Earlier this month, the Dartmouth Rugby Football Club welcomed 200 alumni, friends, and the current college sevens players to a gala dinner at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan.

Former Dartmouth coach and alumnus, Alex Magelby ('00, USA Men's 7s coach) reminisced about the club's second consecutive USA Sevens College Rugby Championship (CRC), defeating Arizona for the title in 2012. (This year's expanded, 20-team CRC tournament will be held June 1-2 again in Philadelphia. It will be broadcast both days on NBC.)

The highlight of the evening was a film about the club's second CRC championship in 2012. Dartmouth players from that squad narrated the play-by-play.

Attendees spanned seven decades from the club founded in 1951, and celebrating its 62nd year. On hand were Mike Murphy ('61) and Tom Conger ('61), stars of the club's 1960 New York RFC's sevens championship. Conger, with the assistance of noted literary persona, Richard Barber ('62), is writing a biography of writer and DRFC benefactor Corey Ford, for whom the clubhouse in Hanover, N.H., is named.

Seven alumni were designated as bona fide "legends" in the DRFC, including Dick Liesching ('59), who promoted the first tour to the UK by an American college rugby club in 1958. The Big Green went 5-2, generating high praise from the British media for their knowledge of the game. Tour archivist and player, Will Gray ('59), was on hand to jostle memories.

The seven inducted were:

· Dick Liesching ‘59

· Wayne Young ‘72

· Geoff Parkins ’79

· Ed Simpson ‘85

· Raoul Socher ‘86

· Al Dekin ‘87

· Kevin Whitcher ‘99

These loyal and spirited Dartmouth alumni filled an entire section in last year's CRC event in a sea of green caps and shirts. They will return again in June to see whether Dartmouth can win its third CRC tournament in a row.