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Former football players had an outsized presence Saturday as Dartmouth roared through its pool in the nationally televised Collegiate Rugby 7s Championship in Philadelphia with a 3-0 record.

Dartmouth's wins came over defending champion Utah (17-12), Notre Dame in extra time (24-19) and Boston College (36-0).


The most spectacular finish came against Notre Dame when ...

Muhammed Adbul-Shakoor and T.J. Cameron linked up for a spectacular try in extra time for the 24-19 Dartmouth win.

Here's the story in its entirety:

Dartmouth rugby won its pool Saturday with wins against Utah, Notre Dame, and Boston College in the Collegiate Rugby 7s Championship in Philadelphia. Coach Alex Magleby’s Big Green advanced to Sunday’s final rounds.

The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is a 32-team tournament conducted over two days. This variant of rugby, which includes 7 players a side instead of 15, will be played in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The CRC is being televised by Universal, Versus, and NBC.

The Big Green advanced to the quarterfinals last year. Dartmouth opened pool-play against the defending champions from the University of Utah. The Utes went ahead early but Tanner Scott scored on the last play of the half to narrow the deficit.

Chris Downer and T.J. Cameron scored for Dartmouth in the second half for the 17- 12 upset win.

Dartmouth’ game against Notre Dame was live on national television. The Big Green led early but the Irish went ahead late in the second half.

Muhammed Adbul-Shakoor and T.J. Cameron linked up for a spectacular try in extra time for the 24-19 Dartmouth win.

In game 3, Dartmouth beat Boston College 36-0 in another televised match. T.J. Cameron had 2 tries to lead the Big Green.

On the day, the Big Green won Pool B with a 3-0 record and will play in the quarterfinals Sunday at 10:30 against Penn State, the second place team from Pool A.

The winner advances to the semifinals live on Versus at 2:30pm The championship match will be televised on NBC at 5:20 pm.

For a capsule look at the Notre Dame game, click here.

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For some background on how the USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship came about, click here. And for some background on the tournament, click here. From the story:

Specifically, the impact of this televised rugby sevens tournament. Two years ago there were no college sevens programs in the United States. Not one. Dartmouth has always had a sevens squad for off-season fitness, and college players picked up games with sevens clubs, but there was no college sevens league, or even a rumor of one.

Then last year Universal Sports and NBC aired the CRC.

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Beyond Dartmouth, the Upper Valley athletic scene is best known for producing skiers, but that may be changing. At the Prefontaine Classic track meet yesterday out in Eugene, Ore., Norwich, Vt., Olympian Andrew Wheating placed fifth in the 800 meters and was the second American in a time of 1:45.95. He was a half second out of second place. Russell Brown, who grew up in Hanover and whose father was That Certain Hanover High Grad's first track coach, was the first American across the line in the famed Bowerman Mile, running 3:51.45. He was ninth overall with five Kenyans, two Ethiopians and a Moroccan ahead of him.