CHESWICK, Pa. – The Southern California Men and the Midwest Women both put down their respective counterparts from the West to take home the 2008 All-Star Sevens Championship crowns on Sunday, August 24 at Founders Field, outside of Pittsburgh.

In the Men’s competition, Southern California advanced to the Cup Final after shutting down the Midwest 22-14 in their semi final faceoff and went on to win it all in a convincing 31-17 final battle versus the West.

“It’s nice to be taking the championship hardware home to SoCal,” said Southern California captain Corey Blair, following the victory. “We played some great teams this weekend, the weather was nice and Pittsburgh has a great facility - they hosted a tremendous event, everyone really enjoyed themselves.”

In a surprise move, Collegiate All-American Kevin Swiryn, a recent graduate from St. Mary’s, was elected as the MVP of the tournament.  Swiryn impressed the selectors enough to garner an award that is typically given to a member of the championship winning team.  This decision may be attributed to both Swiryn’s tremendous weekend of play and the overall balance of the So Cal team.

On the Women’s side, in a fantastic contest between the Midwest and West, it was the Midwest that came out on top 19-17 to take home the cup. The Thunderbirds shutout three-time defending champions the Northeast Women 19-0 to earn their spot in the final and Kristy Ringgenberg was named tournament MVP for the women, a perfect ending for long-time Midwest Head Coach Mark Santiago, who has said this will be his final year coaching the side.

“I’m happy for our team, their incredible efforts and perseverance out on the pitch,” Santiago said.

Interestingly, Plate honors were given to each of the 2007 champion sides, as the defending champion Mid-Atlantic Men defeated the Midwest 24-7 in the Plate Final and the Northeast powered past the Mid-Atlantic Women, 15-5 to take home some hardware of their own.

In the Bowl Finals, the Men’s Collegiate All-Stars nabbed the honors from last year’s runners-up, Pacific Coast in a convincing 30-12 victory, while on the Women’s side it was the opposite, with Pacific Coast coming out on top 17-12 over the Under-23 Women.

Rounding out the competition, the Northeast Men and SoCal Women won their respective seventh place matches.

For more information on the USA Rugby Championship Series, please visit www.usarugby.org/goto/USAR_Championships.

Day 2 Results
Pac Coast 17, So Cal 10 (Women’s Bowl Semi Finals)
College All-Stars 12, South 0(Men’s Bowl Semi Finals)
Under-23s 15, South 10 (Women’s Bowl Semi Finals)
Pacific Coast 29, Northeast 5(Men’s Bowl Semi Finals)
Midwest 19, Northeast 0 (Women’s Cup Semi Finals)
West 10 MARFU 0 (Women Cup Semi Finals)
West 27, MARFU 14 (Men’s Cup Semi Finals)
SoCal 22, Midwest 14 (Men Cup Semi Finals)

Southern California 17, South 0 (Women 7/8^th place)
Northeast 19, South 5 (Men 7/8^th place)
Pacific Coast 17, Under-23s 12 (Women’s Bowl Final)
Collegiate All-Stars 30, Pacific Coast 12 (Men’s Bowl Final)
Northeast 15, MARFU 5 (Women’s Plate Final)
MARFU 24, Midwest 7 (Men’s Plate Final)
Midwest 19, West 17 (Women’s Cup Final)
Southern California 31, West 17 (Men’s Cup Final)