The San Antonio Express-News published a retrospective on the glory days of the men’s tennis program at Trinity University in the 1960s and ’70s. Local sports reporters called the program “Tennis Tech” after President Duncan Wimpress eliminated athletic scholarships for most sports in the 1970s, moving them to Division III, while keeping tennis at Division I. The decision reflected rising athletic costs but also tennis’s established success and prominence within Trinity’s identity.
Trinity’s tennis teams excelled consistently, the Express-News reports. During its heyday, the Trinity men’s team regularly rolled up impressive winning streaks, set an NCAA record for 78 straight wins over three years, won the 1972 national championship and were runners-up in 1970, 1971, 1977, and 1979.
Members of the early ’60s teams who went on to even greater recognition included Chuck McKinley, who reached the Wimbledon finals in 1961 and won men’s singles in 1963; Frank Froehling, runner-up at the 1963 U.S. Open; and Butch Newman, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps and won the All-Marine, All-Navy, and All-Service singles tennis championships before coming back to coach at Trinity. The 1963 team was recently inducted into the Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame. The full Express-News article can be found here.