Thomas Churchill Sr. (1908–1963) was an American star athlete in the 1920s who participated in the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

as a

decathlete The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ ...

, and was a multi-sport standout for the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

between 1927–28 and 1929–30.

Early life

Churchill was born in Blair,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. He attended Central High School in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

where he has a successful sports career. Churchill participated on the football, track and field, baseball, basketball and swimming teams and was chosen as a scholastic All-American. He also earned all-state honors in both football and basketball, and he was considered the best all-around high school athlete in the state of Oklahoma.

Amateur sports career

Early OU days

Churchill enrolled at the

in the fall of 1926, but due to collegiate athlete athletics rules at the time,

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

were not allowed to play for their schools' varsity teams. He decided to

box A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...

for his first year and won titles in both

light-heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserw ...

and

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

classifications. When he became eligible to play for the school's sports teams as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

in 1927–28, Churchill played for the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

teams and was selected to the All-

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

Team in basketball. That season, the basketball team finished 18–0 and were MVC champions. Even though he was a star athlete in multiple sports, basketball was considered his best sport.

1928 Summer Olympics

In the spring of 1928, Churchill won the Kansas Relays'

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

event. He repeated as the Kansas Relays decathlon champion in 1929. Churchill also qualified to participate in the

as a member of the United States track and field team. In the field of 38 decathletes, Churchill finished in fifth place in the Olympic decathlon competition.

Later OU days

Churchill returned to

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

in the fall of 1928 for his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

year. While the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

only finished with a 5–3 record and finished third in the

Big Six Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

(OU's new athletic conference as of that year), the basketball team had more success. For the second season in a row they were crowned conference champions as they finished with a 13–2 record. Churchill was once again named all-conference, and at the end of the season he was also honored as a consensus All-American. In 1929–30, his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year at Oklahoma, Churchill had the most success of his football career. Playing at the

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

position, and occasionally as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

, he was honored as an all-conference performer and was also named as a third-team All-American by the

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

and NEA. He was invited to play in the

East–West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

as well. In the winter, the basketball team failed to

three-peat In North American sports, a three-peat is winning three consecutive championships. The term, a portmanteau of the words ''three'' and ''repeat'', originated with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, during their unsuccess ...

as conference champions, and Churchill also failed to repeat as all-conference and All-American. In the springtime, however, he earned his lone varsity letter as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

baseball team Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding te ...

. The Sooners had great success that season and were crowned co-conference champions under head coach Lawrence Haskell. When Churchill's collegiate athletics career was over, he had earned 10 varsity letters in four sports, earned multiple all-conference selections and played on teams that won three total conference championships (not including boxing titles).

Professional baseball and coaching

After college, Churchill signed a contract with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

farm league. A damaged shoulder prematurely ended his career. Churchill then went on to coach the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

men's basketball team for the 1931–32 and 1932–33 seasons.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill, Tom 1908 births 1963 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American male decathletes American football ends American male boxers Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Baseball players from Oklahoma Baseball pitchers Basketball coaches from Oklahoma Basketball players from Oklahoma Boxers from Oklahoma Forwards (basketball) Heavyweight boxers Light-heavyweight boxers New Mexico Lobos men's basketball coaches Oklahoma Sooners baseball players Oklahoma Sooners football players Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players Oklahoma Sooners men's track and field athletes People from Jackson County, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma Sportspeople from Oklahoma City American men's basketball players Track and field athletes from Oklahoma Olympic track and field athletes for the United States