Rose City Wins D1 Playoffs in Columbia
Three more teams punched their tickets to Portland during the 2016 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Columbia, South Carolina, USA. The Rose City Rollers of Portland, Oregon, secured their spot in the 2016 International WFTDA Championships, which the league is also hosting, with a semifinal win over the Atlanta Rollergirls. They finished the tournament in first place, defeating Denver Roller Derby 250-137 and earning a first-round bye at Champs.
Joining them at Championships on Nov. 4-6 will be Denver Roller Derby of Denver, Colorado, and the Jacksonville RollerGirls of Jacksonville, Florida. Denver lost to Rose City in the final game of the tournament, but they moved up one spot from their #3 seeding and displayed strong defense and impressive endurance against the 2015 WFTDA Champions. Jacksonville came into the tournament as the #2 seed and defeated the #4 seed, the Atlanta Rollergirls, in a tough battle for 3rd place that saw multiple lead changes before Jacksonville ultimately pulled ahead. Teamwork and a deep jammer bench helped them clinch their spot at Champs, despite top jammer Erin Jackson being absent from the jam line during the tournament.
Stacie “Midge” Wilhelm of Denver Roller Derby was named tournament MVP.
Although for the most part, higher-seeded teams prevailed in this weekend’s games, the tournament showcased plenty of gritty, hard-fought matches and teams surging back from huge point deficits to pressure their opponents. The Rainy City Roller Derby All Stars of Oldham, Greater Manchester, UK, who placed 6th in the tournament, made their first WFTDA playoff appearance this weekend. Several teams jumped one place from their seeding—Denver came in 3rd and finished 2nd, Rainy City came in 7th and finished 6th, and Steel City came in 10th and finished 9th.
If you missed out on any of the action this weekend, check out game photos and recaps in the tournament blog, and watch the game archives on WFTDA.tv later this week.
Final Results
1st Place – Rose City Rollers (Seed #1)
2nd Place – Denver Roller Derby (Seed #3)
3rd Place – Jacksonville RollerGirls (Seed #2)
4th Place – Atlanta Rollergirls (Seed #4)
5th Place – Crime City Rollers (Seed #5)
6th Place – Rainy City Roller Derby (Seed #7)
7th Place – Santa Cruz Derby Girls (Seed #6)
8th Place – Columbia QuadSquad (Seed #8)
9th Place – Steel City Roller Derby (Seed #10)
10th Place – Ann Arbor Derby Dimes (Seed #9)
Congratulations to all of the participating teams, and thanks to all the officials, announcers, photographers, and other volunteers who made the weekend in Columbia such a success! Special thanks go out to tournament hosts Columbia QuadSquad Rollergirls for showing the WFTDA community some famous southern hospitality.
Be sure to join us next weekend—whether in person or via WFTDA.tv—for the next round of WFTDA Playoffs, Sept. 16-18 in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
