 At 6'2" and 190 lbs., he proved to be very athletic and was on both the football and track teams.He also distinguished himself as a gifted orator, and became very popular among his classmates.His self-authored speech about U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton won McCully the 1949 National Hearst Oratorical Contest in San Francisco, a contest in which over 10,000 students had entered.