There were plenty of successes and surprises at the Las Vegas Invitational, but one topping the list is the Atlantis U16s in the Girls High School Open division. It was the first time that the all-star program has fielded this age group, and that alone was an achievement. The players, however, had higher standards for themselves.

The 12 players hailing mostly from the east coast, but also Wisconsin and Colorado, had one two-hour training session on Wednesday.

“We knew we were going up against U19 girls, girls who have probably been playing longer than we have,” captain Gio Ferguson-Lewis said. “But I was optimistic that we were going to give some fight. We weren’t going to go into this tournament with our heads down and take the losses. … We were going to set our standards and do what we had to do.”

Atlantis didn’t just win its first game ever; the team downed the Mavericks 36-5.

“When we were first sitting around and realizing that we were going to play our first game, we were all so nervous, and scared,” Ferguson remembered. “But when we won our first game, we went around and talked about our feelings, and it was: I feel confident. And ever since then it’s been like going [downhill] – amazing.”

The U16s followed with a 10-0 shutout against Fort Collins before losing to Rugby Ontario 30-0.

Ferguson credited coach Ryszard Chadwick for educating the squad with his expert knowledge of the game and for challenging the players to always play with intensity. But Tom Feury did a good job of corralling a solid group of athletes, some of which displayed a real penchant for the faster version of the sport.

“Malery Billingy has amazing speed,” Ferguson-Lewis said of her Play Rugby USA Academy teammate. “When we get the ball out to her on the wing – she’s phenomenal. Maya [Grassi] from Pennsylvania, she has an amazing boot. When we were asking who could kick, she said, ‘Umm, I can kinda kick.’ And then we got on the field and she did an amazing job. … But all around, I’ve never been more impressed with a group of girls.”

Ferguson had no idea how much her pride would swell on day two. The day began with a 27-5 win over Tennessee Tri-Star in the Plate quarterfinals and ended with a Plate title over Canada’s Shawnigan Lake.

“When [the competition] found out that there was a U16 team here, no one expected us to even win one game,” Ferguson-Lewis said. “But here we are. … I feel like the grit, determination and intensity is there for all of us. That’s our edge – knowing that we set a standard for ourselves every day and had to beat that at the end of the day.”

The Atlantis girls have years of rugby ahead of them, and Ferguson knows what she wants to do with them.

“I did talk to the Penn State coach and expressed a little bit of interest,” the 16-year-old took advantage of her time at the LVI, “or maybe a lot of interest in going there. I know they have an amazing program, and I know the academics behind are phenomenal, so that may be in my future, but I have to check out all the other options.”

And if Ferguson's teammates are in the same mindset, they now have a great rugby resume topper.