100 years ago in Spokane: Gonzaga University celebrates championship with 30-23 win over Spokane University

Gonzaga University was celebrating a basketball championship in 1919 – although not exactly on a national scale.

The team faced Spokane University (yes, there was one in those days) for the championship of what was called the “Spokane City Basket Ball League.”

A “record crowd” watched Gonzaga beat Spokane University 30-23 to claim the title. The team posed for a front page photo, along with manager Amor Ditter. The team captain was Eddie Gehres.

Gonzaga was behind 17-11 at halftime, but the team rallied behind Gehres to win what was called the Wilson Challenge Trophy.

From the swimming beat: In other athletic news, the Spokane Daily Chronicle reported that Spokane swimmer George McKay set a local record in the 50-yard swimming event with a time of 24.2 seconds.

This “exceptional” time was just a little over the world record of 23 seconds held by Duke Kahanamoku.

“The record is authentic, as the watches which were used to time McKay were properly tested,” said the paper.

McKay was a student at Washington State College in Pullman and had come to Spokane especially for the time trial at the YMCA pool.

“A fact which made the record more exceptional is that McKay had not done any training for the exhibition,” said the paper.