First, I apologize for having sent out nomination cards calling for those from the classes of 1996 and earlier in the September letter. Fortunately, many realized reunion classes will begin with 1997, and sent names from those groups as well.

As you can see by looking at the accompanying list, we do not lack reunion class nominations (indeed, this seems a particularly competitive field) and others will, if necessary, fill any current fields and be held over for consideration when their classes gather. More nominations are, of course, always welcome.

The fall sports season has been a good one, as the review indicates. To me, a much improved football team, continued success with volleyball and both cross country teams, and remarkable progress with both soccer teams suggest solid, consistent, respectable and better performance in a tough Division III conference.

You may have heard that both soccer coaching positions are going from part-time to full-time slots. Some have felt that soccer, a sport that seems a natural fit for Carleton at this time, can be and should be one of the better ones here, year after year. This change, with resultant improved recruiting, can bring that about.

Not totally unrelated, is the embarrassing absence of soccer and tennis players from our Hall of Fame. Both sports have been good at Carleton for years, and we have recognized no soccer players and only two (well, one and a half) tennis players (Cynthia Morris Starr ’76 and basketballer-tennis player Frank Gomez ’77). On the male side, I can rationalize our failure; mathematician John Dyer-Bennet, who coached both soccer and tennis, had a very English view of the place of athletics in society and a strong, associated aversion to publicity or even recognition. Sports that were naturally below the radar (venues easy to overlook, the relatively recent rise of soccer, and Carleton’s limited sports information function) remained almost invisible in the absence of a promoter.

There have to be a number of worthy nominees out there; can you please help us? The more objective information you can provide will help, but just names of outstanding individuals of your time can be a starting point for us.

A recent letter in the alumni magazine bemoaned the lack of a wrestling team at Carleton and leads to an interesting discussion. As athletic director Leon Lunder points out in his response, wrestling is down in Division III; Carleton is not unique. It is also of note that the changing nature of Carleton and of the sports dictated dropping both wrestling and hockey here in relatively recent times, leaving football as the only contact sport.

I would have jumped to some conclusions about the nature of our current students, but for some experience in Tennessee twenty years ago. There, at Sewanee (aka The U. of the South), we found the only high schools with good, big wrestling programs were the exclusive private schools at Nashville, Chattanooga, etc. High school wrestlers (and some good ones) were not red-neck farm boys, but blazer-wearing, bow-tied preppies. We just couldn’t get enough of them to fill a line and sustain the sport at Sewanee!

Maybe what we think of as the natural sociology of certain sports is not universal, but peculiar to certain societies. I was once amazed to learn that distance runners in the UAR were illiterate soldiers snatched out of the army because of endurance displayed on field exercises, and that the sprinters, jumpers, and hurdlers were mostly students, professionals, and military officers.

Thanks for your interest and, again, keep up with Carleton athletics at www.carleton.edu/athletics.

Sincerely,

Bill Huyck ’53