Portal:1991 Spring Women/Intro

May 1991 was the first USA Rugby Collegiate Women's National Championship, held in Alexandria VA, and Air Force won it! (see clipping in the media section and an article here -> [[1]]) and here -> [[2]]

It was a beautiful season because we KILLED everyone until the final game. We still won [the national championship!], of course, but it was one of the most difficult teams we played (Boston College). The final was close because after playing all our proceeding matches on the postage stamp pitch we did not adjust early to the larger pitch very well. Also Boston College were incredibly strong and skillful in the forwards (they had scrimmaged on a regular basis against Beantown who were the best pack in the world at that time) and like us they played hard physical rugby and wanted desperately to win.

The two top scorers in the tournament were Karen Perez (24 pts) and Joyce Elmore (20 pts). Tournament MVPs were selected, one from the Montana women's club, BC (their captain), and two from AF: Dana Teagarden and Margo Willoughby (Bjorkman). The BC captain, who got up first, was certainly disappointed in the outcome, and made a rambling long speech. When she finished, Margo got up and said "I could not have done this without the pack in front of me and the backs behind me". She then sat down, a perfect example of leadership and humility in a speech.

30 year reunion video here: [[3]]