Women’s colleges in the Rocky Mountain region have rallied behind spring 7s. It makes weather sense, but a concentrated 7s season also helps smaller, isolated schools play in meaningful competitions while the sport engenders a following. So the region created a women’s 7s series that culminates in a national qualifier, and the first stop on the circuit – the Colorado State 7s – saw 12 squads participate last Saturday.

“There are some interesting things happening in the rural areas, where it’s harder to sustain a 15s team,” said Air Force 7s coach Lisa Rosen, whose A side won the CSU tournament. “There are teams making choices to focus on 7s – like Montana State, Utah State and Idaho State. They all played some good collegiate 7s – especially Utah State, which is a DII team but finished second to us.”

Fatigue, exacerbated by lengthy commutes, hampered teams’ performances by day’s end, but fitness is one area where Air Force thrives. The DI team finished 4-0, defeating Northern Colorado, Colorado Springs, Idaho State and Utah State 140-10 for the title.

Sevens makes even more sense for Air Force, since the academy imposes a 26-player limit on the team’s annual roster. That’s hardly enough athletes for two consecutive 15s seasons (fall and spring), but it’s adequate for the 12-player 7s teams. But the player availability hurdles don’t end there.

“The date of the national 7s championship is the same date as the ring dance, a mandatory cadet activity,” Rosen explained. “So we assumed there was no way we were going to nationals – until Denver was announced as the host site. Now we’re reassessing, and as we get closer to the event we’ll see which players we have to lose for the ring dance and which we don’t. We had two sides in the tournament this weekend, and part of that is building depth. If we make it to nationals and there are players unavailable, then we’ll still be able to put out a competitive squad.”

The A side overwhelmed its competition Saturday, and that domination emanated from captains Lydia Hill and Hallie Marohl.

“Our two captains were not anywhere close to being leading try-scorers, but without a doubt made it possible for everyone else to score a lot of tries,” Rosen said. “Lydia is a tighthead prop for us in 15s, but her work rate is just fantastic, and she’s proven to be a very intuitive 7s player as well as strong leader. Hallie is one of two seniors on the team, and we put her in a playmaker role. She has terrific game sense and is absolutely selfless, so she was really able to set up other players for success.”

Three players scored five tries apiece: Marika Nemeth, Tatiana Wynder and Maddie Midas. Allie Baumgarten added 24 points on two tries and seven conversions, while Marohl followed with 22 points on 11 conversions. Hill (2), Gianna Khoudry, Alivia Berg and Simone Duryeah also added tries.

The tournament victory was a good start to the season, but Rosen - who is also working with Julie McCoy, providing technical analysis to the American Rugby Pro Training Center - is already looking ahead. 

“We were missing two of our high performers this weekend, so we’re eager to have them back on the field and create some healthy competition for positions," Rosen said. "There is one heavy-hitter that we won't see until the qualifier, and that's mostly because they're focusing on 15s right now: BYU."

BYU will be Air Force's biggest competition without a doubt, but the cadets will have the edge of 7s experience and fitness. There's still plenty of 7s to play before then, and Northern Colorado will host the next series stop. 

Colorado State 7s Final Standings
1. Air Force A
2. Utah State University
3. Colorado State University
4. Idaho State University
5. Cheyenne (Women)
6. Montana State University
7. University of Colorado - Boulder
8. Colorado Springs (Women)
9. University of Wyoming
10. Western State University
11. Air Force B
12. University of Northern Colorado