A History of Athletics at the University of Maine

The University of Maine (UMaine) has a rich athletic history, dating back to its founding in 1865 as a land-grant research university. As Maine's only NCAA Division I athletics program, the UMaine Black Bears have a tradition of athletic excellence. This article delves into the history of UMaine athletics, highlighting key moments, successful programs, and the individuals who have shaped its legacy.

Early Years and Growth

The University of Maine was founded in 1862 as a function of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts. By 1871, curricula had been organized in Agriculture, Engineering, and electives. Gradually, the university developed the Colleges of Life Sciences and Agriculture, Engineering and Science, and Arts and Sciences. Near the end of the 19th century, the university expanded its curriculum to place greater emphasis on liberal arts. Women have been admitted into all curricula since 1872.

A Golden Era (1958-1965)

The period from 1958 to 1965 is often considered a "golden era" for UMaine sports. This era wasn't just about athletic success; it was a time of strong campus camaraderie. While activities like the Winter Carnival, with its impressive ice sculptures, were memorable, the success of the sports programs took center stage. Standout high school athletes were drawn to UMaine to compete in the state’s premier college sports programs, even without scholarships. The success of the teams in this period came predominantly from the efforts of young Mainers competing at the highest level of college competition the state had to offer.

During this time, major programs like football, basketball, baseball, and track thrived. Women’s sports, hockey, and soccer had not yet come into their own, so the major programs of the day were football, basketball, baseball, and track, and the Maine programs in all four areas were on top of their game. Much of this success was attributed to the dedicated coaching staffs.

Football Triumphs

Harold Westerman became head coach of the football program in 1951 and led his teams to 15 straight years without a losing season. His overall record of 80 wins, 38 losses, and seven ties left a legacy that would be difficult to match. His tenure included two undefeated seasons, four Yankee Conference titles, and two All American selections: Tom Golden ’55 from Augusta, and John Huard ’67 from Waterville, who played on the 1965 team that went on to appear in a Bowl game. Westerman was joined by able assistant coaches during the 1960s like Walter Abbott ’58, ’65G and Jack Butterfield ’53.

The 1961 Maine Black Bear football team achieved an undefeated season with eight victories, one tie, and a Yankee Conference championship. The final game of the season was a hard fought 10 to 7 victory over perennial conference powerhouse UMass. The roster included a lineman named Pierre Labat, the philanthropist who left a donation to help usher Maine sports into another golden era. As was the case with the teams of the era, the roster also included a bevy of outstanding players from Maine including the co-captains Dave Cloutier ’62 from Gardiner and Dick Kinney ’62 from Lisbon Falls. ’62 and Bump Hadley ’63 from Brewer, quarterback Manch Wheeler ’62 from Manchester, and Walter Beaulieu ’62 from Old Town.

The 1965 season was particularly remarkable. The ’65 season saw a Maine football team win not only the Yankee Conference, but they also added the Lambert Trophy, presented to the best team in the Northeast. The team received an invitation to play in the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Florida, against East Carolina. They opened the ’65 season with a major 10-8 win over UMass, which was the team to beat. Then they crushed other Yankee Conference opponents like New Hampshire 48 to 13, Rhode Island 36 to 0, Vermont 35 to 6, and Connecticut 24 to 6. The team was quarterbacked by two-sport standout, Dick DeVarney ’66, ’72G, who had two talented wide receivers, Dennis Doyle ’67 and John White ’68 [brother of Don], both from Auburn, to work with. coordinator Jack Butterfield ’53 introduced the practice of splitting out the receivers in order to take advantage of DeVarney’s passing ability. The result was a potent passing game that complemented the running of Biddeford’s Charlie Belisle ’67, Paul Keany ’68, and all New England running back, Frank Harney ’67. The team was loaded with outstanding talent including All American linebacker John Huard ’67, who went on to a professional career with the Denver Broncos, and co-captains Alan Riley ’67 and Walter Hirst ’67. A coaching staff as talented as the players they put on the field completed the package that made up a tremendous football team.

Basketball's Record-Setting Run

The 1958-59 basketball season marked the beginning of the Brian McCall era, with McCall becoming the first full-time head coach not burdened with other coaching responsibilities. A graduate of Dayton University, McCall came to Maine from a successful high school coaching career and handled the coaching chores throughout the period from 1958 to 1965. Maine basketball ran up a record of 104 wins against 77 losses including a three-year stretch that can be argued was the greatest three years of men’s basketball at Maine. The team went 52 and 16 including back-to-back seasons that set records for winning percentages that still stand today. The ’59-’60 team’s winning percentage of .876 remains the highest level of any Maine team followed closely by the .783 percent figure for the ’60-’61 team. The 19 and 4 ’59- ’60 season that saw the team ranked sixth in the country generated a Sports Illustrated article in December of 1960 that projected Maine as the team most likely to end the dominance of the University of Connecticut over the Yankee Conference. In the write-up Champion and Chappelle were called “the best backcourt in the conference,” Shiner and Sturgeon were described as high scoring forwards, and Ingalls was called “a strong rebounder” at just under 10 rebounds a game. To commemorate the winningest season in Maine basketball, the family of center John Ingalls, who passed away in 2016, established the ‘Winningest Men’s Basketball Team Fund” in 2019.

With a 19 and 2 record the team had a chance to wrap up a Yankee Conference championship with wins in these last two outings. With team captain Dick Sturgeon sidelined with a knee injury Maine lost both games, ending the season with a disappointing second place finish. The era was highlighted by three Old Town athletes who captained the Bears for three straight years; Dick Sturgeon ’59-’60, Don Sturgeon in ’60-’61, and Skip Chappelle in ’61-’62. Chappelle led the Yankee Conference in scoring, and was a first team all-Conference selection all three years of his playing career. The Black Bears followed up the record setting ’59-’60 season with the second-best season in men’s basketball at Maine. The 18 and 5 team also ended the season in second place in the conference. In spite of three outstanding seasons in a row Maine was never able to knock UConn off the top of the conference. Interestingly enough, when the three-year string of winning seasons ended in the ’61-’62 season as Maine went 11 and 13, they defeated UConn twice. It was the first time they had been able to accomplish that feat.

Baseball's College World Series Appearance

From 1958 to 1965 Maine baseball had five winning seasons and an overall record of 98 and 79. They finished the period strong as the ’64 and ’65 teams went 35 and 14. The ’64 team continued the golden era by winning the Yankee Conference and giving Maine baseball its first ever trip to the college World Series. The team finished the regular season at 16 and 6 and went to the regional playoff against Northeastern. To get to the World Series they needed to win two out of three games, all played at Fenway Park in Boston. They wasted no time, sweeping Northeastern two straight and it was off to Omaha.

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The team was led offensively by right fielder Ron Lanza ’66, short stop Dick DeVarney ’66, third baseman Dave Thompson ’65 of Belfast, and catcher Carl ‘Stump’ Merrill ’66, ’76G of Brunswick. Multi-sport athletes Lanza and DeVarney had the distinction of playing on the World Series team and the Tangerine Bowl football team. They entered the World Series knowing that the team to beat was defending national champion Southern California. In the double elimination World Series Maine won three games beating Seton Hall, Arizona State, and Southern California. They lost two to Minnesota and Missouri, finishing third overall. The standout out for Maine in the series was a young pitcher from Brewer, Maine, named Joe Ferris, who was the winning pitcher in two games beating Seton Hall and Southern California, and posting a save in the third win against Arizona. series, an honor unmatched by any of the great Maine players who later played in the series. In the 2 to 1 win over powerhouse Southern California Ferris retired 16 straight batters from the second inning to the seventh. In the save against Arizona he struck out future major league star Sal Bando with two outs and two on. Joe Ferris, who went 9 and 0 in the regular season and playoffs combined, made sure that his team gave a good account of themselves on the big stage.

Track and Field Dominance

In 1956 a new coach, Edmund Styrna, took over the coaching reins for both track and cross country. Olympic teams. The cross country program had a National Championship in 1915 under their belt to add to the track accomplishments. But the new coach was not intimidated by those accomplishments as during the period from 1958 to 1965 his teams in all three areas, outdoor track, indoor track and cross country won Yankee Conference Championships. Over all in those eight years the three programs went 71 and 25. Championship five years in a row, 1961 to 1965. Many records were set over the period by athletes like sprinter Pete MacPhee ’64, who set the pace in the 100-yard dash as well as the 220 and 440. Jim Ballinger ’66, ’69 set records in the hurdles and Joe Dahle of Old Town was an outstanding two miler. Cross-country captain William Daly, Jr. ’60 led his team to a Yankee Conference Championship in 1959 to add to the dominance of Maine teams during the period.

More Recent History

Hockey's National Championships

The men's ice hockey program was introduced in 1977. The team has been successful and have won the Hockey East title five times, appeared in eleven Frozen Fours, and won 2 National Championships. The Black Bears compete in the Hockey East conference, which includes teams such as Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern, and New Hampshire. The program has produced many professional ice hockey players, such as Paul Kariya, Eric Weinrich, Keith Carney, Garth Snow, Mike Dunham, Dustin Penner, and Jimmy Howard. The team is best known for its 1992-93 season, in which the team only lost one game, finishing with a record of 42-1-2. In 1993, they defeated Lake Superior State University 5-4 behind a third period hat trick by Jim Montgomery. The team is noted for its head coach Shawn Walsh, who coached the team for seventeen seasons. Walsh is credited with turning the team into such a successful program, as well as turning the Alfond Arena into one of the most intimidating arenas in college hockey.

Football in the Modern Era

Maine's football team competes in the Coastal Athletic Association. Prior to the 2007 season, the NCAA football league was sponsored by the Atlantic 10 Conference. The football program has produced many professional football players and coaches, such as center Mike Flynn, offensive lineman Justin Strzelczyk, quarterback Mike Buck, wide receiver/coach Phil McGeoghan, Pro Bowl linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who transferred to USC after his freshman year, linebacker Stephen Cooper, Pro Bowl fullback/special teams Montell Owens, defensive back Daren Stone, tight end Matthew Mulligan, defensive lineman Mike DeVito, linebacker Jovan Belcher, Pro Bowl fullback/defensive lineman Patrick Ricard, and defensive back Brandon McGowan. Current Iowa coach, and 2002 AP National Coach of the Year Kirk Ferentz began his head coaching career at Maine. In the 2006 NFL draft, the Oakland Raiders selected wide receiver Kevin McMahan as the draft's last selection, affectionately known as Mr. Irrelevant. The team has played several Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents. In recent years, the team has played Iowa, Rutgers, Hawaii, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Connecticut, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh. In 2004, The Maine Black Bears defeated Mississippi State University, 9-7. This marked the first time that Maine defeated a Division I FBS opponent. The largest crowd that the Black Bears have ever played in front of was 77,469 fans at Memorial Stadium, when Maine fell, 25-7, to Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska. The team is scheduled to play BCS games at the ACC's Boston College in 2012 and the Big Ten's Northwestern University in 2013. UM also defeated longtime rival and FBS opponent Massachusetts, 24-14, in 2013. Despite success over the past decade, including an NCAA tournament berth in 2011, Maine had never won a CAA regular season title.

Baseball Achievements

The baseball program has made several trips to the College World Series and has produced numerous major- league baseball players. The program has also made 16 NCAA tournament appearances, most recently in 2011 when they defeated FIU, 4-1, in the NCAA regionals. The program has won the AEC Tournament five times, in 1993, 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2011.

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Basketball Notables

The basketball teams, as well as all other sports teams, participate in the America East Conference. Former Clemson University head baseball coach Jack Leggett also attended the university, as well as NBA head coach Rick Carlisle (although Carlisle transferred to Virginia and finished his college career there). Other notables include Rufus Harris, Kevin Reed, Matt Rossignol, Jim Boylen, Andy Bedard, and several former Maine high school stars including Bangor's Jon McAllian and Edward Little's Troy Barnies. A prominent current player is San Diego-native Gerald Mclemore. The women's and men's basketball teams play at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor starting with the 2013-14 season. Cindy Blodgett played basketball at Maine before playing in the WNBA. On May 23, 2007, Blodgett was named the head coach of the women's team.

Facilities and Investment

The University of Maine’s Athletic Department is in the beginning stages of an unprecedented investment in upgrades to athletic facilities. An addition to the Alfond hockey arena, new soccer and track facilities, new field hockey complex, a new softball field, and a new basketball arena are all included in the expansion that will give UMaine some of the best sports facilities in New England. A grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation has provided funding for all these projects along with major donations from two families whose history with the university goes back to a very special time for Maine sports programs.

The northern section of campus includes many of the athletic facilities, including Alfond Arena for basketball and ice hockey, Morse Field at the Alfond Sports Stadium for football, track and field, Larry Mahaney Diamond for baseball, Kessock Field (softball), the Field Hockey Complex for field hockey, and the Mahaney athletic/recreational dome. The southern section of campus includes the Memorial Student Union, the Maynard F. Jordan Observatory, Lengyel Gymnasium and Athletic Field, the Buchanan Alumni House, and multiple administrative, residence, and academic halls.

Traditions and Spirit

The University of Maine's athletic teams, nicknamed the Black Bears, are a source of pride for the university and the state. The official fight song is "For Maine", but the better-known spirit song is the "Maine Stein Song". Written by Lincoln Colcord (words) and E. A. Fenstad (music), the tune rose to fame when singer Rudy Vallée arranged the current version. Vallee attended Maine from 1921 to 1922 before transferring to Yale, and his popularity helped make the song a national favorite. The mascot is Bananas T. Bear.

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