(EUGENE, OR) The primary travel squads of GateKeepers Roller Derby (GKRD) and Arch Rival Roller Derby (ARCH) competed at the Big O Invitational this past weekend at the Lane County Events Center and positive results were achieved by both St. Louis-based squads.
The GateKeepers, the current three-time champions of the Men’s Roller Derby Association (MRDA), collected a three-game sweep at the event with a Saturday victory over #2 Bridgetown Menace (208-118) as well as overwhelming lock downs over Vancouver (452-42) and Houston (578-30) to maintain a 35-game MRDA-sanctioned winning streak that dates back to June 2015.
Meanwhile Arch Rival, currently ranked seventh globally by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), notched an impressive 227-110 victory over #8 Montreal Saturday. They also battled the top two teams in the world and stayed competitive in setbacks to defending WFTDA Champion Victorian (211-157) and #2 Rose City (240-126) to finish the weekend 1-2.
The GateKeepers (3-0) will continue MRDA sanctioned play at Midwest BrewHaHa in Milwaukee, Wisconsin June 1-3 with games against Texas Men’s, Magic City and Southern Discomfort.
Arch Rival’s next flight of games takes place at Golden Bowl VII, June 15-17 in Oakland, California.
Here is photo coverage by Bob Dunnell of the St. Louis teams’ weekend at Big O.
By trade, he is a six-time, regional Emmy Award-winning news videographer/editor for KTVI/KPLR-TV. By hobby, he is a writer for Arch City Media, dating back to February 2014. Emphasis is on featuring and promoting local women's sports, but will cover anything that is not reported by traditional media outlets. Also a contributor to local concert reviews.
