Hall of Fame
Tommy Tongue ’50 was one of the founding members of the Wash-ington and Lee men’s lacrosse program, as well as one of the best players in program history.
Tongue was a member of W&L’s first varsity lacrosse team in the spring of 1947 and he went on to earn four letters as an attackman. A starter from day one with the program, he assisted on the first goal ever scored by the Generals. He also scored two goals himself that day in helping secure a 6-5 win over Penn State in the program’s first-ever varsity contest. The team went on to post a 4-2 overall record in that first season, including a pair of wins over the University of Virginia.
In the first four years of varsity status, Tongue helped the Generals to two winning seasons and a 5-5-1 mark in 1950. Along the way, he helped lead the Generals to wins over such historic lacrosse programs as Penn State, Virginia, Loyola, Yale, North Carolina and Maryland. By the final series of games in 1950, he had helped elevate the Generals to a Top 10 national ranking.
Tongue proved to be one of the most formidable attackman in the country throughout his collegiate career. He was recognized as a United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-American following each of his four seasons. He was a third team honoree as a first-year (1947) and sophomore (1948), an honorable mention selection as a junior (1949) and he was a Third Team All-American as a senior (1950).
One of the team’s leading scorers each of his four seasons, he was selected to participate in the prestigious North-South Senior All-Star game three times, in 1947, 1948 and 1950. He played all 60 minutes of the 1948 All-Star game which was played at Homewood Field in Baltimore.
