Logger scholar-athletes have been bringing fans to their feet for more than a century, backed by a long line of remarkable athletic directors, coaches, and support staff. Here are a few notable historic story lines worth celebrating.
The 1903 football team — which finished the season undefeated and with one tie — made the front page of the Tacoma Daily Ledger when it defeated the University of Nevada 10–0 at Tacoma’s 11th Street field. Nevada filled in for the University of Washington, which pulled out of its scheduled game for fear of losing to a university of 200 students. When UW lost its last game to a team in Oregon, Spokane’s Spokesman-Review proclaimed Puget Sound the “Football Champion of the Northwest.”
Gretchen Kunigk Fraser ’41 honed her record-setting skills as an Alpine skier while on the Puget Sound ski team. Her talents led her to be named to the U.S. Olympic team in 1940 before the war intervened. In 1948, the Logger made history by becoming the first American Alpine skier to win Olympic gold and silver medals.
In a 1967 game against Whitworth, Jerome “The Jet” Crawford ’69, P’95 set an NCAA football record by returning three punts for a touchdown in a single game. The record has never been broken.
Rich Hand ’70 was baseball coach Jack McGee’s top recruit. He set many school records; scored wins over the University of Washington, Washington State, and the University of Oregon; and played four seasons of Major League Baseball, pitching two shutouts.
When Olympic medalist and world record holder Kaye Hall Gref ’73 came to Puget Sound in 1970 (after having won two gold medals and a bronze at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City), she trained with coach Don Duncan and the men’s swimming team because there was no women’s team at that time. Gref later represented Puget Sound at the World University Games in Italy, winning three gold medals.
Bob Jackson ’82 was a first-team small college football NCAA All-American who helped the Loggers win a school record 10 games in 1981. He gained his strength and agility by swimming the arduous breaststroke for the Loggers — where he was also a record-setting All-American — an unheard-of collegiate accomplishment. His athletic prowess in two sports led to a story in Sports Illustrated.
