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 2010 CIS Women's Rugby Championship at Trent University November 4-7FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE National Championship Schedule and Pools Announced Monday, November 1, 2010 OTTAWA (CIS) - The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns will try to become the second team in history to capture four straight Monilex trophies later this week when the best of Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's rugby gather in Peterborough, Ont., for the 2010 national championship. It will mark the first-ever CIS championship hosted by Trent University - in any sport. The event kicks off Wednesday night with the All-Canadian Awards Banquet and culminates with the gold-medal final Sunday at 2 p.m. All nine games from the tournament will be webcast by SSN Canada (www.ssncanada.ca <http://www.ssncanada.ca>). The six-team tourney moves to a new format this year for the first time since women's rugby was added to the CIS program in 1998. Instead of the top two finishers from each pool advancing to semi-finals following the preliminary round, the first-place squads from Pools A and B will move directly to the title match, while the second-place teams will battle for bronze. Three-time reigning champion Lethbridge (6-0) enjoyed another sensational season in 2010 on its way to a fifth straight Canada West banner. The Pronghorns outscored their opponents 253-48 in six overall duels, including an 18-5 win over Alberta in the conference final. Only one team in history has hoisted the Monilex trophy as CIS champions at the end of four consecutive seasons. The Alberta Pandas were crowned five straight times from 1999 to 2003. The StFX X-Women (7-0), who dropped the last two CIS finals to Lethbridge, once again top the list of contenders hoping to stop the 'Horns dominance. The X-Women, CIS champions in 2006, were even more dominant this fall in the Atlantic conference outscoring opponents 463-6 in seven overall contests, including a 57-0 gold-medal win over Acadia for their 13th AUS title in 13 years. Joining Lethbridge and StFX in Peterborough are the OUA champion Guelph Gryphons (8-0), RSEQ champion Concordia Stingers (8-0), OUA finalist Queen's Gaels (7-1), as well as the championship host Trent Excalibur (0-4-1). Guelph beat Queen's 54-5 in the OUA final for its third straight conference title and its 10th in 15 years. The Gryphons, who claimed the inaugural CIS title back in 1998, have medalled at the national championship five years running, including third-place finishes each of the past three seasons. Concordia returns to the CIS championship for the third time in four years - including a fourth-place finish in 2009 - after edging Laval 13-8 in the Quebec title match. Queen's and Trent will both make their first-ever CIS tournament appearances. Lethbridge has been grouped in Pool A with Concordia and Queen's for the round-robin portion of the 2010 CIS championship, while StFX, Guelph and Trent make up Pool B. Lethbridge opens its title defence against Queen's Thursday at 11 a.m. The second opening-day match will see StFX battle host Trent at 1 p.m. For all the info on the 2010 CIS women's rugby championship, visit: www.cis-sic.ca Note: a complete championship preview will follow on Tuesday.
POOLS Pool A Lethbridge Pronghorns (Canada West champions: 4-0 regular season / 2-0 playoffs) Pool B St. Francis Xavier X-Women (AUS champions: 6-0 regular season / 1-0 playoffs)
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE Wednesday, Nov. 3 18:00 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (Robinson Dining Hall, Peter Gzowski College, Trent University) Thursday, Nov. 4 11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge vs. Queen's (SSN Canada webcast) Friday, Nov. 5 11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Loser Pool A #1 vs. Concordia (SSN Canada webcast) Saturday, Nov. 6 11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Winner Pool A #1 vs. Concordia (SSN Canada webcast) Sunday, Nov. 7 10:00 5th place: Third place Pool A vs. third place Pool B (SSN Canada webcast) - CIS - About Canadian Interuniversity Sport For more information contact: Kathryn Verhulst-Rogers, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, Athletics & Recreation, Trent University, Ph: (705) 748-1011 ext. 7258, or kathrynverhulst@trentu.ca Michel Bélanger, Manager, Communications & Media Relations, Canadian Interuniversity Sport, Ph: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25, Cell: (613) 447-6334, Fax: (613) 562-5669, belanger@universitysport.ca |
