The Wingate Memorial Trophy was the award given to the national champion in men's college lacrosse prior to the inception of an NCAA tournament format in 1971. In 1936, the family of W. Wilson Wingate presented a memorial trophy named for him to be presented to the USILA champion. Wingate was a sportswriter for Baltimore newspapers who had played lacrosse in college and often covered the sport. He's credited with nicknaming lacrosse "the fastest game on two feet."
Currently, the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament annually determines the top lacrosse team in the NCAA's Division I, Division II, and Division III. Prior to the NCAA era, the national champion was selected by committee, except in 1881. The first intercollegiate lacrosse tournament was held in 1881 with Harvard beating Princeton 3-0 in the championship game. From this point through 1970, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association and the collegiate lacrosse associations from which it evolved chose the annual champions based on season records. These associations were the ILA (1882-1905), IULL (1894-1905), USILL (1906-1925) and USILA (1926-1970).
From 1936-1972 the Wingate Memorial Trophy was presented to the champions each year. The NCAA held its first national tournament in 1971. The Wingate Memorial Trophy was presented to the first two NCAA champions in 1971 and 1972 and was then retired.
From 1936 through 1972, the USILA executive board awarded the Wingate Memorial Trophy to the national champions
1936-Maryland
1937-Maryland, Princeton
1938-Navy
1939-Maryland
1940-Maryland
1941-Johns Hopkins
1942-Princeton
1943-Navy
1944-Army
1945-Army, Navy
1946-Navy
1947-Johns Hopkins
1948-Johns Hopkins
1949-Johns Hopkins, Navy
1950-Johns Hopkins
1951-Army, Princeton
1952-Rensselaer, Virginia
1953-Princeton
1954-Navy
1955-Maryland
1956-Maryland
1957-Johns Hopkins
1958-Army
1959-Army, Maryland, Johns Hopkins:209
1960-Navy
1961-Army, Navy
1962-Navy
1963-Navy
1964-Navy
1965-Navy
1966-Navy
1967-Maryland, Navy, Johns Hopkins
1968-Johns Hopkins
1969-Army, Johns Hopkins
1970-Johns Hopkins, Navy, Virginia
1971-Cornell
1972-Virginia
Most Popular Trophies