B.C.’s provincial teams brought home a bevy of hardware from the National Rugby Festival in Calgary last month, and Abbotsford athletes were front and centre.
In all, 21 athletes from the Abbotsford Rugby Football Club made the cut to represent B.C., and all came home with a medal.
The B.C. U18 men’s side won gold, edging Ontario 38-33 in a thrilling final. The eight-man Abbotsford contingent included Tyson Adams, Paul Ahn, Tyler Barons, Jorden Best, Justin Douglas, Connor Hunter, Ryan March and Christian Styles.
The local trio of Lauren Arthur, Madison Borrows and Sheldon Harder helped the B.C. U18 women’s squad to a silver medal. They fell 34-18 to Ontario in the gold medal game.
B.C. sent two U16 men’s teams to nationals, and both climbed the podium. Nick Allen, Joel Campbell, Thomas Choi, Surge Francis, Spencer Miller, Louis Retief and Brandon Ho were part of a dominant B.C.-1 side which crushed Newfoundland 88-5 in the title game.
Spencer Loughlin, Alex Ho and Kyle Van Ek helped the B.C.-2 squad beat Ontario 22-17 to clinch the bronze.