Greetings, Comet Nation!
In the stories of famed college coaches at Mayville State, the names of Jerome Berg, Lewy Lee, Al Meyer, and Scott Berry come to mind immediately. Those names and faces are fresh among the current Alumni of today.
However, there was one successful coach that had a short, but highly successful tenure here at Mayville State, before all of them started their own legacies.
He had a great influence on the college at a time when it first got its own official nickname, and helped build a foundation for the Lewy Lee era that was yet to arrive in 1930. He not only witnessed the college getting its new nickname of the Comets in 1925, but also was there for the grand opening of the old 1929 Gymnasium that used to be right next to the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse. He was the only coach to coach the Comets in the former gym inside Old Main, and the 1929 Gym.
The coach I’m talking about is Harrison Kaiser.
Harrison Kaiser was the AD and head coach of 4 sports here, all wrapped into one duty, starting in 1924 and ending in 1930.
Per the records listed in the yearbooks of the library, I was able to find the following:
1924 Football: 4-1
1925 Football: 4-3
1925-26 Basketball: 12-4 (possible title?)
1926 Baseball: unknown record, but Conference title was listed as being won.
1926 Football: 1-4
1926-27 Basketball: 6-3, 2nd in Conference
1927 Baseball: 4-1, Conference Title
1927 Football: 2-2
1927-28 Basketball: 8-8
1928 Baseball: 3-0-1, Conference Title
1928 Football: 2-2-1
1928-29 Basketball: 5-4
1929 Baseball: 11-0-1, Conference Title
1929 Football: 1-2-1
1929-30 Basketball: 5-7
1930 Baseball: 9-2-1, possible Conference Title
That’s 3 Baseball crowns, with a possible 4th, plus 1 possible Basketball title and one runner-up season.
Coach Kaiser had an overall sports coaching record here of 77-43-5.
Most notably, his Baseball coaching record was 27-3-3.
With the ties listed in baseball games, the games were called on account of darkness and the games ended in ties.
One peculiar tie happened in the 1929 Baseball season.
It appears to me to be the first international contest between our school and a team from another country.
A travelling team from Cuba, listed as the Cuban Pirates, played right here at Mayville in a tight, 4-4 contest, which ended due to running out of daylight.
Another cool bit of history was Coach Kaiser starting up the first Mayville State Teachers College Track Team. The team was assembled in the spring of 1926.
The track team stories in the yearbooks didn’t list much for meets and records, but they did take 2nd one year at a conference meet and they also had an all-school meet to help determine who would make the squads back then. Some years, each class of Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors would compete in an intramural format.
Looking back at this era of the 1920’s and under Coach Kaiser’s helm, the Athletics department at Mayville State was laying a solid foundation of success for years to come!
Hail To Our Comets!
#HTOC
Captain Comet
Captain Comet's Blog 