The Kent Crusaders HS girls team ran the table in the Washington State Games rugby 7s competition, winning all of their games throughout the four-tournament season.

In the last game against their closest rivals, Rainier, Kent won 43-0. Craig Strong photo.

Atkinson and Shelton were delighted to get a Bronze medal. Alex Goff photo.

Kent had received a bit of a scare in the penultimate tournament when Rainier led with no time left in the final. But the Crusaders won that game on a long-range try, and beat Rainier again this Sunday to relegate their rivals to the silver medal.

On the day on Sunday, Kent outscored their four opponents 202-0.

“That game last week against Rainier was a wakeup call; we lost our momentum in that game,” said Kent co-captain Leah Ingold. “It’s been a good summer. We’ve had a lot of girls come out and we’ve been able to grow the team this summer. And it helps that we’ve been winning.”

“It’s been a pretty special summer watching the girls develop,” said Kent 7s coach Carly MacKinnon. “We started at the beginning of June, which is a bit ahead of time, and that helped with the fitness and getting them primed up for the four tournaments.”

Kent was able to field two teams early in the summer, which MacKinnon said offered her a chance to develop some players. “For the first two tournaments, we had two teams, which was interesting for me as a coach. We could still be a bit fitter.”

As for winning a State Games medal, Ingold said that was nice, but “getting all the players together and being together as a team matters more.”

Finishing a strong third was Shelton, which had to battle through teaching the game to brand new players, and traveling out from the woods of Mason County around to the other side of Puget Sound for the tournaments.

“We’re excited to get a medal,” said Shelton’s Cordelia Atkinson. “And for me it was important because I broke my jaw and missed the 15s season, so this was my chance to get back and play. My dad [Robert Atkinson], the coach, worked us really hard, and to see the new players and the level of athletes we’ve got, and how hard they tried, was great.”

- Additional reporting by Owen Goff