Brewer Tennis Courts
Tennis players square off on the outdoor tennis courts near Brewer Field House (date unknown).

Men's Tennis History Part II: The Post-War Era and the Birth of the ICAC

By Aaron Todd '00 M'06

This story is the second part of a four-part series looking at the history of the men's tennis program at St. Lawrence on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the team's first intercollegiate match. 

Read Part I: 1921-1945

The Post-War Era (1946-1960)

The end of World War II meant a return to normalcy on the St. Lawrence University campus, including the resumption of athletics competitions. It didn't take long for the men's tennis team to reestablish itself as one of the best collegiate programs in the Northeast. After a 2-4 campaign in 1946, the team returned to its winning ways, going 5-3 in 1947 to begin a run of seven straight seasons with a .500 or better record.

Gardner "Tully" Wells took over as head coach in 1949, and the team flourished under his leadership on the Weeks Field and Brewer Courts. Over the next seven seasons, the team posted a 36-19 record, including a 21-3 mark in his first three seasons.
 

Wells left the team in 1956 after accepting a Fulbright Scholarship to lecture in Iraq. One year later, skiing coach Claude Richer ‘54, who competed for Canada at the 1952 Olympic Games in Olso as a Nordic skier, took on the head coaching duties for the men's tennis team as well.

"Claude Richer wasn't a tennis player, but he turned out to be a great coach," says Jesse "Sam" Sammis '60. 

Sammis, a St. Lawrence Hall of Fame inductee as both a tennis player and a hockey player, played at No. 1 for the Saints and still holds the record for best individual record with a 34-2 combined singles and doubles mark in his time on campus.

Claude Richer
Claude Richer '54, men's skiing and tennis coach

St. Lawrence, at that time, played its matches on hard courts near Brewer Field House, and the season was a sprint. The team played approximately eight matches a season, give or take a few, all in the span of just three weeks, and without an indoor facility to use as a back-up-plan, the team was at the mercy of Mother Nature. Matches were often suspended or canceled entirely due to rain.

"That's just the way things were," says Sammis. "It was hard to get started because of the weather in the spring Canton. There might be snow on the courts through mid-April. The season was short but we made the most of it."

After his fourth season as the tennis coach, Richer moved on to Lake Placid High School to be a ski instructor.

Jesse
Jesse "Sam" Sammis '60

The Thomas Cartmill Era (1961-1968)

After Richer's departure, Director of Athletics Thomas Carmill took over the head coaching duties for the men's tennis program himself, and his first season at the helm was one for the history books.

St. Lawrence won eight straight matches in a span of just 16 days to finish the regular season 8-0. Four opponents (Hobart, Alfred, and Clarkson twice) failed to score a single point. The closest match the team played was a 6-3 victory over the Syracuse Orange in Canton in the fifth match of the season.

Bob Wood '63
Robert Wood '63

The "Larries," as athletic teams were called at that time, earned an invitation to the NCAA Atlantic Coast Small College Tournament, where they were just as dominant. Robert Wood '63 won the singles title in three sets over teammate John Gornell '62. Wood and Gornell teamed up to defeat a Lycoming duo for the doubles title, and St. Lawrence won the event with eight points, with Lycoming second with four.

The record-setting season came at a time when the University was investing resources, both in terms of money and real estate, on tennis. Six new courts were built in the fall of 1960, and prior to the team's season in March, after the ice was removed from Appleton Arena, the rink was divided into thirds and a nylon cage was set up in the middle third, allowing members of the golf, baseball and tennis teams to practice indoors. Two tennis courts were laid out on the rink floor and were available for anyone's use, with priority for the varsity team.

In 1966, the Independent College Athletic Conference (ICAC) held its first men's tennis tournament. Formed in 1964, the founding members of the ICAC included Alfred, Clarkson, Hobart/William Smith, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence and Union.

Unlike today's conference tournaments, where teams are seeded and a standard nine-point team match (six singles, three doubles) is contested, the ICAC tournaments consisted singles and doubles brackets, and players scored points for their teams by winning matches and advancing in the bracket.

Hobart won the inaugural tournament with 34 points, with St. Lawrence second with 31 and Rensselaer third with 29.

The following year, St. Lawrence won its first ICAC men's tennis championship, with Bruce Buckalew '68 claiming the singles title and teaming with Brint Coxe '68 to win the doubles crown. St. Lawrence was once again invited to the NCAA Atlantic Coast Championships and finished second.

Cartmill left the men's tennis post prior to the 1969 season to focus on his duties as the athletic director. His teams were 55-21 over his eight seasons at the helm, claiming one NCAA Atlantic Coast Small College Championship and one ICAC title.

But even bigger things were on the horizon for men's tennis at St. Lawrence, with the soon-to-be constructed Augsbury Physical Education Center, and a dominant run in the ICAC on the horizon.

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