Rochester Institute of Technology 175th Anniversary: Keen on competition

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Ninety-four years ago marked the beginning of RIT sports. The Mechanics Institute fielded its first varsity team, men’s basketball, in 1915. The team won nine games and lost 12 in its inaugural year. A coach might have helped their efforts, but none is recorded.
It wasn’t until 1952 that the institute, by then known as Rochester Institute of Technology, fielded its first women’s sport, fencing. Women competed in the foils from 1952 until 1971.
Since those early days, the Institute has had 16 varsity teams for men and 13 for women. Some of those programs are gone. Today, RIT offers 24 sports. For men and women, there is basketball, crew, cross country, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming/diving, tennis and track/field. In addition, men have baseball and wrestling, and women have softball and volleyball.

Undefeated Teams

Men’s Basketball: 1955-56
Coach: Leo Fox
Men’s Cross Country: 1978-1985
Coach: Peter Todd
Men’s Hockey: 1963-64
Coach: Jim Heffer
Men’s Swimming: 1970-71
Coach: John Buckholtz
Women’s Tennis: 1981, 1982
Coach: Ann Nealon
Men’s Track: 1969-1975, 1977-1981
Coach: Peter Todd
Wrestling: 1929-30, 1953-54
Coaches: Mark Ellingson, Earl Fuller

Team Highlights

Men’s hockey is the only RIT sport to win NCAA championships. In 1982-83, Brian Mason guided the Tigers to the NCAA Division II title. In 1984-85, Bruce Delventhal was at the helm when RIT won the NCAA Division III championship. In both title games, RIT defeated Bemidji State University in Minnesota.
Under the leadership of the late Doug May, men’s soccer put together a streak of 57 unbeaten regular season games. The streak began in 1983 against Clarkson University and ended in 1987 against SUNY College at Oswego.
From 1967 to 1984, men’s track teams won 108 straight home dual meets with Coach Peter Todd leading the way.
When the new campus opened in 1968-69, cross country and track coach Peter Todd and a group of his runners staged a torch relay from the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., to the campus of RIT. In 1979, in recognition of the Institute’s 150th anniversary, Coach Todd organized a coast-to-coast relay run that featured 11 alumnus and Todd. Carrying a baton, the dozen participants ran from the Pacific (California) to the Atlantic Ocean (Maryland) and on to RIT. The continuous relay took 14 days, four hours and eight minutes.

Top Coaches

Lou Alexander Jr. became the first full-time director of Physical Education and Athletics in 1956.
Wrestling coach Earl Fuller has the longest tenure in RIT coaching history, guiding the program from 1948 until 1994.
Ann Nealon started the women’s tennis program in 1971 and recently completed her 33rd season.
Tom Coughlin, head coach of the New York Giants, was RIT’s first varsity football coach. He guided the program from 1970 to 1973.
From 1974 to 1978, men’s swimming coach John Buckholtz guided his teams to 20 straight dual meet wins in Independent College Athletic Conference competition.

Star Athletes

Mark Stebbins became RIT’s first individual national champion when he won the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at the 1976 NCAA Division III Championships. His time was :57.57. Two years later, Stebbins won his second national crown in the same event with a time of :51.27.

Other national champions include:

— Barry Zacharias – men’s swimming, 1982, 400-yard individual medley
— Darrell Leslie – wrestling, 1983, 142-pound title
— Michele Jones – women’s track, 1986, 100-meter dash. Jones is the only woman in RIT history to win a national championship.
— Matt Hamill – wrestling, 1997, 167-pound title; 1998, 190-pound title; 1999, 190-pound title
— Ron Rice – swimming, 1975, 11th in the 200-yard freestyle at the NCAA College Division Championships. Rice was the first deaf All-American in RIT history.
— Ron Bambas – fencing, 1960, second team in sabre competition. Bambas became the first All-American at RIT.

RIT Sports Hall of Fame

Planning for the RIT Sports Hall of Fame began in 1968 to honor individuals for their contributions to the institute’s intercollegiate athletics. Today there are 135 members.

05/14/04 (C) Rochester Business Journal