Alumni Victorious over Welsh in Rugby

by Dave Wheelock, Rugby Coach

SOCORRO, N.M., Finals week, Spring 2000 -- The Bethesda Rugby Club of Wales sets up camp at a Socorro hotel, intent on avenging a famous Tech victory on their field in northern Wales in 1998. A sticky wicket, considering more than half of our student players are caught up in the chaos that is final exams.

Enter the Ancestors, New Mexico Tech's alumni rugby players, arriving from Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Albuquerque. Nine in all, these Tech grads now play rugby in their respective home towns, and have now returned to Socorro to defend the Institute's honor.

On the evening of Tuesday, May 9, New Mexico Tech's men's rugby club once again defied the odds against a well-versed team of rugby players from a land where that game is king, claiming a 19-12 victory. Of the 20 Tech men who appeared in the match, fully nine were Tech graduates, and one, Dr. Clint Richardson, is on the faculty. The list of "Ancestor" players:

• Marcos Barela, Santa Fe Santos
• John Ellis, Albuquerque Brujos
• Sean French, Santa Fe Santos
• James Napier, Santa Fe Santos
• Dr. Clint "Doc" Richardson, chair, Mineral and Environmental Engineering
• Toban Robledo, Albuquerque Brujos
• James Rubin, Santa Fe Santos
• James Santo, Santa Fe Santos
• Bill Tafoya, Socorro - at large
• Ron Trueblood, Santa Fe Santos