2009 NCAA Semifinalists Duke Lacrosse Over the Years

Duke Hall of Fame
The Home of Blue Devil Greats
Charles Gilfillan
One of Corrigan’s teammates, Charles Gilfillan, also
was inducted into the Duke Sports Hall of Fame.
Gilfillan, a defenseman, is one of three two-time first
team All-Americas in Duke Lacrosse history. He earned
first team honors in 1948 and 1951, along with a third
team merit in 1950.
During his senior year, 1951, the squad compiled a 6-1
record to finish as the national championship runner-up
to ACC rival Virginia.
Gene Corrigan
Duke Lacrosse saw its second member inducted into the
Duke Sports Hall of Fame in 1991, when Gene Corrigan
received the prestigious honor.
A member of the 1951 Duke lacrosse team, Gene
Corrigan was well known as a driving force in the shaping
of intercollegiate athletics as both the Commissioner of
the Atlantic Coast Conference and as President of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association. Corrigan,
who retired from both positions in 1997, was the third
commissioner in the 45-year history of the league. Corrigan
brought progressive philosophies and ideas to the ACC
and helped solidify the conference’s reputation as one of
the nation’s leaders.
Upon his graduation from Duke in 1952, Corrigan,
a lacrosse All-America, began his career teaching Latin,
English and history while coaching basketball, football
and lacrosse at St. Paul’s School in Baltimore. The
Baltimore native then moved on to occupy almost every
desk imaginable in athletics. He served as the lacrosse
coach at Washington & Lee, the Sports Information
Director and Director of Athletic Programs at Virginia
and Athletic Director at Notre Dame before assuming
the ACC post in 1987.
Corrigan was also inducted into the Lacrosse Hall
of Fame in 1993.
Jack Persons
The first athlete of the lacrosse fraternity to be inducted
into the Hall of Fame is former head coach Jack Persons.
Persons started out as Duke’s swimming coach in 1931. At
the age of 20, he was the youngest head coach at a major
university in the nation. When he retired from coaching
45 years later, he was one of the most admired men in his
field. Along the way, his teams recorded 207 victories in
378 meets, including undefeated seasons in 1933 and 1939.
Person’s teams also captured one Southern Conference
Championship, had seven runner-up finishes and were
tops among Big Five teams from 1932-35.
Persons also had a storied career coaching the Blue
Devil lacrosse team from 1940-66. He directed Duke to one
of the greatest upsets in collegiate lacrosse history in 1946
when the Blue Devils shocked national power Maryland,
12-4. In the 1950s, his team was a national contender on
a yearly basis with the 1951 squad finishing second in the
country. In all, Persons had three teams finish the year
ranked among the top-ten teams in the nation, and his
1954 squad won the inaugural ACC Championship.
In addition to his coaching duties, Persons taught
physical education at Duke and was a pioneer of swimming
in North Carolina. He served as the chairman of the
Durham County Red Cross life saving and water safety
units.
Persons graduated from Duke in 1933, and was
inducted into the Hall in 1986.
1951 Blue Devils
1946 All-Stars
Thomas Gorsuch, Olin Gilbert, Walter Ross
Seven-time ACC Champions 2009 NCAA Semifinalists 43