fresh off of a 2015-2016 season in which he was named 2nd Team Sevens All American. "Kyle has grown so much in the past few years" said Head Coach Sean Duffy "and his leadership skills have continued to blossom to go along with his great ability."
Joining Rogers in the leadership group are a group of CRC veterans, including Shane Dempsey, Ben Joseph, and Bryce Mantell. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Garrett Walker also make the side after both making last year's CRC roster to conclude their Freshman seasons. "We started young when I got here in 2014 and we're beginning to see the results of those efforts, as guys are playing well and perhaps most importantly, playing well together" said Duffy "we've seen a number of guys emerge and Garrett Walker in the past month has been the latest, just continues to grow each week and I'm excited to see him go to work."
A number of Wildcats will make their Sevens debuts this weekend, with Juniors Ryan Hudson and 2016 USA Under-20 Sean Coleman joined by four exciting Freshmen in Jake Hedge, Anton Grigoriou, Korbin Miller, and Ben Scoular. "The list is long of the fantastic Sevens players produced by Arizona and each of these guys are hoping to be the next. They'll get the next step in their education this weekend and they're ready for the task" said Duffy.
Arizona is pitted in Pool B with 2016 Collegiate Sevens Champion Saint Mary's College, San Diego State, and UC-Santa Barbara. Sunday's matches will be broadcast on The Rugby Channel, with the Wildcats looking to continue their fine Sevens form which saw them finish 3rd at last year's Collegiate Rugby Championships on NBC. Following this weekend, the Wildcats will prepare to host the 2016 PAC Rugby Sevens Championship in Tucson November 12-13 before concluding their preseason with the 2nd Annual Red-Blue Game November 18th.
Schedule
11:00 AM- Game 1 vs San Diego State
12:00 PM- Game 2 vs UC-Santa Barbara
3:00 PM- Game 3 vs Saint Mary's College
West Coast Sevens Lineup (click for bio)
2. Ben Joseph
5. Jake Hedge
7. Sean Coleman
8. Ryan Hudson
10. Kyle Rogers
11. Ben Scoular
12. Shane Dempsey