One hundred years ago today, four Laurentians laced up their tennis shoes, grabbed their racquets, and represented St. Lawrence as the men's tennis team at Colgate in the University's first intercollegiate match.
It wasn’t a promising start; the St. Lawrence squad was quickly dispatched 6-0.
While there was no mention of the match reported in the Hill News, the Colgate Maroon account made clear that the neophyte squad had plenty of room for improvement.
"During the entire contest result was obvious as no opponent displayed the tennis ability of the Colgate men," reads the story.
Despite its inauspicious beginnings, the men's tennis program at St. Lawrence has built a lasting legacy of excellence, teamwork and Laurentian pride. This week, we'll be unveiling a four-part series looking at the history of the men's tennis program at St. Lawrence to celebrate the 100th anniversary of that first match.
Today's story features at the team's history from 1921-1945.
Tennis on Campus Before 1921
Well before the establishment of an intercollegiate team, tennis was one of the most popular activities on campus. Articles in The Laurentian detail the construction of courts behind Dr. Atwood's house in 1892, and there are many accounts of disputes over who could be on the courts, signaling that demand outstripped the supply of available courts.
There were rumblings of starting intercollegiate play in the 1910s, but the U.S. entry into World War I delayed the team's inception, as a Students Army Training Corps center was established on campus to develop officers for the war effort. Even the football team suspended play for a season in 1918, which was nearly unthinkable at the time.
After the conclusion of the war, the effort to field a team resumed, culminating in a trip by four St. Lawrence students to Hamilton to face the Maroon.
The Founders
The four men who represented the Scarlet and the Brown on the tennis courts for the first time 100 years ago today were a well-rounded lot.
Harold F. Studwell (Class of 1922) was the most senior of the group — at least in terms of class year — and played at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles. An interclass basketball star, he was also active with The Mummers, serving as a stage carpenter, and was cast as the Second Sentry in the 1919 production of "The Golden Doom." He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega, Agora, served on Thelmo, and was an assistant editor of the Hill News.
Lester A. Campbell (Class of 1923) was a Fort Covington, New York, native, and served in the Navy on the U.S.S. Idaho as a radio operator during World War I. He was the president of St. Lawrence's chapter of Square and Compass, a national fraternity of college masons. One year after he played at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles in St. Lawrence's first match, his experience in the Navy was one of the reasons St. Lawrence was able to establish a radio connection with the United States radio service of the Department of Agriculture.
Graham Miller (Class of 1924) was the greenest player of the bunch and played at No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles. As a halfback for the football team, the Hill News declared that Miller "combined a scrappy, optimistic spirit with a degree of speed and cleverness which would make him a dangerous man anywhere." An all-around athlete, Miller played interclass basketball and was active in student government.
Not much is known about the fourth player to make the trip; Howard B. Silsbee played at No. 4 singles and No. 2 doubles and had actually earned an undergraduate degree from Colgate and was working on his Master of Arts degree at St. Lawrence.
The Early Years (1921-1942)
In its first four years of existence, the men's tennis team planned three or four matches a year, but was only able to play one in each season, losing to the University of Rochester in 1922, Colgate in 1923 and Hamilton in 1924. Matches were played for various numbers of points, presumably determined by the number of available players.
After four years with just one match a season, intercollegiate men's tennis faded from existence at St. Lawrence. There were only three tennis courts on campus, and the demand for court time among the general student body was high. In 1928, cement tennis courts were constructed as part of an addition to Dean-Eaton, and there were once again calls to form a varsity team.
After a six-year hiatus, the team returned in 1930 under the direction of its first coach. Dr. Eugene R. Page, an Assistant Professor of English. The team embarked on a three-day tour of Vermont to face Middlebury, Saint Michael's and the University of Vermont. While the team did not win a match, it was the beginning of a new era of men's tennis at St. Lawrence, as the team became an established athletic department offering each May.
In 1932, Joe W. Howland, an instructor in biology, took over the coaching reins and helped lead St. Lawrence to its first victory, a 4-2 triumph over Ithaca College. Two years later, St. Lawrence hosted intercollegiate matches for the first time in program history, splitting a pair of matches with Clarkson and defeating Potsdam Normal, which later became SUNY Potsdam. The team played nine matches in 1934, and that summer, two new tennis courts were built, and the team posted its first winning season in 1938.
