Queens College - Silhouette Yearbook (Queens, NY)

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g which is one of the most successful ven- tures of its kind on any campus. Perhaps even more than other schools, Queens was hard hit by the advent of World War ll, for then, the ordinarily small male enrollment, rapidly depleted by the armed forces, gradually diminished to an appallingly low figure. Nevertheless, ath- letics were maintained, and some new sports were engendered during the early 4O's, including a tennis team, a soccer team, and, under the guidance of record high iumper George Spitz a sort of semi- formal track squad. With the termination of hostilities in '45, Gnd the return to school of the great bulk of the male student body, sports began a new life at Queens. Lesser known squads were formed, mainly through the unstinting efforts of the students interested, and soon Queens boasted teams in rifle, bowling, and table tennis. lt was perhaps in the last named sport that the Flushing school re- ceived its most publicity, for the Knight squad boasted the talents of the National and International Woman's Champion, Peggy McLean. The two other teams plugged along, embarking on a competi- tive program that included competition with the top schools in the city. It was during the athletic season of 1947-1948, the term of the entrance of the present graduating class, that sports at Queens began a complete reiuvenation. The renaissance manifested itself particu- larly in the four major sports, basketball,

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SPORTS espite obstacles of size, youth, com- parative obscurity and academic inclina- tion, Queens College has managed, in its thirteen years and particularly in the last four years, to gain athletically, a position of power among the smaller colleges in the Metropolitan area. Handicapped at its inception by the midget size of its male student body, rarely hovering over the 1500 mark, by the fact that it takes years . . . decades to fashion really powerful intercollegiate squads, by the realization that good high school athletes will not tend ordinarily to gravitate towards a school which does not boast a long and rich ath- letic heritage, and by the general stressing of the academic aspects of college life and the underplaying of the physical education facets of a liberal arts education by the early school officials, Queens embarked nevertheless on a policy of varsity compe- tition and within a few years was not only able to hold its own among local competi- tors, but in many instances miraculously become a ranking power in Met circles. At the start, Queens opened its compe- tition in basketball and baseball against local high school competition. Even in those circles the first Knight athletes were not overwhelmingly successful, bowing in both sports to schools like Flushing and Jamaica High. For years, varsity competition was limited to those sports, while the great stress was placed on intra-mural athletics, a program which has reached vast and comprehensive proportions today, and

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baseball, tennis, and soccer. At that time, a permanent coaching staff, comprised of physical education teachers, was named, and a genuine effort was exerted to propel Queens, within the limits of its rigid aca- demic standards, to a position of eminence among schools of equal size. The coaches at that time, and they have remained intact with one exception, were Bob Salmons, basketball, Bob Tierney, baseball, George Spitz, tennis, and Glen Howard, Soccer. Bill Madden remained as head of the Outdoor Club and of the very important Recreation Committee of the Physical Education Department. Salmons, former football and hoop ace at Murray State, Kentucky, suffered a usual Queens fate in his first year, drop- ping more than twice as many games as he won. By the '48-49 season, sparked by George Gaetano, Bruce Hurley, and Dewey Sehring, who set an all-time Queens scoring record with 345 points, the Salmonsmen had made a complete about face, compiling a record of T5 wins against 8 losses. The highlight of the sea- son was the Knights' brilliant one point win over Hofstra, after having trailed by T7 points at the half. ln an extra-season game against Hofstra, which began the Greater New York Collegiate Conference, Queens was unable to repeat against the flying Dutchmen and went down to defeat in the opening round. During the '49-50 season, practically