Final Thoughts on ARC 15s

Wow, what an amazing year for the Aggies!!!  We claimed the ARC 7s Championship, the SEC 7s Championship, secured another berth to the Collegiate 7s National Championship, won the University Cup and now hold the ARC 15s championship trophy.  It does not get much better than that and it is a testiment to the quality and character of the players who played throughout the season.  What an amazing bunch of guys - especially our seniors!

We had some major difficulties to overcome this spring, but our players surmounted them with grace, hard-work, and a binding together that is rarely seen in sport.  They kept their eyes on the prize and as the say, "Good things come to good people."  This was definitely true of the Aggies this season.  The leadership of our President Chris Frazier and Captain Conor Mills was fanastic throughout the year.  Perhaps more revealing, were all those who stepped up even though they had no official leadership role - well done men!

 

The Aggies not only demonstrated championship caliber character, but championship caliber play as well.  They dominated the competition, scoring an amazing 389 points - 64.8 ppg, while giving up only 68 points - 11.3 ppg.  The stats speak for themselves.  A number of local and national critics had us down and out after our three non-conference losses, but the team managed to regroup after an outstanding effort against BYU in Las Vegas.  We used those early matches to get ready for conference and we can attribute the adversity we faced early for helping us win later. 

 

Winning the ARC was our number one goal this season and to be able to beat UT twice during the competition made the championship even sweeter.  Despite some of the lopsided scores, TAMU believes that the competition was very physical and hard-fought.  The conference is well-run and very worthy of the Aggies' support.  We know that we will be fighting for our life in the very near future as the rest of the conference closes the gap.

 

We finished the season ranked 6th in D1-A and 20th among all schools.  After a rough start, that is a great way to finish the season.  I could not be prouder of the effort and committment of the guys who finished the season.  Their legacy has been established and they will be forever remembered as the first champions of the ARC!