SCIAC Dominance
With over four decades of history amassed at the beginning of the 1990s and a long track record of winning championships, both in-conference and nationally, the athletic department established the Ted Ducey CMS Hall of Fame to honor the best and brightest that passed through the programs over the years. Stanton P. (“Pete”) Welsh '50 was bestowed the honor of becoming the first Hall of Famer in 1989 in tribute to his trailblazing athletic accomplishments in the early days of Claremont Men’s College. The first full class was voted on in 1990 and the induction ceremony was held in 1991 with Bill Arce, Bill LaRock '64, Steve Endemano (HMC '71), and Eric Jones '71 joining Welsh as first ballot Hall of Famers. Today, the Ted Ducey CMS Hall of Fame continues to add new members each year and the sustained success of CMS Athletics ensures that new members will continue to be honored in the decades to come. (Read full story here)
Head Coach John Goldhammer with the 1995 CMS Track and Field team.
During the 1990s, the CMS cross country and track and field programs began their development into conference, regional, and eventually national powers. Coach John Goldhammer took over leadership of the men and women’s cross country and track and field programs in 1984 and would lead all four programs to unprecedented success over the next few decades. 1992 saw the Stags track and field team win their first SCIAC championship; they would go on to win or share the next 19 league championships. The Athenas cross country and track and field teams fared just was well under Goldhammer. After capturing the 1994 SCIAC championship, the Athenas began a reign of dominance in conference with a streak of eight straight titles beginning in 1994 and are winners of 23 of the last 26 SCIAC Championships. The following season, the Athenas finished fourth at the 1995 NCAA Championships, their highest finish until 2012. The women’s track and field team, meanwhile, captured their first SCIAC crown in 1995 and have won or shared 18 of the last 25 league titles.
(John Goldhammer was inducted into the Ted Ducey CMS Hall of Fame in 2018. Read his biography here)
On September 26, 1993, Claremont McKenna College dedicated the Matt M. Axelrood Aquatics Center, named for a generous planned giving donor, replacing Voit Pool. Axelrood was an immediate upgrade as Voit Pool was smaller than official regulation size, which often resulted in multiple heats needed for home swimming events. The new aquatics center was a welcome addition as CMS aquatic sports were in the middle of a prolonged dynasty when they moved into their new home. Both men's swimming and diving and men's water polo had won 11 consecutive SCIAC Championships and the men's water polo team was on a 110-0 winning streak after lifting the SCIAC crown. The women's swimming and diving team, meanwhile, broke through to hand Pomona-Pitzer its first SCIAC dual loss in 1988 and won its first-ever SCIAC Championship in 1989, establishing itself as a perennial league contender. Then a club team, women's water polo won the 1992 Collegiate II National Championship and successfully won its petition to upgrade to a varsity program in 1993. Ironically, both men's water polo and men's swimming and diving had their streaks of consecutive SCIAC titles end in the first year at Axelrood Pool, but were soon back on track through the latter half of the 1990s with men’s water polo capturing the next five league titles in a row and men's swimming and diving the next six. The women’s programs also experienced success in their new home with women's swimming and diving winning SCIAC titles in 1995 and 1996 and women's water polo capturing its first SCIAC title in 1997. (Read full story here)
Stalwarts of CMS Athletics, husband and wife coaching duo David Wells ’72 and Jodie Burton left an indelible impact on campusand their student athletes. A successful baseball and basketball player as a student, Wells became the Stags basketball coach during the 1974-75 season and Burton began leading the Athenas during the 1979-80 season steering both programs to much success over the years. The Athenas had a 20-win regular season in 1994-95, finishing just behind Cal Lutheran for the SCIAC title, but earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The Athenas would meet the Regals again in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, knocking off their conference rivals 63-54, for their first-ever tournament victory. The Athenas would continue their success the following season, winning the SCIAC title and again advancing to the NCAA Tournament, where they earned their second victory, edging La Verne 62-61 in the opening round. (Read full story here)
The 1995-96 season saw the Stags basketball team advance to the NCAA Tournament Second Round for the first time in program history. After winning the SCIAC league title, the Stags earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they defeated Upper Iowa 70-58. (Read full story here)
In July 1995, CMS Athletics lost longtime football coach and athletic director John Zinda after a battle with leukemia. Zinda had joined the Claremont-Mudd athletic department in 1968, taking over the head football coaching position and leading the Stags to SCIAC Championships in 1970, 1979, 1986, and 1987. In 1983, Zinda took over as athletic director from long-time director Bill Arce and oversaw the introduction of three new women's varsity sports, soccer (1985), softball (1990), and water polo (1993), as the department grew to 19 sports and continued to achieve unprecedented success. As a coach, Zinda created an athletic culture that stressed a high level of sportsmanship and a commitment to athletics as a mode of education, and many of those Stags who came through his program took Zinda's life lessons beyond the classroom with them into adulthood. Following Zinda’s passing, the CMS football field was dedicated as Zinda Field on November 11, 1995 as part of a Homecoming celebration for the season finale against Pomona-Pitzer. (Read full story here)
Ted Ducey CMS Hall of Fame Inductees
Class of 1990: Diane Noonan Eichler (SC); Stephen Goodson (HMC); Stacey McIlroy; Dolores Odogwu (SC)
Class of 1991: Lance Au; Tom Issak; Ryan Teeples
Class of 1992: Wendy Cole; Chris Greene; Chris Noyes; Ngozi Odogwu
Class of 1993: Mark Gilbreth; Ryan McKee
Class of 1994: Brad Aagaard (HMC); Maril Davis (SC); Elizabeth Koenn (SC); Jason Rhodes (HMC); Jennifer See; Mike Susank
Class of 1995: Amy Cleveland; John Shipp
Class of 1996: Heather Schroder
Class of 1997: Anna Hewitson; Eric Jones (HMC); Tyler Laughery; Quang Leba; Margaret Wang Rattay; Louise Tench Willard (SC); Brian Zinda (HMC)
Class of 1998: Rosemary Cella; Jennifer Culley (SC); Dianna Turner-Graves