Portal:1977 Spring Men

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1977 Spring Men Portal

UsafaRugbyPatch2.png
Early in the year, Squadron Leader Alderton presented the shield of RAF Cranwell to the Commandant, BG Beck, which marked the beginning of the rugby club as an integral part of the USAFA, We had just received permission from the Commandant for the cadets to wear the Eddie the Eagle badge (designed by Roger Smith) on their A Jackets. There was no way that the Establishment were going to allow Fat Fred to be worn. As expected, the new patch caused a good deal of friction in the club. Half the first fifteen thought we had “betrayed” the club’s tradition of an extra mural existence. The second XV and others in the club liked the idea of wearing rugger patch which continued to be worn for some time.


Team Record

A Side Record
Date Opponent Score Notes
March Cranwell 9-6 Spring break, Try by Bulmer and C by Dollahite
March Durham University 6-58 Spring break/Great party!
<date> Barbos 10-3
6 April BYU 19-7 Tries by Baier, Hefferly and Eyre, with 2 conversions and a PK by Winiger
8 April Denver Harlequins 17-10 2 tries by Schow, 1 by Hefferly and a conversion and PK by Winiger
15 April Boulder  ?-?
23 April CC 6-0 first match in the Inter University Tournament
23 April Wyoming 3-0 second match in the Tournament; kick by Dollahite
24 April Western State 20-0 Semi finals of the Inter University Tournament
24 April UNC 6-9 Championship Match of the Inter University Tournament; Schow try, Wininger conversion
Season Record xx-yy



B Side Record
Date Opponent Score Notes
March Royal Roads 14-17
8 April Denver Harlequin B 10-6 tries by Catlin and Smith with a conversion by Schoon
23 April Wyoming 29-0 B side first match of Colorado Inter University Tournament
23 April Denver Univ 6-7 C side in Inter University tournament
23 April DU 24-3 second B side match in the tournament
24 April vs C side 12-0 Semi finals of the Junior Division of the Inter University Tournament
24 April CSU B 37-0 Finals of the Junior Division; 3 Tries by Harrison; team captain Hefferly
8 April Harlequin C 11-12 C side match - tries by Shillington and conversion by Greenwood
<date> DU 6-7 C side match in Inter University Tournament
Season Record xx-yy
Roster
Last Name First Name Class
Schoon Neil 1979
Hefferly Mark 1978
Harrison Oly 1978
Ballinger Barney 1977
Wilkinson Keith 1978
Hagedorn Doug 1978
Baier Ken 1978
Eyre Tru 1979
Winiger Dave 1978
Schow K C 1978
Catlin Mike 1978
Smith Art 1980
Shillington Pat <class>
Greenwood Chuck 1978
Boyd William 1979
Smith Roger 1977
Sikes Roy 1977
Jarka Dan 1977
Bulmer Joe 1977
Bonanni Pete 1977
Dollahite Tom 1977
Kennedy Greg 1978
Carwile Joey 1977
Wales Jet 1977
Curran Chuck 1977
Churchill Winston 1978
Haslett Winston 1977


Post Season Experience/Records

Post Season Selections

All Colorado State XV

Barney Ballinger '77

Keith Wilkinson '78


Post Graduation Involvement

As a Player

Joe Bulmer - Phoenix RFC

John Herd - Davis Monthan RFC, Old Pueblo Rugby Club

Jet Wales - Davis Monthan RFC, Wright Patterson RFC, Old Pueblo RFC

Roger Smith - Mississippi State RFC

Mac (Roy) Sikes) - Mississippi State RFC, Old Pueblo Rugby Club, Miami Trident's RFC

John Haslett - Miami Trident's RFC

Selected to Representative Teams

Jet Wales - Combined Services (81)


Starting Other Teams:

Dan Jarka, Minot AFB


As a Referee

As a Coach

Barney Ballenger - AF Academy, Combined Services U-23 87


As a Team

After the England trip and 77 spring season, a group of the 77 players (Eddie, Murph, Pete Bonanni, Jack Ivy, Jet Wales, Joey Bulmer, and Mac (Roy Sikes)) formed a non-academy 7s team named the "Ambassadors" (just a little tongue-in-cheek) to play in the Western Regional Tournament in Denver. We made it to the Semi-finals, not bad for only having one practice and no coach.



Leadership

Staff

Head Coach - Sqdrn Ldr G. L. D. Alderson

Assistant Coach - Alan Osur

OIC - Sqdrn Ldr G. L. D. Alderson

CIC -

Captains

First part of season:

C1C Eddie Thomas

C1C Bob Murphy


After Spring Break:

C1C Tom Dollahite (backs)

C1C Barney Ballenger


B Team Captain - Dave Winiger

C Team Captain -


Media

First XV fs Cranwell on Spring Break Back Row: Coach Alderson, Murphy, Bulmer, Wilkinson, Ballenger, Lowe, Jarka, Dollahite, Dockendorf , Kennedy,?Libby, Curran. Front Row: Sikes, Bruggermeyer, Ivy, Alexander, Thomas, Wales, R. Smith, Haslett


More pictures on the 1977 Spring page


Memorable Events

Roger Smith ran a kickoff back for a try, without blocking!

Pete Bonanni scored in virtually every game.


Spring Break vs Durham County:

Durham: “You Blokes sure tackled hard...”

Us: “Yeah, but we never tackled the guy with the ball.”


And more memories by Tom Dollahite: The Conversion in the Cranwell Game was a highlight of my Rugby career that I’ll always remember...as were the Batmen who cleaned our shoes after the game and the Pub Cranwell had in their dorm! Making that conversion to win that game for a team that played one of our best games ever to beat Cranwell was an unforgettable experience! And....

I distinctly remember making a PK on 23 Apr vs Wyoming to break the 0-0 tie and win that game...after a close, hard fought match by both sides. It was a kick from near a sideline, with a strong wind blowing goal to goal...I just kicked the ball up and the wind curved it through the goalpost...Absolutely the Luckiest kick I ever made...