Gee-Gee grad grabs Ottawas 1st gold

By Dan Plouffe

Natasha Watcham-Roy became the nation’s capital’s first athlete to win a medal at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games in Sunday evening, as the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees alum and Team Canada were decisive women’s rugby sevens champions.

Watcham-Roy paraded around the stadium in front of friends, family, and a crowd after helping Canada annihilate their Pan American competition by a combined 285-19 in six dominant performances.

“It feels amazing,” smiled Watcham-Roy, who scored three trys over the course of the two-day event and was on the field for the final whistle that confirmed her team’s gold medal. “I’m so thankful we had a big victory against the U.S. in front of our home crowd.”

Ranked 5th in the world, the U.S. were no pushovers and managed to score the championship game’s first try, but the Canadians responded with 55 unanswered points, backed by a crowd of around 20,000 at BMO Field in Toronto.

“We played them a couple times now and we knew what to expect,” Watcham-Roy, 23, highlighted. “They came out strong, but we’d watched video and we knew what we were doing, and I think it showed on the field.”

Thanks to their 2nd-place finish in the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, Canada has already qualified for rugby’s Olympic debut next summer in Rio de Janeiro.

Cornett bags bronze
Ottawa-bred squash player Samantha Cornett earned a Pan Am Games medal without dropping a set through her first two matches, but met her match in the semi-final round to take bronze.

Cornett experienced a “rollercoaster” match against USA’s Amanda Sobhy, dropping the first set 2-11, blasting back for an 11-3 second-set win, then falling 4-11, 6-11 to the former world junior champion and #10 world-ranked player.

“I was in a good position with nothing to lose,” said Cornett, the top Canadian in the world rankings at #33. “She’s a strong player, so I knew I was in tough, but I definitely knew I could do it, so it makes it hard to lose.”

The 24-year-old Queensview Goodlife product still has the doubles and team competition events ahead on her Pan Am schedule.

Look for more detailed coverage in August’s Ottawa Sportspage newspaper.