The Director of Skiing and head alpine coach at UVM Bill Reichelt announced earlier this school year that alumni Jimmy Cochran had been named the new assistant alpine skiing coach.

Im honored to be a continuing part of such a rich ski racing legacy at UVM, and look forward to giving back to the program that put me onto the national team 10 years ago, Cochran said. Lucky for me, the team today is made up of an incredibly motivated, impassioned cadre of student-athletes.

Cochran is a two-time Olympian in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics. He is one of the famous Skiing Cochrans, a family of alpine ski racers from Richmond, Vermont.

The Skiing Cochrans have had a presence on the U.S. Ski Team since the 1960s, including grandfather Mickey Cochran who was U.S. head coach in 1974.

Cochrans father Bobby Cochran along with many of his extended family members have also been members of the team. Cochrans aunt Barbara Ann was the first American woman to win a gold medal in alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympic games in Sapporo, Japan.

It is a pleasure to bring Jimmy back to UVM after competing nine years on the World Cup circuit, Reichelt said in an interview with UVM. He will bring the experience of racing at the sports highest level, as well as competing as a Catamount in 2002-03. He has a passion for skiing and I am excited to work with Jimmy in his new role in the program.

Cochran who has been skiing competitively since 1998, left Middlebury College in 2002, and transferred to the University of Vermont to ski for the Catamounts, his fathers and grandfathers alma mater.

In the 2003 season, Cochran tallied eight victories, including the slalom silver, and the giant slalom bronze at the NCAA championships hosted by Dartmouth College.

Slalom skiing is an alpine skiing discipline; involving skiing between poles spaced close together that causes quicker and shorter turns.

In 2004, Cochran joined the U.S. Ski Team. His best World Cup finish was seventh at a giant slalom event in France in 2005. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Cochran finished 12th.in the same event.

He has raced in three World Championships and won four U.S. titles during his career.

Before joining the UVM coaching staff, Cochran helped run his familys non-profit Cochrans Ski Area in South Burlington.

He has an annual charity slalom called Thank God for Snowmaking and he helped to create his familys syrup called, Slopeside Syrup.

The Vermont ski team won the 2012 NCAA National Championship in Bozeman, Montana. The Catamounts won their first national title since 1994 and sixth in the history of the program with a record 832 points. The team set an NCAA record for largest margin of victory with 161 points.

This years team has come in first place in each of the first four events, sweeping the UVM Carnival and the St. Lawrence Carnival.

The EISA Circuit moves to Maine next week for the Colby Carnival on January 25-26 for the alpine races and January 26-27 for the Nordic races.

The alpine races will be held at Sugarloaf, while the Nordic events will be at Quarry Road in Waterville, Maine.