MARION — As Tabor Academy celebrated its annual “Tabor Day” to welcome alumni back to campus and show school spirit for current students, sports took center stage, with current teams playing Belmont Hill School and Thayer Academy, and alumni facing off against their old teammates.

Athletic Director Conan Leary said that the Oct. 5 event is similar to a homecoming and that it celebrates alumni, students, and even potential future students, as many alumni bring their kids to Tabor Day.

“I think we have such a tight-knit community that when we have events like this, our alums get to see what current students are doing, and more importantly, current students get to see how much the alums love this place,” Leary said of the celebration.

One of those alums was the class of 1984 sailing captain, Peter Eastman. At Tabor Day, Eastman showed off his e/XL sailboat by the Marion shoreline. After graduating from Tabor he sailed at Connecticut College while studying economics and history, and now owns Howard Boats, a Banstable company that builds and services sailboats.

Eastman said that the school has “changed dramatically” since he attended, with a more even ratio of boys to girls, and more of a family-oriented feel, thanks to the efforts of Headmaster Jay Stroud, who served from 1988 to 2012.

Other =alumni took to the basketball court and hockey rink to play against their former teammates from their days at Tabor.

Fans flocked to the athletic fields and courts to see the current Seawolves take on other private schools in football, soccer, field hockey, and volleyball.