Dennis Ralston knows. Trinity tennis is something special.
I recently wrote about Dennis. He’s the assistant pro at Grey Rock tennis club in Austin, and drills us old timers in the Texas heat on Thursday nights. Coach Ralston is being honored at Wimbledon this month for his contributions to the tournament and the game. You can read what I wrote here:
My earlier post was about Dennis and the sport, and was sent to newspapers throughout the state. This post, however, is different. It’s a short Roo Tale about Austin College, tennis, and the Kangaroos’ biggest rival. It’s dedicated to Coach Ryan Dodd and the Austin College Kangaroo men’s and women’s tennis teams, both of which finished 3rd in conference play and achieved national NCAA D3 rankings. I am looking forward to participating in the alumni tennis event during Homecoming 2017, and I’m a fan.
And for the Trinity tennis program, I’ve have nothing but respect. If you are familiar with AC’s Presbyterian rival down in San Antonio, but know little of their tennis past, do read on. You’ll be amazed.
Chapter 1: Little School, Big Tennis
AC & Trinity tennis dates back to the 1890s. Tennis matches in Sherman and Waxahachie were common throughout most of early part of the 20th century, with Austin College frequently coming up on top. Like football and baseball, a competitive rivalry between the two oldest Presbyterian schools in the state was to be expected.
But then along came Clarence Mabry, and everything changed.
Mabry was a standout tennis player for the Texas Longhorns, and won Southwest Conference championships in singles and doubles in 1946. After graduation, Mabry was hired at Trinity to coach tennis. He then set out to do the near impossible: turn little Trinity University into a major NCAA D1 power in the sport.
By the early 1960s, Mabry’s Tigers had some of the finest tennis players in the country and were successfully competing at the Division 1 level. Collegiate tennis was dominated by California schools in the post WW2 period, especially USC & UCLA. All of a sudden, Trinity was giving them both a run for their money.
Trinity’s top player was a native of St. Louis named Chuck McKinley. In the summer of 1963, McKinley did the unthinkable. He headed to Wimbledon and won the whole thing. In an era when professional tennis was rare and competition was limited primarily to amateurs, a Trinity Tiger went to London and returned a champion. Tennis greats Arthur Ashe and Cliff Drysdale were both defeated on his way to the title.
The 1963 NCAA championship in singles was won by Dennis Ralston, then a USC Trojan. That summer, when it came time to select a two-man U.S. Davis Cup team, the honor fell to Ralston & McKinley. They would not disappoint.
Australia had won the Davis Cup for five years in a row. But 1963 would end that streak. Ralston & McKinley advanced the U.S. to the finals, and defeated the Aussies 3-2 in the last match of the year. Singles wins by both players over Australia’s John Newcombe combined with an earlier Ralston/McKinley doubles win brought the Cup back to U.S. soil. A trip to the White House to visit President Johnson and a national tour awaited. That tour included an exhibition match between Ralston & McKinley to dedicate the new Sams Center (now Bell Athletic Center) on the campus of Trinity University.
Throughout the 1960s, Trinity tennis continued to improve. McKinley was joined by greats such as Frank Froehling, Clifford Buchholz, and Butch Newman. Froehling reached the finals of the U.S. Open in 1963, and Buchholz/Newman fell in the semifinals of the 1964 U.S. Open to eventual champions McKinley/Ralston. And yet, no school could topple the dominance of USC and UCLA. The two Southern California schools combined for all 13 titles between 1959 and 1971. 1972 would be different.
Chapter 2: National Champions
Trinity’s Dick Stockton, Brian Gottfried, Bob McKinley, and Paul Gerken lead what might be one of the best men’s college tennis teams in history. Trinity hosted a match at home against USC in the spring of 1972, and thousands packed the Trinity courts to root on the Tigers. When it was all over, the Trojans were headed back to California defeated.
Trinity entered the NCAA tournament that summer as clear favorites, and they clinched the title with Brian Gottfried’s upset win over Stanford’s Alex Mayer in the semifinals. What was supposed to be a climactic singles final turned into a Tiger party, with two Trinity players (Stockton & Gottfried) squaring off for the individual honors. Stockton won. Trinity returned to San Antonio as a conquering David to the California schools’ Goliaths. Stanford, USC, & UCLA respectively settled for 2nd, 3rd, & 4th. The Tigers remained one of the top programs in the country throughout the 1970s, reaching the NCAA finals in both 1977 and 1979.
The Trinity women were every bit the equal of the men. Emilie Burrer won collegiate singles and doubles crowns in the 1960s, and led the Trinity women to national titles in 1968 and 1969. Three more national championships followed in the 1970s. Burrer returned to coach the Tigers near the end of the decade, leading Trinity to the NCAA finals twice behind world class players such as Anne Smith, JoAnne Russell, Gretchen Rush, and Louise Allen. Well into the 1980s, Trinity women continued to compete for a national crown. Rush and Allen captured the NCAA doubles crown in 1983, and the women’s team fell in the finals that same year to Dennis Ralston’s USC Trojans. Rush is currently the head coach of Trinity women’s tennis.
Smith went on to a successful professional career, winning doubles crowns in all four majors (Wimbledon, U.S., French, Australian). Her 1981 Australian title was clinched with a win over Martina Navratilova & Pam Shriver, considered one of the top doubles teams in history. Smith also had a successful mixed doubles career was well, defeating fellow Tiger JoAnne Russell in the 1981 U.S. Open final, and teaming with fellow Tiger Dick Stockton to win the 1984 French Open.
Chapter 3: Johnny Mac, SMU, and the End of an Era
John McEnroe shocked the tennis world in 1977 by reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon as an 18-year-old tournament qualifier. McEnroe headed to Stanford in 1978, where he was the #1 player for the Cardinal as a freshman. He won the NCAA title that year, compiling a season with just one loss. That loss came in San Antonio.
With a home town crowd cheering him on, Trinity’s Larry Gottfried (brother of Brian) shocked the future professional star 6-3, 7-6 in a dual match with Stanford. It wouldn’t be the last frustrating Trinity matchup for Johnny Mac. At the height of his career in 1983, McEnroe was upset by Trinity’s Bill Scanlon in the U.S. Open. Scanlon had won the NCAA singles title in 1976 as a Tiger.
Gottfried celebrates his win over McEnroe at Trinity.
Trinity had knocked off SMU in both 1977 and 1979 to get to the finals, much to the frustration of Mustang tennis fans. The Tigers and Mustangs were the top two programs in Texas around 1980 when I took up the game, with Texas & Texas A&M both far behind. In an effort to knock Trinity off of its Texas tennis perch, SMU tennis made a coaching change in 1980 and hired……..Dennis Ralston. Throughout the 1980s, SMU became the premier program in Texas as Trinity fell to #2.
The high point of Coach Ralston’s tenure was 1983, when SMU lost in dramatic fashion to Stanford 5-4 in the NCAA finals. That year also included an SMU victory over Trinity at San Antonio, the first Tiger loss at home in decades. After the match, Ralston mentioned that “it’s a major victory to beat Trinity because they never lose down here.”
As a youngster in College Station, I saw Ralston’s Mustangs beat Texas A&M. Trinity frequently topped the Aggies as well. Like most programs, A&M couldn’t hold a candle to that little school in San Antonio. But the glory days of Trinity’s D1 dominance were slowly starting to fade.
Trinity would never again reach the unimaginable heights of the 1970s. But their tennis program remains exceptional. Trinity tennis officially changed from D1 to D3 in the 1990s, as both Austin College and Trinity made the transition from NAIA to NCAA in all other sports. When SCAC conference competition begins each year, Trinity men’s and women’s tennis are always a strong favorite to win. Both the men and the women won the SCAC in 2017.
Austin College tennis under Coach Ryan Dodd and AD David Norman has enjoyed a wonderful resurgence over the past few years. The 2017 men’s and women’s team both finished 3rd in the SCAC, their best showing since the conference was formed. Both teams were nationally ranked in D3 tennis, and recruiting classes for 2018 are getting recognition as well. AC tennis secured those 3rd place conference finishes at the Butch Newman Tennis stadium on the campus of Trinity, where the Tigers downed the mighty Trojans of USC in 1972 and where McEnroe lost his one and only match to Gottfried in 1978.
During the SCAC tournament last spring, recent graduate Kate Willis wrote “from the very beginning until tomorrow afternoon this has been my family, all my free time, blood, sweat, tears, two knee surgeries and more love than I know what to do with. Go Roos @ Trinity University.” Writing about the battle to secure 3rd at Trinity, 2017 graduate Preston Glasscock wrote that “we were on the gorgeous Trinity courts, blood was pumping through my veins, and I could feel the excitement in the huddle when we met before the match. I knew it was one of our last chances to battle together as brothers.”
Austin College Men before an SCAC tournament match on the Trinity courts in 2017.
Austin College Women square off against Trinity at the SCAC tournament in 2017.
In 2018, the Roos will take on the SCAC once again, with the outcome to be determined. But one thing is for sure. Trinity will be there waiting, as usual.
Before Dennis left for Wimbledon, we were chatting on the courts at Grey Rock. We talked about Austin College, Chuck McKinley, the Davis Cup, and Trinity Tiger tennis during his era. The USC Trojan looked at me, paused, shook his head, and said “I just don’t know how that little school got so good.”
Me neither Dennis, me neither. But Tiger tennis was a sight to behold. Even for this Roo. AC tennis, we’ll see you at Homecoming.
