HARRISONBURG, Va. – The inaugural Cardinal Conference 7s tournament was completed Sunday, Sept. 29, with James Madison University taking first place. With the conference championship victory, James Madison will not only be recognized for winning the first ever Cardinal 7s Conference Championship, but will also strongly increase their odds of being selected to the 2013 Emirates Airline USA Rugby College 7s National Championship. Due to scheduling around the conference’s fall 15s calendar, the event was not able to receive commitments from the entire conference. However, James Madison, University of Mary Washington, Longwood University and Virginia Commonwealth University all brought admirable sides to the JMU campus considering each school played a 15s match the previous day. The finals pitted Mary Washington against host James Madison. UMW took an early 7-0 advantage, but it did not take long for JMU to regain control with back-to-back tries by winger Donnie Carroll. James Madison never looked back, eventually winning the match 26-14 and the first ever Cardinal Conference 7s Championship. Considering the grueling sevens format and the fact each participating school played a 15s match just a day prior, JMU coach and Tournament Director Mark Lambourne felt his club’s complete roster helped make it such a successful day. “They all had good athletes, they all had speed… but the reality was we had more depth across 12 guys,” he said. The 2013 College 7s National Championship will be the first of its kind to hold a Men’s Open Division Championship. James Madison’s undefeated performance at the Cardinal 7s will surely catch the attention of the Collegiate Championship Committee.