George W. Bryant 1894
George was on the tennis, baseball, football
and track teams and in 1983 he was captain of
all four teams. At one time he held Coe records
in eight different track events. In 1899 he
returned to Coe as Athletic Director, Latin
teacher and coach of all sports. In 1914 he
gave up the Athletic Director post. His greatest
love was track and he continued to coach that
until 1930. He built the track, football, baseball
and tennis neucleus for a total athletic program
at Coe. Professor Bryant served Coe as executive
Vice President from 1929-1941.
Clement P. Wilson
'12
Clement was the first athlete from the state
of Iowa to qualify for Olympic competition.
Clem's old records in the 100-yard dash at 9.6
seconds and the 220-yard dash at 21.2 seconds
stood for 50 years versus the assaults of Kohawk
runners. Clem ran the 100, 220, and 440 yard
races winning every race in which he competed.
He ran to state championships in all three years
he entered.
Leo V. Novak
'16
As a Coe football player he only knew two losing
games. In 1913 he played every minute of every
game as Coe was undefeated and un-scored upon.
In 1914 he was tackle on the point-a-minute
team and in 1915 he captained the squad.
George R. Collins
'23
George was a halfback on the great Coe teams
of 1920-22 when Coe lost only one game in three
years. As a Coe athlete known for his off tackle
smashes on offense and his uncanny ability to
read plays on defense; he won four letters in
football and won all state and all conference
honors in each of those four years.
Jack W. Pence
'24
Jack Pence was an integral part of that Golden
Era of Coe athletics that came in the early
20's. In football, quarterback was his position
but kicking was his fame. He was a master at
the art of dropkicking a pertinent scoring threat
in those days but today a lost art. In his four
years of Coe football, Jack Pence made more
dropkicks longer than 45 yards than any other
collegiate player. His booming dropkick field
goal of 59 yards versus Drake in 1923 is an
Iowa record, and is the fourth longest in all
time football records. In baseball he batted
over .300 and led the squad in homerun's during
that time.
Harold E. Wernimont
'24
"Buzz" as he was called, played football,
basketball, and baseball at Coe but it was in
football that he won lasting fame. He played
end for the 1922 team that went undefeated and
he won all-state honors three times. His senior
year he was captain in both football and baseball.
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Ira T. Carrithers
- coach '15-24
Ira T. Carrithers was a graduate of the University
of Illinois, where he was the first athlete
to win nine letters in sports. Football, baseball
and track were his interests. His first job
was at Alma College as coach and athletic director.
He served in a similar position at Knox College
and later at Lake Forest College. He also returned
to the University of Illinois for a year as
an assistant to the famous Bob Zuppke.
Ira Carrithers was induced to
come to Coe in 1915 as athletic director and
coach of basketball and baseball and assistant
coach in football. His term as athletic director
from 1915 to 1924 covered the era when Coe was
a nationally-known sports power. He was respected
and popular as a coach. Those who played under
him found their inspiration through his example.
He left coaching in 1924 and built
a successful career in life insurance. In Cedar
Rapids he was an active civic booster and worked
on just about every worthy fund raising project
that came along. He was president and board
member of the YMCA and president of the Cedar
Rapids Tennis Association, where he was an able
tennis player.
He also carried the name of Coe
with him to athletic fields all over the Midwest
as a football official in the Big Ten, Big Six,
and Missouri Valley Conferences. Death came
to Mr. Carrithers in 1955.
It will never be known if Ira
Carrithers might have been a major league baseball
player. He signed a contract with the Chicago
White Sox upon graduation from Illinois, but
his parents would not allow him to fulfill the
contract when they learned that the White Sox
played on Sunday.
Ira T. Carrithers was posthumously
inducted into the Coe College Athletic Hall
of Fame.
Merle E. Makeever
'25
Merle E. Makeever exemplified the “iron
man” qualities that are part of the legend
of football as it was played in the 1920’s.
In 1922, he played every minute of every game
and in 1923 he played all of seven games and
45 minutes of the eighth. Midge Makeever played
quarterback and half back and also did some
spectacular kicking and passing. In 1923 he
completed 15 of 18 passes, including 9 for 9
against Cornell. In 1922, he made 15 of 17 dropkicks
for extra points and in his senior year his
80 yard punt late in the game saved a 7-7 tie
with Wisconsin.
As a student, Midge Makeever played
basketball and baseball, too. In basketball
he shot all the team’s free throws, and
in baseball he led in stolen bases and batted
.563 in 16 games in 1922. With those qualifications
he signed with the pros before graduation and
played professional baseball for 15 years going
as high as AAA teams. He averaged 37 stolen
bases a year over those 15 years and had a season
high of 67 thefts in 1925.
For 38 years Midge Makeever was
a coach of high school, service, and college
teams in football, basketball, baseball and
track. His teams won many titles, but the quality
of his coaching may be seen best in records
like 174 baseball games won against 11 lost
in eight years at Davenport High School; or
88 football games won against 20 lost in eleven
years at Fernandino Beach, Florida.
Merle E. Makeever rounded out
his sports career with 30 years of officiating
in high school, college, and military service
games in football, baseball, and basketball,
including regular appearances in the Iowa High
School Basketball Tournament.
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Harris A. Lamb
'27
There are those who believe that Harris Lamb’s
name is really spelled C-O-E, because he gave
more than 30 years of dedicated, unstinted service
to the College. The Coe record book tells us
that Harris won four letters in basketball,
two in football and track. In basketball he
led the scoring, was captain, and was named
All-Conference three times. As a fullback he
won All-Conference and All-State awards in football.
But that’s only part of
the record. After an enviable coaching career
at Ohio Northern University, where his football
teams went 49-23-11 between 1929 and 1942, Harris
returned to coach at Coe. He served as co-athletic
director with his brother, Willis, and at various
times coached football, basketball, and track.
He originated the Coe Relays.
But that’s still only part
of the record. In 1952 he took on the greater
challenge of developing an alumni program for
Coe. He traveled from coast to coast rekindling
the interest of Coe alumni and channeling it
into productive causes for the College.
Rare is the Coe graduate who has
not felt the warmth of the ambassador from Cedar
Rapids who greeted everyone by name and who
could recite the hometown, fraternity, and athletic
accomplishment of everyone in the room. Just
as he won fame as a player and coach, Harris
Lamb has won the respect of professional alumni
directors as one of the stars of that game,
and he won the affection of all those hundreds
of Kohawks who are proud to call him friend.
Willis D. Lamb
'27
Willis D. Lamb built over the years a career
in athletics and business that is memorable
for his dedication to Coe College, his love
of hard work and good sportsmanship, and his
skill both as a coach and a businessman.
Like his three brothers, Willis
came to Coe from Boone, Iowa, and made his mark
in Coe sports. He won his letters in basketball
and football and his coaching skill became apparent
in his first job after graduation at Greenfield,
Iowa. From 1927 to 1929 his football team won
20 games while losing just one. His basketball
team won 40, losing only 8, and he rounded out
the record with a championship track squad.
He then moved to Centerville, Iowa High School
where from 1929 to 1938 he had three undefeated
football teams, eight sectional basketball titles
and one state tournament team. His overall football
record was 64-12.
His alma mater called him back
and he coached at Coe from 1938 to 1949. Like
most small college coaches, he was called on
to use all of his many talents, serving as athletic
director, basketball coach, assistant coach
of football and track, golf coach, athletic
business manager, teacher of physical education
and dean of men.
Perhaps his own finest memory
of his long career at Coe came when his 1940-41
basketball team won Coe’s first title
in the Midwest Conference.
Dr. Walter Schwank
'34 - coach '56-59
Dr. Schwank came to Coe in 1956 and coached
his football teams to 25 wins and seven losses,
the best winning percentage among Coe's football
coaches. In his four years at Coe he coached
his teams to two conference championships and
his 1959 team went undefeated.
Moray L. Eby
- coach '14-42
He began his career at Coe in 1914 with the
point a minute team that caught the fancy of
sports writers and attracted national attention.
Their 330 points in 480 minutes of football
was still significantly overwhelming. From 1914
to 1942 Eby's team won 131 games while losing
77 and tying 17. They nearly doubled their opponents
scoring with 2,945 points against 1,530. Three
times Eby football teams were undefeated and
eight times they won conference Champions.
Marvin D. Levy
'50
Scholar-athlete Marvin Levy won Phi Beta Kappa
honors in the classroom while earning three
letters in football, four in basketball and
one in track. Coming back in 1953 he assisted
football three years, coached track three years
and after assisting two years in basketball.
He also coached the 1956 cage team to the Midwest
conference title and the Iowa NAIA championship.
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Wallace C. Ford
'52
Wallace C. Ford was the kind of student athlete
who got involved in everything on campus and
did it well. Wally Ford played halfback on the
football team for three years and left an indelible
memory in the minds of excited fans and teammates
with a 93 yard kick-off return against arch
rival Cornell in his senior year. That year
he was chosen captain of the team. His football
honors included first team all-conference and
honorable mention on the Associated Press Little
All American team. Coe shared in a three-way
tie for the conference title his junior year.
In activities off the gridiron,
Wally Ford was president of the senior class
at Coe, as well as president of the Tau Kappa
Epsilon fraternity and the Interfraternity Council.
He was active in Air Force ROTC and was a member
of the Arnold Air Society and a Cadet Lieutenant
Colonel. He was a member of the Student Council
and Student Life Committee.
The wide variety of his campus
activities and his outstanding athletic achievements
were recognized by the Cedar Rapids Chamber
of Commerce who selected him the Outstanding
Man in the class of 1952.
Wallace Ford was inducted posthumously
into the Coe Athletic Hall of Fame.
M. Richard Clausen
- coach '48-55
Dick Clausen gave Coe eight of the best years
of his distinguished career as a coach, Athletic
Director and member of a host of national committees
in athletics and physical education. In 1948
he was Athletic Director and football coach
at Coe. Taking over a team that had gone winless
in previous years, Dick Clausen built a 35-24-5
record over the eight season's and his team
won Championships in 1950, 52 55. The 1955 team
was undefeated and Mr. Clausen won honors as
"small college coach of the year."
John A. Rosenberg
'57
John is remembered as a fullback that couldn't
be stopped. Game after game he grounded out
yardage that made him the Midwest conference
rushing leading and he still holds the Coe scoring
record of 93 points in the season. In addition
to his three football letters he won all Midwest
conference honors on the undefeated championships
team of 1955 and he captained the squad in 1956.
John also won Coe's first individual wrestling
championship in the Midwest conference in the
177 pound weight class. He rounded out his sports
at Coe with a baseball letter won playing first
base.
Albert E. Pursell
'58
In the three years that Al was in the basketball
lineup Coe won or shared the Conference title
every year. No one has topped his career scoring
record of 1,690 points. His scoring records
came in every category possible. He topped Midwest
conference scorers in 56-58. He also holds the
Coe individual game high of 42 points and the
season high of 587. His own teammates named
him MVP as a sophomore and he made the all conference
team every year he played. He won little all
American mention from both associated press
and united press. In Al's senior year he led
the Kohawks to their first NAIA National Tournament
and he made the NAIA All American team.
J. Russell Townsend, SR.
'07
J. Russell Townsend, Sr. was a significant figure
in the early days of football at Coe College
as an end and halfback on the 1905 and 1906
teams. In 1906 when Coe’s record was 4-1-1,
Mr. Townsend starred in the wins over Grinnell
and Cornell. After coaching in Iowa and Wyoming
high schools, he became athletic director and
coach of football, basketball, and track at
Wabash College, Indiana, where his teams regularly
challenged the likes of Purdue and Notre Dame.
Mr. Townsend left the coaching
field and built a career in insurance with Equitable
Life and later with his own company which specialized
in pension and employee benefit programs. Even
while in business he found time to pursue his
interests in sports. He was a Big Ten football
official for 25 years and for 20 years he was
referee of the Indiana State high school track
meet. Always interested in youth, he organized
Junior Baseball of Indianapolis, Inc., and was
a founder of Camp Kiwanis, a Boy Scout camp.
He contributed richly to Indianapolis
community life as president of the Zoological
Society, founder of the Life Insurance Institute
at Purdue, organizer of the Indiana Officials
Association and president of the Kiwanis Club
of Indianapolis. Mr. Townsend died in 1969.
In a long and successful career
J. Russell Townsend exemplified the finest traits
of character which reflected credit on himself
and his alma mater.
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Bruce A. West
'22
Bruce West was one of those unusual and great
all-around athletes who qualify for the most
exclusive Coe group, the nine-letter winners.
He won his monograms in football, basketball,
and track. But football was the sport in which
he made his brightest reputation. As a tackle
he was three times named to the all-conference
team and was captain of the squad during his
senior year. In track and field competition
he was a weight man and set a conference record
in the shot put.
An active leader in a host of
activities outside of sports, Bruce West was
president of the senior class, Clan of C secretary,
and a member of the student and athletic councils.
Mr. West served on active duty
in both World War I and World War II. He was
active in American Legion activities and is
a past commander of Hanford Post in Cedar Rapids.
He spent his lifetime career in real estate
and home building and has served as president
of Cedar Rapids Board of Realtors.
Phillip M. Hubbard
'28
Phillip M. Hubbard was a star basketball player
at Coe and his lifetime record in the sport
as player and coach have been recognized nationally
by the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield,
Massachusetts, where his name is engraved on
the Founder’s Wall.
As a basketball player Phil Hubbard
led the Coe team in scoring two years and own
all-conference honors twice. As captain in his
senior year he led the team to a second place
finish and an upset win over the University
of Illinois. Mr. Hubbard was also a four-letter
man in track and set a school record in the
javelin throw.
He earned his master’s
degree at Columbia University and then began
a long and eminently successful career at Owego
Free Academy in Owego, N.Y. As director of athletics
and football and basketball coach, he established
what is probably the greatest coaching record
in both sports in the State of New York. His
teams were perennial champions over the years
and in one year the starting eleven all were
selected for the All-Star team in a 10-team
conference.
In addition to his brilliant
coaching, Mr. Hubbard was a respected leader
of young men and enjoyed a reputation as one
of the leading citizens of his community.
Ralph E. Martin '37
Ralph E. Martin, Class of 1937, was a nine letter
winner at Coe in football, track and basketball.
Every account of football games in his era speaks
of his running and scoring ability as a fullback.
In 1936 he was the main offensive cog in Coe’s
championship season. That same year he set a
Midwest Conference pole vault record of nearly
13 feet and his leadership qualities were such
that he was elected president of the Clan of
C.
After graduation from Coe, Mr.
Martin coached high school sports at Sheldon
and Clarinda, Iowa. During World War II he spent
30 months overseas and was discharged with the
rank of Lieutenant Colonel. On his return to
Cedar Rapids he began to learn the sporting
goods business as an employee of Armstrong’s
sporting goods department. Then in 1949 Ralph
Martin and his college coach, Moray Eby, formed
a partnership and opened Eby’s Sporting
Goods store.
For many years Ralph Martin was
a respected official at high school and college
football and basketball games. His skill and
reputation earned him an appointment as a Big
Ten football official to be effective in 1954.
Mr. Martin was never able to fulfill his responsibility
as his fine career was ended by a fatal heart
attack while he was officiating a basketball
game in December, 1953.
Ellis D. Verink
'14
Ellis Verink was the kind of scholar-athlete
who brought special distinction to Coe sports
and to his lifetime career. Mr. Verink won all-state
honors in basketball three consecutive years
and captained the team as a senior. In track
he held records in the pole vault and high jump.
He would compete in those two events and then
move to the shot put, discus, broad jump and
high hurdles. His many medals have hung in Eby
Fieldhouse as an incentive for modern Coe trackmen.
Letters in football and tennis rounded out his
athletic activities.
But Ellis Verink also distinguished
himself by his performance in the classroom.
He was the highest ranking student in the Class
of 1914. He stayed at Coe to earn his master’s
degree, teach botany, and coach basketball.
Then he entered YMCA work, a service which included
a six-year term in China.
In 1933 Mr. Verink entered the
insurance business and for two decades he served
in sales and management positions. In light
of his scholarly interests and his consistent
Christian witness, he was one of the few persons
ordained to the Presbyterian ministry without
formal theological education. His name is perpetuated
at his alma mater through the Ellis and Phoebe
Verink Endowed Scholarship which he established
in his lifetime and which he generously endowed
through a bequest at his death in early 1974.
In 1918 Ellis Verink coached
basketball at McPherson College. At season’s
end the team captain spoke these words, “
Mr. Verink has not only taught us basketball,
but he has taught us to be men . . . men who
know how to earn a victory, men who know how
to take defeat when it comes.” This rich
emphasis on character, as well as athletic skill,
was a benchmark of Ellis Verink’s career.
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John S. Finlay
'26
To John S. Finlay goes the unique honor of selection
to Coe’s all-time great football teams
as picked by both Coach George Bryant and Coach
Moray Eby. John Finlay was a lineman on the
teams of 1922, 1923, and 1924. In these days
of platoon substitutions it’s worthy of
note that he played a full 60 minutes of every
game in 1923 and 1924. His bountiful skills
were recognized by selection to several All-State
and All-Midwest teams. At Coe he won nine letters
and in track he set new javelin records three
times.
After graduation John Finlay
became a high school coach and official. In
one ten-year period his football teams were
unscored on for 15 consecutive games. In addition
to football, he coached basketball and had a
team in the state finals in 1938. He also coached
baseball and wrestling, including an undefeated
team. He officiated a variety of high school
sports for 20 years. During World War II Colonel
Finlay was in charge of Air Corps athletic programs
in England, France and Germany. In the Korean
conflict he headed an athletic program at a
10,000 man Air Force base in Korea. His has
been a lifetime devoted to sports and the young
men and women who participate in them.
Edward P. Barrows
'30
“Ed Barrows was the best halfback I ever
coached,” said the legendary Moray Eby.
This accolade more than any other properly measures
Edward P. Barrows’ stature as an athlete
at Coe College. He won all-conference football
honors three times and all-state mention twice.
He was a particular nemesis for traditional
rival Cornell. In the 1928 Coe win over Cornell,
Colonel Barrows ran for 250 yards in an era
when three yards and a cloud of dust were the
conventional offense. In the 1929 shut out over
Cornell, he returned the opening kickoff 95
yards for a score, a deed that will be remembered
at both schools as long as football is a topic
of conversation.
Ed Barrows was a record-setting
performer in track also, holding Coe records
in the broad jump and mile relay. After graduation
he coached in Iowa and Minnesota high schools
and earned a law degree in 1938.
Commissioned through the Coe ROTC
program in 1929, Colonel Barrows served 40 years
as an Army officer, 27 of them on active duty
in infantry, armor, and in the Judge Advocate
General’s Corps, including duty as deputy
state director and legal officer for Selective
Service in Minnesota. On the gridiron his legal
training served him well as a Big Ten referee
for seven years. He has served Coe as president
of the Alumni Association. In 1971 Coe College
awarded him its prestigious Alumni Award of
Merit.
Charles Eugene Lighter
'16
Charles Eugene Lighter, Class of 1916, has compiled
one of the brightest records in the history
of Coe College’s competition in track
and field events. He was a four-year letterman
in track and captained the team in both 1915
and 1916. In collegiate and AAU track competition
he garnered more than 75 medals and awards which
are mounted in Coe’s Eby Fieldhouse as
an inspiration for today’s young athletes.
In a competitive career that
was filled with highlights, perhaps the most
memorable moment came in May, 1913, when Gene
Lighter entered and won five events in a dual
meet with Grinnell. He held records in the high
hurdles and broad jump and was a member of a
record-setting mile relay team. His high academic
standing in combination with his athletic ability
were noted in a nomination for a Rhodes Scholarship.
Mr. Lighter qualified for the
1916 Olympics scheduled to be held in Rome,
games that were cancelled by World War I. He
passed up coaching offers in 1916 to enter the
service and he was in the military in both World
War I and II.
Through his splendid achievements
in track and his selection for the U.S. Olympic
team, Charles Eugene Lighter earns mention among
those who have reached the top in Coe athletics.
Forest S. Rittgers '25
Forest Rittgers has been a central figure in
several of the most brilliant eras of Coe sports,
both as a player and a coach. A member of the
famous 1922 championship team, he is the only
Coe alumnus who can claim a touchdown scored
against Wisconsin, that tally coming in a 7
-7 tie with the Badgers in 1924. Colonel Rittgers
coached at Centerville, Iowa for four years
where he had an undefeated team in 1928. He
returned to Coe in 1929 as Moray Eby’s
backfield coach and scout in an era of frequent
championships. He taught courses in coaching
and physical education during much of this period
and was a busy football and basketball official.
Forest Rittgers was Coe basketball
coach from 1929 to 1938. But his most spectacular
success came as track coach from 1929 to 1942
when his teams won eight conference titles,
twice taking the crown three years in a row.
In the remaining five years his teams were runners-up
four of the five times. The last two years of
that period he served at Coe as an Army Captain
assigned to teach military science, and in that
position he continued coaching. He continued
Army service in a variety of foreign and domestic
assignments after World War II until his retirement
as a Colonel in 1957.
As an alumnus, Colonel Rittgers
has consistently supported the academic and
athletic development of Coe College. He has
been what Coe would define as an ideal alumnus
. . . successful in his professional field and
supportive of the best the college is trying
to do.
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Edward J. Hines
'31
Edward J. Hines had the unusual distinction
of winning high school all-state football honors
in two states, Iowa and West Virginia. He played
at Cedar Rapids Washington high school under
Hall of Fame coach Leo Novak and then came under
Moral Eby’s tutelage at Coe. He was Eby’s
field general and he quarterbacked three consecutive
Midwest Conference football champions in 1928,
1929, and 1930. Those were fabulous days for
Coe football. In 1928, for example, outside
of a loss to Big Ten champion Illinois, Coe
went undefeated and outscored their opponents
181 to zero.
Ed Hines was named to All-Conference
and All-American teams as a result of his skilled
performance, and was named as quarterback on
Moray Eby’s All-Time team.
Throughout his career Ed Hines
has maintained his interest in sports as an
official in football and basketball, as well
as an organizer of sports teams. As a Senior
Youth Counselor for the State of Wisconsin he
coached delinquent boys and on retirement was
the first to receive a merit award for dedicated
service as a counselor to these young men.
Leigh H. Ladd LC '14
Leigh H. Ladd is the first man to be inducted
into the Coe College Athletic Hall of Fame who
has thrown a one-hit shutout against Coe in
baseball; who was a football tackle and at the
same time his team’s leading rusher; and
a man who scored two touchdowns as his team
defeated Coe 47-6. These unusual circumstances
came about because the late Leigh Ladd was unquestionably
the finest athlete ever to play for Leander
Clark College of Toledo, Iowa, an institution
that was merged with Coe College in 1919. At
that time Leander Clark alumni became alumni
of Coe. In the case of Leigh Ladd he was officially
awarded the Coe “C” in a special
resolution by the Coe Athletic Board in 1941.
Leigh Ladd, Leander Clark Class
of 1914, was an outstanding football, basketball,
and baseball player at his institution. In football
his regular position was tackle, but he led
his team’s offense at halfback. Any time
Clark needed yardage Ladd moved into the backfield
and, even with the whole defense keyed against
him, he was his team’s high scorer. He
was named to the All-State team at tackle rather
than halfback only because that’s the
position where he started each game.
Leigh Ladd built an enviable
career as coach, principal and superintendent
at several Iowa high schools. For more than
fifteen years he was associated with the State
Juvenile Home in Toledo, Iowa, as business manager,
basketball, baseball and track coach and for
a number of years as superintendent. Mr. Ladd
died in 1958. Leigh Ladd was able to wear both
the “C” from Clark College and the
“C” from Coe College with honor.
M.H. Wycoff
'17
M. H. Wykoff, Class of 1917, came to Coe from
Perry, Iowa, where he had been an All-State
football captain. He lived up to all of his
advance notices as the fullback on the 1914
Coe Point-a-Minute team. In 1915 his loyalty
to Coach Moray Eby kept him at Coe, despite
an enticing offer from a Big Ten university.
That year, to his disappointment, Eby shifted
him from fullback to tackle. In this new and
unwanted position, Mr. Wykoff won both All-Conference
and All-State honors and played so well that
he was elected captain of the 1916 squad. During
his years at Coe he was also a member of the
track team.
After graduation from Coe, athletics
became Mr. Wykoff’s lifetime career. He
held a variety of high school positions as principal,
teacher and coach, most notable of which was
at Joliet, Illinois, then one of the country’s
top high schools. There he coached football,
basketball, track and swimming for 20 years.
In his 30-year coaching career Mr. Wykoff has
seen four of his athletes go on to win All-American
honors. Throughout these years he has been a
respected official in four sports.
A dedicated outdoorsman, M. H.
Wykoff has been an avid hunter and fisherman,
and for many years he and his wife raised and
showed both field and show dogs throughout North
and South America. He was one of the first importers
of the German shorthaired pointer to the United
States after World War One.
Douglas J. Hamilton '53
To many athletes the greatest prize they can
receive is to be honored by their own teammates.
Such was the case with Doug Hamilton who was
named Most Valuable Player by his fellow members
of the 1952 Midwest Conference championship
football team. But that was only one of the
accolades that came his way during his senior
year at Coe College.
In recognition of his outstanding
play on the gridiron he received honorable mention
on the Associated Press Little All American
roster and was also selected to the All Midwest
Conference squad as an offensive tackle.
After completing his career at
Coe, in which he won three letters in football,
two in track, and one as a member of Coe’s
first wrestling team, Doug Hamilton had a try-out
with the New York Giants. When he was not kept
on the Giants roster, he played a season with
the professional team in Waterloo, Iowa.
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George R. Cilek
'56
George R. Cilek, Class of 1956, was a football
star in an era when Coe won two conference championships
and just missed a third. A top-flight end, he
was named to the Helms Foundation Little All-American
team in his senior year, 1955. That same year
he made the Associated Press Second Little All-American
team, as the Kohawks were the undefeated Midwest
Conference champions. In that championship year
he led in passes received and in passing yardage.
In his junior year he was named Most Valuable
Player by his teammates.
Mr. Cilek also played baseball
at Coe as a senior and won selection on the
All-Tournament team, as Coe took the 1956 conference
title. He served as president of the Clan of
C, a tribute to the high esteem in which he
was held by his fellow athletes.
Throughout his student career
he was active in Air Force ROTC activities and
he was commissioned in the Air Force on his
graduation from Coe. He made the military his
career and was a major in the U.S. Air Force.
Glenn A. Bailey
'15
Glenn Bailey, Class of 1915, was a 10-letter
man in four sports at Coe. So wide-ranging were
his athletic exploits that in 1925 the Des Moines
Register called him the most versatile athlete
in Iowa’s history. His versatility was
not limited to the athletic field as he was
also a leading actor in Coe theatrical productions.
In football Mr. Bailey, nicknamed
“Straw”, won All-State honors at
end in one year and at halfback another year.
He was the team’s dropkicker, punt returner
and safety man. Considered the state’s
best open field runner, he captained the 1914
Point-a-Minute team, and in one game that year
he ran for 320 yards in only 6 plays. In basketball
Straw Bailey was twice an All-State guard and
he consistently outscored his forwards, a rarity
in those days.
On the track Straw Bailey ran
the 100-yard dash and the quarter mile. He ran
legs of the mile and half-mile relays. Between
races he was a broad jumper. In the 1915 state
championship meet won by Coe Bailey won the
100-yard dash, the quarter mile and was a member
of the record-setting mile and half-mile relay
teams. He also lettered in baseball one year.
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