Las Vegas: Fresh off their 25-hour bus ride from Vancouver to Las Vegas, the British Columbia Elite Youth Sevens players were in top form on Thursday, going undefeated to clinch the top seed in their pool. The BC-3 squad conceded just a single try and outscored their opponents 132-5 in day one of the Las Vegas Invitational High School Sevens.

The BC-3s, an Under-17 men's provincial rugby side, were the only BCEY7s team in action with the BC-1s and BC-2s set to compete in the Elite High School Sevens competition on Friday.

Thursday's trio of games saw the BC-3s run in 20 tries against their opposition, with Marshall Fuller (Capilano RFC) and Spencer Soltan (Cowichan Rugby Club) each crossing over a team-high four times.

"Our sevens concept was really strong. For sure it was a great start at 3-0," said BC-3's captain Harjun Gill (Richmond RFC). "Our attack was what got us going. We were spinning the ball wide and working the edges, just doing what we went over in our camps. [Tomorrow] we are going to have to play a lot harder defence. We had a bit of a light stretch today against some smaller guys but tomorrow we will be against some big Americans out there."

The BC-3s will face off against Pool A runner-ups in tomorrow's quarterfinal at 10:20am. Three Pool A teams are currently still competing to determine who will go through and the trio include Northwest Loggers U17s (Washington, Oregon, Idaho reps), Littleton Eagles (Denver, Colorado) and Fullerton Rugby (California).

British Columbia 40, Notre Dame 0
The BC-3s kicked off their tournament with a 40-0 win over the Notre Dame Hounds, a high school program out of Saskatchewan. Tomasi Vataiki (Bayside Sharks RFC) opened the scoring, eluding several tacklers to touch down in the far corner. Fuller then added a brace with tries also tallied by Soltan, Tobin Syndeysmith (Capilano RFC), and Luke Zandbergen (Surrey Beavers). Giuseppe Du Toit (Cowichan Rugby Club) kicked four converts and Morgan Tate (Castaway Wanderers) tacked on the final conversion.

British Columbia 47, Stern Math and Science School 0
BC again held their opponents scoreless in their second matchup, downing the Stern Math and Science School 47-0 with a seven try effort. Fuller and Vataiki recorded two tries apiece with scores also coming courtesy from Harjun Gill, Du Toit and Sidneysmith. Du Toit went six-for-seven between the uprights, adding on another 12 points.

British Columbia 45, Bermuda 5
Soltan and Du Toit were especially lethal in their final match of the day, combining for 26 of BC-3's 45 points against Bermuda. Soltan opened the scoring with a try and Du Toit quickly added another as well as the convert for the 12-0 lead. Soltan tallied two more tries before Shane Dagg (Bayside Sharks RFC) ran in another and converted. Bermuda were the only team to break BC's defence and notched at try to bring the score to 33-5. Zandbergen responded with a try of his own and Karsten Leitner (UBCOB Ravens) notched the final score.

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BC-1, a team comprised of provincial Under-18 rep players will face Ontario in their opener on Friday morning. BC-2, a combination of U17 and U18 players will be up against State side Utah Cannibals. The High School Elite Youth Sevens playoffs are scheduled for Saturday, February 11th.

Las Vegas Invitational High School Elite 7s - Fri. Feb. 10th:
BC-1 vs Ontario (International Elite 7s) 8:00am
BC-2 vs Utah Cannibals (International Elite 7s) 9:00am
BC-1 vs Washington (International Elite 7s) 10:40am
BC-2 vs Dog River Howlers (International Elite 7s) 11:40am
BC-1 vs All Americans-2 (International Elite 7s) 1:40pm
BC-2 vs All-Americans-1 (International Elite 7s) 2:20pm

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BC Elite Youth Sevens Traveling Roster
Name (Region/ Club/ High School)
1. Jorden Best (Valley East/ Abbotsford/ Robert Bateman)
2. Evan Cambridge (South Island/ Castaway Wanderers RFC/ Oak Bay)
3. Shane Dagg (Valley West/ Bayside RFC / South Delta Secondary)
4. Jordan De Graaf (North Island/ G.P. Vanier)
5. Bobby Devaney (Valley West/ Bayside RFC/ Earl Marriott)
6. Guiseppe Du Toit (South Island/ Cowichan Rugby Club/ Shawnigan Lake School)
7. Haydn Evans (South Island/ Cowichan Rugby Club/ Shawnigan Lake School)
8. Marshall Fuller (Vancouver North/ Capilano RFC/ Collingwood)
9. Harjun Gill (Vancouver West/ Richmond RFC/ St. Georges)
10. Fergus Hall (South Island/ Castaway Wanderers RFC/ Glenlyon Norfolk)
11. Alan Hogarth (South Island/ Cowichan Rugby Club/ Shawnigan Lake School)
12. Avi Horwitz (Vancouver West/ Shawnigan Lake School)
13. Robert Jones (Valley West/ Bayside RFC/ Lord Tweedsmuir)
14. Alex Kanty (South Island/ Castaway Wanderers RFC / Oak Bay)
15. Joey Kenville (Valley West/ Bayside RFC/ Earl Marriott)
16. Alex Klassen (Valley West/ Bayside RFC/ Semiahmoo)
17. Kieran Lauridsen (North Island/ Cowichan Rugby Club/ Cowichan High school)
18. Karsten Leitner (Vancouver West/ UBC Old Boys/ St. Georges)
19. Spencer Loughlin (Valley East/ Abbotsford RFC/ Yale Secondary)
20. Riley Macpherson (South Island/ Castaway Wanderers RFC/ Oak Bay)
21. Gavin Mclean (North Island/G.P. Vanier)
22. Ian McMaster (Valley West/ Bayside RFC/ Earl Marriott)
23. Chris Miles (South Island/ Shawnigan Lake School)
24. Spencer Miller (Valley East/ Abbotsford RFC/ Yale Secondary)
25. Jeff Nishima-Miller (South Island/ Castaway Wanderers RFC/ St. Michael's)
26. Ollie Nott (North Island/ Shawnigan Lake School)
27. JD Paul (Valley East/ Abbotsford RFC/ WJ Mouat)
28. James Pitblado (Vancouver West/ Vancouver Rowing Club/ St George’s)
29. Spencer Soltan (South Island/ Cowichan Rugby Club/ Shawnigan Lake School)
30. Tyson Stoochnoff (North Island/ Cowichan Rugby Club/ Cowichan High School)
31. Tobin Sydneysmith (Vancouver North/ Capilano RFC/ Sentinel)
32. Morgan Tate (South Island/ Castaway Wanderers RFC/ Oak Bay)
33. Tomasi Vataiki (Valley West/ Bayside RFC/ Hugh McRoberts)
34. Quinton Willms (Valley West/ Bayside RFC/ Earl Marriott)
35. Nathan Yanagiya (Vancouver North/ Capilano RFC/ Carson Graham)
36. Luke Zandbergen (Valley West/ Surrey Beavers/ Lord Tweedsmuir)

Team Staff
Head Coach - Shane Thompson
Coach - Winston Stanley
Coach - Nik Witkowski
Coach - Morgan Williams
Coach - Barry Ebl
Physio/Trainer - Gareth Adams
Communications/Video - Andrew Smith

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