College athletics were popular from the beginning at these young schools. Athletic programs were in keeping with the idea that students could grow and strengthen their bodies as well as their minds while attending higher education. Sports also created opportunities for showing off school pride and creating a school’s identity. While most early sports were designed only for men, there were a few options for women as well.

The first organized team sport to become popular on college campuses was baseball. In the United States the first intercollegiate baseball game took place in 1859 between Amherst College and Williams College. In Minnesota, Saint John's University had an organized baseball team in 1873. Hamline University’s baseball team dates back to 1882.

In the 1880s and 1890s, Carleton College played against the local high school and other schools in Owatonna and Faribault, and also the University of Minnesota. In an 1882 match up, the University of Minnesota team of nine only had two or three university students, with the rest of the team being comprised of local, non-University men, including players of color, and a barber, who were recruited for the game.

Carleton College and St Olaf College had their first intercollegiate baseball game on May 14, 1887. The University of St. Thomas formed a baseball team that same year.

Baseball was so popular that when Macalester College opened in 1885, they formed a team immediately and played the University of St. Thomas baseball team that very day. Concordia University, St. Paul built a baseball diamond in 1894 and their first team in 1904. Gustavus Adolphus College baseball started in 1895.

Although gymnastics was introduced to the United States in the late 1820s. it became more popular in the 1850s when German immigrants to this country established gymnastic clubs called Turnverein. The clubs helped promote the use of gymnastics in schools and led to the establishment of the first college gymnastic teams. The slow establishment of college gymnastics teams at Minnesota colleges was likely due to the lack of indoor gymnasiums in the state.. In 1886, Gustavus Adolphus was one of the only colleges providing the luxury of a gymnasium in the region. Hamline University raised funds and built their first gymnasium in 1916.

Saint John’s University started a gymnastics program in 1903 and for several years the purpose of the gymnastics team was for physical development. The team did not compete in a formal competition until 1912 when they visited the University of Minnesota armory to participate in the Northwestern Gymnastic Society meet. The only other college competing at the time was St. Olaf College.

Gymnastics team at St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1908

By the early 20th century, several Minnesota colleges had gymnastics teams and participated in exhibitions, including Carleton College, St. Cloud State University, and the University of Minnesota. Carleton College participated in gymnastics exhibitions as early as 1908. Norman Zarfos, Director of the Gymnasium at Carleton College from 1910-1913, is pictured being held aloft. The St. Cloud State University men’s gymnastics team dates back to as early as 1907 while the University of Minnesota men’s gymnastics dates back to 1903.

Football caught on after baseball in Minnesota. In the 1870s St. Olaf organized a team to play Carleton College called the St. Olaf Kickers. The game they played was more like soccer than the game we think of today. It wasn’t until later In the 1880s that football evolved into more of a running style of play. Carleton’s first football team under the new style of play rules formed in 1891.

Here are several other football game and team photographs from the turn of the 19th century. Hamline University played the first intercollegiate football game in Minnesota in 1882. Macalester College had a football team as early as 1892 and is pictured below is a game against Carleton College in 1898. Also in 1898, Mankato Normal School’s football team went undefeated through their entire six game season, and likely played the Winona Normal School team, pictured below.

Basketball was invented in Massachusetts in 1891. The first intercollegiate basketball game in Minnesota took place just four years later in 1895 between Hamline University and the Minnesota School of Agriculture. The final score was 9-3, won by the Minnesota School of Agriculture. Raymond P. Kaighn (Hamline University, class of 1898) was Hamline University's first physical education director and Hamline’s coach.

Portrait of Raymond P. Kaighn, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1898

As gymnasiums became more common at colleges and universities, it was easier to field basketball teams. Women played basketball too, and women’s teams became popular within a few years of the game’s invention. The very first intercollegiate women’s game in the United States was in 1896. The University of Minnesota women’s basketball team competed as early as 1903.

Another popular sport on college campuses in the late 19th/early 20th century was track and field. Early tracks were often at makeshift locations and took place on dirt. Events at field meets during this time included the 100-yard dash, half mile race, shot put, high jump, and hurdle races.

The first intercollegiate track and field meet took place in October, 1882 at the Minnesota State fairgrounds track against Hamline University and Carleton College. Macalester College also participated. Hamline won with 60 points, followed by Carleton College with 48 points. Macalester College did not accrue any points at the meet.

Women participated in track and field at St. Cloud State University as early as 1902, and a men’s team existed and competed the same year, shown below. The College of St. Thomas constructed their first athletic field with a track in 1911.

Tennis has been played as an organized competitive sport at several Minnesota colleges and universities since 1883. St. Cloud State University had a women’s tennis team from as early as 1893 and in 1922, they held their first annual tennis tournament. A Macalester student handbook from 1898-1899 mentioned “A new tennis club has been organized this last year, and several good courts laid out.” Concordia University, St. Paul has photographs of students with tennis rackets from 1910, and a Hamline University from around the same time shows a court and players near Goheen Hall.

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