COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Norb Vos had a considerable amount of athletic skill on which to draw.
 
After all, the Holdingford High School graduate was a four-sport letterwinner during his time at Saint John's University.
 
But heading into the Johnnie basketball team's MIAC opener against Macalester 85 years ago, the then-senior forward had an additional advantage.
 
"Vos had been troubled by faulty eyesight in previous contests and, as a result, he had to wear a cage to protect his glasses," The Record wrote. "The day of the (Macalester) game a package came to him bearing a new pair of unbreakable glasses which could be used without the protecting cage."
 
Wearing his sturdier spectacles, Vos took to the court in Collegeville that evening with perfect vision. The result was a 27-point performance, which at the time was a single-game school scoring record against a collegiate opponent.
 
"The story goes that one of the priests had come to him and said they had new lenses out that wouldn't break, but my dad didn't think he could afford them," recalled his daughter Pat Krueger. "The priest told him maybe they could cover half of the cost. 
 
"So my dad talked to his dad and they got it figured out."
 
Unfortunately, neither the new glasses nor Vos's stellar performance was enough to prevent the Johnnies from falling 60-55 to the Scots in that game, played on Jan. 7, 1941, in Collegeville.
 
But the news accounts afterward focused more on Vos's record than the final score.
 
"Shades of Hank Luisetti!" wrote R.A. Lofstrom of the St. Cloud Times, comparing Vos to the Stanford All-American of the late 1930s. "When Norb Vos slupped in 27 points at Collegeville last night we believe he set a college scoring mark in these parts for some years, and a state high record for the season which will probably hold water a long time."
 
Indeed, Vos's record stood until Jim O'Brien scored 31 points in a matchup against Stout Institute (now Wisconsin-Stout) in 1947. It was broken twice more – by Jack Litchy in 1952 and Bill Christopherson in 1953 – before Bill Sexton scored 49 points against Macalester on March 1, 1954, to establish a mark that still stands today.
 
Vos, meanwhile, concluded a tremendous athletic career for the Johnnies by earning All-MIAC honors in baseball that spring. He started all four seasons for the Johnnies on the diamond and was a key contributor in football as well.
 
His fourth letter came in track and field.
 
"He actually talked them into giving him that one," his daughter said. "They needed someone who was fast to run at the conference meet one season. He ran a race and they won. He thought he deserved a letter so they gave him one."
 
After graduation, Vos played amateur baseball and worked as a teacher and coach in Ivanhoe, Browns Valley and Foley. He then joined the Merchant Marines and served in the Philippines during the latter stages of World War II.
 
"They tried to draft him, but his eyesight was an issue and they wouldn't let him in," Krueger said. "So he and some other guys decided to try and join the Merchant Marines. He was the only one who got in."
 
After he returned from the service, Vos settled back in Holdingford with his wife Mary – a CSB graduate. He coached and served as a school principal for a time before he and his brother took over his father's Mobil Oil business. 
 
He remained in Holdingford until moving to an apartment at Country Manor in Sartell in 2013. He passed away at age 94 in October of the following year.
 
"He was Holdingford," his daughter said. "He grew up there, he lived there, he served as a principal and school board member. He was a businessman in town. He was a fixture in that community."
 
But he also retained close ties to Saint John's where he was a regular at football games over the years.
 
"He had season tickets every season until we got ours and then he used those," Pat said with a laugh. "He loved sports and he loved going out there for games."

10 years ago (2016)
Senior guard Mitchell Kuck crossed the 1,000-point mark in his career in an 81-56 win over Macalester on Jan. 6, one game after classmate Alex Schmitt accomplished the feat on Jan. 2.

That made the duo the first pair of SJU basketball players to reach the 1,000-point milestone in the same season since Mike Nester and Luke Witt during the 2001-02 season.

40 years ago (1986)
Dave Barthel claimed first place at 118 pounds and the Johnnie wrestling team placed eight of 10 wrestlers in the top four at the North Country Tournament at Concordia on Jan. 11.

100 years ago (1926)
George Clifford scored 18 points as the SJU basketball team upset Concordia on the road on Jan. 16 in Moorhead.