ARTHUR HILL HIGH SCHOOL STATE CHAMPION SWIM TEAMS (1945 AND 1946)

Arthur Hill High School captured state swim championship in both 1945 and 1946 – thus becoming the first – and only – high school in Saginaw County history to capture a state title in the sport of swimming. The Lumberjacks, coached by Dave Gainey, captured the Class A state meet in 1945 by rolling up 49 points at Michigan State College’s Jenison pool. Monroe was second with 33 and Jackson tallied 27 for third. Dick Weinberg captured two freestyle events and Howard Patterson added a win in the backstroke event. Arthur Hill also captured wins in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 150-yard medley relay. One year later Arthur Hill won its second consecutive Class A title as the Hills notched 41 first place points at the University of Michigan pool as 19 teams participated. Jackson was a distant second with 28 points and Battle Creek nabbed third with 23. Arthur Hill had command of the meet the entire way and clinched the championship with a 12-point spurt in the 100-yard backstroke where Bob Beckman won the event in a time of 1:04.0, and teammates Dick Howell second and Roddy Quigley a surprise fourth. Other Lumberjack winners were Bob Trout in the 50-yard freestyle, and the 200-yard freestyle relay team which tied a state record set by Jackson in 1938. Arthur Hill’s 1946 swim team repeated as co-national champions. The annual ratings of the Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association showed Arthur Hill and Clinton, Iowa, sharing first place. A year earlier the Lumberjacks and Roosevelt High of Des Moines, Iowa, were rated co-national champions.