EDMONTON - Protected from the elements, six teams from Canada West hit the field running for Day 1 of action on Saturday inside the Dome at Foote Field for the first of three Canada West Rugby 7s tournaments.
 
The three-time reigning Canada West Rugby 7s Champions, UBC Thunderbirds, sit atop the standings, going 3-0 alongside their rivals Victoria Vikes who last won the Canada West 7s Championship in 2022. At the same time, the Trinity Western Spartans, Calgary Dinos and host Alberta Pandas, all found themselves in a three-way tie for third, with 1-2 records.
 
Leading their way to success for the Thunderbirds was a lineup enriched with skill as eight different players inked their names on the scoresheet, four of whom scored tries in their 27-17 win over the TWU Spartans in round two. Vike Ivy Poetker and Thunderbirds Adia Pye and Kiki Idowu took charge all with five tries each to lead all players.
 
Entering the tournament firing on all cylinders, the Thunderbirds came out firing against the host Pandas in the first game of the tournament, scoring off the opening play before cruising to a 55-7 win, with both Pye and Idowu finding the try-zone three times each.
 
Pushing the Canada West powerhouses was their fellow west coasters Trinity Western, as the Spartans laid-out solid efforts against both teams, in which were not reflected in the scorelines, falling to the Thunderbirds 27-17 and later to the Vikes 29-0. However, they did walk away from Day 1 with strong 33-12 win over the Dinos thanks to Kamryn Howlett's 21 points.
 
Keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats, the battle of Alberta nearly played witness to a 24-19 Dinos win, as Ember Larson's lone second half try would prove to be the difference for the Dinos.
 
All teams will cap off group play tomorrow, with Horns and Spartans opening Day 2 of excitement at 10:00 a.m. MST with the final round of action beginning at 1:00 p.m. MST.
 
RUGBY 7s STANDINGS
 

	TEAM	W	L	POINTS
1	UBC	3	0	12
2	Victoria	3	0	12
3	Trintiy Western	1	2	6
4	Calgary	1	2	6
5	Alberta	1	2	6
6	Lethbridge	0	3	0

* Win - 4 Points / Draw - 2 Points / Loss - 1 Point / No Show - 0 points
 

Game 1: UBC Thunderbirds (55) vs Alberta Pandas (7)

Scoring Summary:
 

	1	2	T
UBC	27	28	55
ALB	7	0	7

 
UBC try - #6 Adia Pye (convert missed) 5-0 UBC
UBC try - #11 Piper Logan (convert missed) 10-0 UBC
UBC try - #11 Piper Logan (convert missed) 15-0 UBC
ALB try - #15 Emilee Randolph (#10 Kate Alcock convert) 15-7 UBC
UBC try - #6 Adia Pye (#12 Brooke Roddham convert) 22-7 UBC
UBC try - #6 Adia Pye (convert missed) 27-7 UBC
HALF
UBC try - #12 Lana Dueck (#12 Lana Dueck convert) 34-7 UBC
UBC try - #2 Kiki Idowu (#12 Brooke Roddham convert) 41-7 UBC
UBC try - #2 Kiki Idowu (#12 Brooke Roddham convert) 48 - 7 UBC
UBC try - #2 Kiki Idowu (#12 Brooke Roddham convert) 55-7 UBC
 

Game 4: Lethbridge Pronghorns (5) vs Alberta Pandas (28)

 Scoring Summary:
 

	1	2	T
LET	0	5	5
ALB	7	21	28

 
ALB try  - #13 Emerson Hanrahan (#10 Kate Alcock convert) 7-0 ALB
HALF
ALB try - #12 Izzy Weist ((#10 Kate Alcock convert) 14-0 ALB
ALB try - #10 Kate Alcock (#10 Kate Alcock convert) 21-0 ALB
ALB try - #8 Kaitlin Tetteh-Wayoe (#23 Keira Skrenek convert) 28-0 ALB
LET try - #8 Tayah Perry (convert missed) 28-5 ALB
 

Game 8: Calgary Dinos (24) vs Alberta Pandas (19) 

Scoring Summary:
 

	1	2	T
CGY	19	5	24
ALB	0	19	19

 
CGY try - #2 Willow Beyea (convert missed) 5-0 CGY
CGY try - #1 Bomi Lawal (#4 Jada Hepfner convert) 12-0 CGY
CGY try - #1 Bomi Lawal (#4 Jada Hepfner convert) 19-0 CGY
HALF
ALB try - #13 Emerson Hanrahan (convert missed) 19-5 CGY
CGY try - #7 Ember Larson (convert missed) 24-5 CGY
ALB try - #23 Keira Skrenek (#23 Keira Skrenek convert) 24-12 CGY
ALB try - #8 Kaitlin Tetteh-Wayoe (#23 Keira Skrenek convert) 24-19 CGY