GERALD PERRY
Tennis, 1937-40
Inducted October 18, 1975

Gerald Perry came to SMS in 1936 as the state high school tennis champion from Springfield Senior High and for the next four years, he owned MIAA conference tennis.  In 1937 at Cape Girardeau, Perry defeated SMS teammate Clifford Pierce for the MIAA singles championship.  In 1938 at Maryville, in 1939 at Rolla, and in 1940 at Warrensburg, he teamed with Leon Miller to win the conference doubles title and defeated Miller each year for the singles championship in the days before a league team title was awarded.

Perry’s string gave SMS seven seasons in a row of having won the league titles in both singles and doubles.  In four years he won over 60 matches and never lost a doubles match during his varsity career.  Perry later served as the SMS tennis coach from 1949 to 1954 and produced four league singles champions and five doubles championships during that tenure.