The long chase is over for Alberta's U16 and 18 men's rugby teams as they overcame their respective British Columbia nemeses to claim gold medals in the Canadian Rugby Championships hosted by Calgary, Aug.13-20.

Both the teams and fans were howling with the wins that ended a five-year quest to supersede the enduring strength of British Columbia. Joining the celebration were Cochrane's Isaiah and Elijah Springer on the U16 squad and U18's Rylan Waugh and Oscar Halbrough.

It wasn't an easy task, though. Alberta was behind in both their gold medal matches and relied upon determined momentum shifts in the second half to score multiple tries in the dying minutes. The U18s won 29-26 and the U16s won 34-29.

An elated U16 head coach Peter Weran, of the Edmonton Clansmen, said it was the end of a long journey to the gold.

"We've been chasing it for five years and every year it's been us and B.C. 1 in the final," says Weran.

"As the game went on a belief started to creep into the team and you could see it start to take over. They started to believe they could do it and when they got a couple of tries, then it became less about the stigma and more about their ability to do it."

He spoke highly of the Springer brothers contribution to the team.

"They're excellent young men," says Weran.. "They're exact the type of players a coach loves to have on their team. They're dedicated, they work hard and they don't have any quit in them. They're pretty special young men."

It was Isaiah's second and last crack at being a national champion with the U16 team after finishing second to B.C. 1 last year. He believed in his team's ability to pull through.

"We always come out aiming to play B,.C. We always play them first and we always play them in the final. I like how when we realize we're down our team always switches on and we push the pace."

The younger Springer, Elijah, 15, hopes he'll return to the team next year. 

"There were ups and downs and tears and everything. It's really fun and a good experience and I'm looking forward to next year."

He said he received some good advice from his older brother on what to expect. 

"He gave me lot of tips. It's very different than club and the games we play at school. It's faster, you have to pay attention, you have to have more concentration and make wiser choices."

It's now back to the mats with the Cochrane Cowboys for these talented athletes before rugby training resumes in the spring.

It was particular sweet for Rylan Waugh who has been in the chase for the gold for many years. He told us weeks ago he was tired of finishing second.and wanted to cap off his Wolfpack play with the national championship.

Waugh was particularly jubiliant after the game with family and friends there to cheer him on. He's a field sport specialist, an impact player for socceer, rugby and football, and now has his sights set on pursing rugby in New Zealand, the unofficial world capital of the sport.

"It was pretty emotional, to be honest. After years in a row of getting silver or bronze and finally winning this year by three points is pretty special," says Waugh.

He says this year was a special group of players who wanted to get the job done.

"When they went up two tries on us we were talking in the end zone and said if we actually want this we need to go now. I think that's when everybody started to realize we had to throw our bodies on the line. I think it was just a mental thing for us and I think we wanted it more at the end. B.C. let off the gas a bit and we came back."

Waugh will forego U19 next year and instead is pursuing a couple of team offers in New Zealand with Auckand and Wellington. For him, it's not about pursuing money.

"It's more about travelling and seeing the world with rugby and seeing where this sport takes me."

It may have been his first year on Alberta's U18 team, but Oscar Halbrough is fully aware of the rivalry with B.C. and says they are the most intense matches of the championship.

"I hate losing to B.C.," says Halbrough."To win against B.C. feels really good."

The U18 opened their round robin play with a convincing 41-21 win over Ontario before losing to Newfoundland, the eventual bronze medal winner, 30-21. In elimination play, they avenged their lost against the Rock with a 25-21 to take a shoit at the undefeated B.C. Bears.

The victory must have even been sweeter for the U16 Wolfpack. They were hammered 38-5 by B.C. in the opening game of the round robin but rebounded with a 20-5 over B.C. 2 and 72-5 shellacking of Newfoundland. In the first elimination round they beat B.C. 2, who eventually won bronze.

Alberta also claimed gold in U18 women's and bronze in senior men's play.