Paul Cieurzo
Graduating class: 1926
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2011
Hall of Fame Category: Athlete
Paul played four sports during his three years at Fairhaven High School and captained the 1925 football team that won seven consecutive games, five by shutout, before losing to Salem, 20-0 in the final game of the season. He also played guard on the 1925-1926 basketball team that amassed “the best record in several years” and also was a member of the school’s baseball and track teams.
Paul entered Fairhaven in his sophomore year after spending his freshman year at New Bedford High School. He was a substitute lineman in his first season with the Fairhaven football team and didn’t get enough playing time to earn a varsity letter. Prior to his junior season, however, Paul added several pounds of muscle to his frame and combined that with the previous year’s experience to become a highly reliable lineman who played both the guard and tackle positions, eventually earning recognition as an All Bristol County League selection by the Fairhaven Star and Second Team All Bristol County League selection by The Standard Times. The following football season, Paul captained the 1925 team to a record of 7-1 and he was named an All Bristol County League First Team selection as an offensive tackle by The Standard Times.
Paul’s greatest individual contributions came in the sport of track where, in June 1925 he set a record at the fourth annual Bristol County League Invitational Track and Field Championships by throwing the shot put 39 feet 4 inches. He later shattered the state school boy mark during the meet at Harvard Stadium with a heave of 43-10. It was officially the Class B state record since that was the class in which Fairhaven competed, but the distance was eight inches better than the mark that broke the Class A record during that same meet. In every meet during the spring of 1926, Paul consistently threw the shot beyond the 40-foot mark. Against LaSalle, Paul won the shot put competition with a throw of 44 feet 7 inches.
Paul went on to enroll at Rhode Island State College (now the University of Rhode Island) where he starred as a member and captain of both the football and track teams. Oddly enough, he was a quarterback in college, leading the 1930 team to a record of 5-2-1 and, in track, set several school records in both shot put and discus events. Paul eventually received his Masters degree from Columbia and coached at the high school level in Stonington and Westport Connecticut before returning to the University of Rhode Island in 1936 where he served as a professor of physical education for men, assistant athletic director and coach of the baseball, basketball, football and golf teams, the last for more than 20 years, and for which he compiled the finest record in history to that time.
At the time of his induction to the University of Rhode Island Hall of Fame in 1974 he had the most years of service (more than 38) with the University of Rhode Island Kingston Faculty.