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EAGLE 7s: MVP Nelo Lui Leades OMBAC to the 7's National Championship
(Conshohocken, PA) 15 August 2000 – Old Mission Beach Athletic Club (OMBAC) used speed and experience to win the 2000 Men’s Club 7’s National Championships, downing Sacramento 27-17 in the title match. Sacramento got on the board first with a try by Dave Sinoti but OMBAC then reeled off three unanswered tries, one by Dave DiSorbo and two from Derek Dahlen, to bring the score to 17-5 at the half. The second half featured more OMBAC offense with a try by Ghian Snyman and then a drop goal from around 40 meters by Nelo Lui that electrified the crowd. Sacramento closed out the scoring bringing the final to 27-17. The championship is OMBAC’s third national 7s crown, their most recent coming in 1995. “We put in a good effort all throughout the summer and we won all the tournaments that we entered with our first team intact,” said coach John Hinkin whose team’s defense was a key to success. Going into the final, OMBAC had given up only five tries in four matches. Entering this weekend’s competition, underdog OMBAC was ranked as the #5 seed overall and the #2 seed in their pool. But, led by captain Craig Hartley, speedster Dahlen, and tournament MVP Lui, the OMBAC squad beat Sacramento 12-10, Kansas City ‘AA’ 48-0, and Orlando 29-5 in pool play. On Sunday the San Diego side defeated Metropolis 45-7 in the quarterfinals, and previously unbeaten Kansas City ‘A’ 26-17 in the semifinals. Sacramento’s only loss in the tournament’s pool play was to the OMBAC squad while they defeated Orlando 34-5, and Kansas City ’AA’ 26-5. On Sunday, the Northern Caifornians beat the early tournament favorites and their arch-rivals San Mateo 10-7 in the quarterfinals, despite San Mateo fielding perhaps the fastest man at the tournament Jovesa Naivalu. The semi-final saw a 26-14 victory over Northern Virginia (NOVA). Crowd favorites, Elvis at the Opry, in their trademark pink jerseys finished in 6th place on the strength of play from Lance Houia and Bruce Migliaccio. Meanwhile defending national champion, Philadelphia-Whitemarsh, dropped to a 9th place finish This was the sixth consecutive year that Philadelphia- Whitemarsh has hosted this event. Final Results 1st place / 2nd place OMBAC over Sacramento 27-17 3rd place / 4th place Kansas City over NOVA 26-14 5th place / 6th place San Mateo (Calif.) over Elvis at the Opry (Tenn.) 24-12 7th place / 8th place New York Athletic Club over Metropolis (Minn.) 47-7 9th place / 10th place Philadelphia Whitemarsh over Huntington Beach (Calif.) 42-0 Tournament MVP - Nelo Lui, OMBAC FULL RESULTS: Pool A: NOVA 21, Huntington Beach 19 Kansas City I 56, Charlotte O NOVA 26, Charlotte 19 Kansas City I 21, Huntington Beach 12 Huntington Beach 12, Charlotte 12 NOVA 19, Kansas City I 24 Pool B: Philadelphia- Whitemarsh 10, New York AC 10 Elvis at the Opry 38, Olympic Club 14 Philadelphia- Whitemarsh 26, Olympic Club 12 Elvis at the Opry 12, New York AC 14 New York AC 26, Olympic Club 5 Philadelphia-Whitemarsh 5, Elvis at the Opry 15 Pool C: San Mateo 35, Metropolis 26 Washington 26, Old Blue 5 San Mateo 38, Old Blue 12 Washington 12, Metropolis 14 San Mateo 24, Washington 19 Metropolis 31, Old Blue 5 Pool D: Orlando 16, Kansas City II 14 OMBAC 12, Sacramento 10 Orlando 5, Sacramento 24 OMBAC 48, Kansas City II 0 Orlando 5, OMBAC 29 Kansas City II, 5, Sacramento 26 Cup and Plate Quarterfinals Kansas City I 7, Elvis at the Opry 5 NOVA 28, NYAC 14 Metropolis 7, OMBAC 45 San Mateo 7, Sacramento 10 Bowl Semi-finals Huntington Beach 15, Orlando 12 Washington 19, Philadelphia-Whitemarsh 21 Plate Semi-Finals Elvis at the Oprey 34, Metropolis 12 San Mateo 33, NYAC 14 Cup Semi-finals Kansas City Blues 17, OMBAC 26 Nova 14, Sacramento 26 Plate Consolation Metropolis ( NRU I) 10, NYAC 47 Cup Consolation Kansas City I 26, NOVA 14 BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP Huntington Beach 10, Philadelphia-Whitemarsh 42 PLATE CHAMPIONSHIP Elvis at the Oprey ( Midwest I) 12, San Mateo24 CUP CHAMPIONSHIP OMBAC 27, Sacramento 17
Source: USA Rugby.org
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