Loras College Athletics

• One of the Duhawks' top male tennis players in school history.
• A career record of 28-12 in singles (mostly #1) and 30-7 in doubles (Also #1 position).
• As a senior, was 13-0 in singles and 12-1 in doubles. Won the NCAA college division regional championship in both singles and doubles in 1963.
• Graduated maxima cum laude from Loras (a 3.96 GPA) with a double major in chemistry and math. Went on to earn his Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton.
• A world-renown professor of theoretical chemistry. Vitae includes over 400 publications and over 100 speaking engagements

Stories
The rivalry with St. Ambrose was intense in all sports. Compare it today to Loras and the University of Dubuque, the Packers and the Bears, Sox/Cubs, or Cubs/Cardinals. This story has root beer in it which would equate to Gatorade today.

As a freshman, I played Gene McCabe of St. Ambrose in Davenport. I was ahead in the third set 5-2 when Gene suggested we stop playing and have a drink of root beer.  Afterwards, McCabe won the match. Gene invited me to his car afterwards and told me that St. Ambrose had eight full scholarships for tennis (Loras had none at that time). I was somewhat annoyed when Gene told me he didn’t think I would have been able to get one. Three years later McCabe was undefeated in 28 singles matches when we played again in Davenport. I beat him 6-3, 6-3, in front of a hostile crowd, breaking Gene’s streak and preserving my own. I still have one of the balls from that match.