University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
Gordon S. Cochran 1948 - Baseball, Football, Skiing
Although overshadowed by the tremendous publicity reaped in by his famous skiing son and daughters, Gordon "Mickey" Cochran, a 1972 UVM Hall of Fame inductee, had his share when he was an athlete at the University of Vermont in the late 1940s. A standout football and baseball player, Cochran didn't really begin his competitive zest for ski racing until he was enrolled in graduate school (engineering) at Vermont. Mickey served as the Catamount quarterback in the late 40's and one of his favorite targets was former UVM baseball coach and Hall of Famer, the late Ralph Lapointe. He was also a top hurler for the Catamount nine and later signed with the Burlington Cardinals of the old Northern League.
Another example of the top student-athlete at Vermont, Cochran was an honor student in engineering and later received his master's in engineering in 1950. Cochran was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity while at Vermont and during his graduate school days, assisted with the football and baseball programs.
It was during his graduate student days that he really became interested in skiing - and his continued interest produced the greatest skiing family ever. Bobby, Barbara Ann, Marilyn and Lindy were all members of the U.S. Olympic Ski team that competed in Sapporo, Japan in 1972 and, of course, Barbara Ann won the only Gold Medal in Alpine skiing for the United States. He and his wife, Virginia '50, founders of the Cochran Ski Area in Richmond, Vt., were awarded honorary Doctors of Law degree from UVM in 1986.
