Eight hours of rugby in Columbia, Md. was cut short on Saturday when lightning and rain stopped the Mid-Atlantic Conference’s Slug 7s just before the cup final matches in the Men’s and Women’s Qualifier division. It was determined that the finalists in each division would share the tournament championship and qualifier points. For the Men, Schuylkill River and Norfolk split the title and the Scion Sirens and Northern Virginia (NOVA) would be co-champions in the Women's Qualifier.

Hosted by Rocky Gorge, the 26th annual Slug 7s featured over 560 athletes competing on 47 teams spread over five divisions. The Men’s Qualifier was composed of Schuylkill River, Baltimore-Chesapeake, Rocky Gorge, and Norfolk in one pool and NOVA, the Pittsburgh Pandamonium, Washington, and the Washington Irish in the second pool.

During pool play, one group was hotly contested, while the second had a clear winner. Schuylkill River beat Rocky Gorge and Norfolk convincingly and edged Baltimore-Chesapeake in a track meet, 43-38. Norfolk also advanced to the playoffs with wins over BC and Rocky Gorge.

In the second pool, three teams completed the opening round with identical 2-1 records. NOVA, Pittsburgh, and the Washington Irish ended up tied and NOVA and the Irish moved on based on point differential.

In the semifinals, Norfolk upset NOVA in an extremely close match, 10-7, and Schuylkill River slipped past the Irish, 15-5. With about 20 minutes to go until the start of the cup final, the tournament was called for lightning and Norfolk and Schuylkill River were named co-champions of the event.

In the Women’s Qualifier, Scion and NOVA were the runaway winners of the day poised to meet the final after going undefeated in all of their matches. Scion was especially dominant scoring 150 points, giving up only ten points, and blanking Philly, 53-0, in the semifinals. On the other hand, NOVA breezed through pool play outscoring its opponents 88-15 and was challenged by the D.C. Furies in the semifinals. Ultimately, NOVA persevered to win, 17-12. With sharing the first place tournament points, Scion and NOVA have basically locked up their tickets to Nationals.

With the Mid-Atlantic Championship next weekend at the Monk Vaughn 7s in Richmond, Va., it’s a three horse race for the Men with Schuylkill River, NOVA, and Rocky Gorge jockeying for position. Schuylkill River and NOVA have the inside track to advance to Nationals, but Gorge could break into the top two with top finish in the final tournament.