The Wingate Memorial Trophy was the award given to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) national champion in men's college lacrosse from 1936 to 1970, and the NCAA Men's Champion in 1971–1972.
The first intercollegiate lacrosse tournament was held in 1881, with Harvard beating Princeton 3–0 in the championship game. From this point through 1970, USILA and the collegiate lacrosse associations from which it evolved - the ILA (1882–1905), IULL (1894–1905), USILL (1906–1925) and USILA (1926–1970) - chose the annual champions based on season records. In 1936, the family of W. Wilson Wingate, a longtime Baltimore sportswriter who had played the sport in college and often covered it, donated a memorial trophy in his name to be presented to the USILA champion. Wingate is credited with nicknaming lacrosse "the fastest game on two feet."
The NCAA held its first NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in 1971. The Wingate Memorial Trophy was presented to the first two NCAA champions, and retired following the 1972 season. Currently, the NCAA tournament annually determines the top lacrosse teams in Division I, Division II, and Division III.
Wingate Memorial Trophy winners
YearChampion1936Maryland1937Maryland, Princeton1938Navy1939Maryland1940Maryland1941Johns Hopkins1942Princeton 1943Navy1944Army1945Army, Navy1946Navy1947Johns Hopkins1948Johns Hopkins1949 Johns Hopkins, Navy 1950 Johns Hopkins1951 Army, Princeton1952 RPI, Virginia1953 Princeton1954 Navy 1955 Maryland1956 Maryland 1957 Johns Hopkins1958 Army 1959 Army, Maryland, Johns Hopkins:2091960 Navy1961 Army, Navy1962 Navy1963 Navy1964 Navy1965 Navy1966 Navy1967 Maryland, Navy, Johns Hopkins1968 Johns Hopkins1969 Army, Johns Hopkins1970 Johns Hopkins, Navy, Virginia1971 Cornell1972 Virginia
Team championship records
TeamChampionships Winning yearsNavy151938, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1954, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970 Johns Hopkins111941, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1957, 1959, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970Maryland81936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1967Army71944, 1945, 1951, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1969Princeton41937, 1942, 1951, 1953Virginia31952, 1970, 1972Cornell11971 RPI11952
Championships by state StateTitlesUniversity Maryland 34 Navy (15), Johns Hopkins (11), Maryland (8) New York 9 Army (7), Cornell (1), RPI (1) New Jersey 4 Princeton (4) Virginia 3 Virginia (3)
See also United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship
References