January 26, 2005

The University of Vermont Well Represented at 2006 Olympic Winter Games

BURLINGTON, Vt. ? The University of Vermont will be well represented 
when the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy begin on February 
10. Vermont has been represented in the Games over the last 60 years 
and through 15 consecutive Olympics, including Torino,.  In 2006, nine 
former Catamounts will be competing or coaching in the Games.

Several Catamounts will be making their first Olympic appearance in 
2006.  Lowell Bailey ?05, a former Nordic standout, has earned a spot 
on the US Biathlon Team.  Bailey was a three-time All-American at 
Vermont and led the Catamounts to second place in the NCAA 
Championships last year.

Jimmy Cochran, a former standout on the UVM men?s alpine team, was 
named to the US Ski Team on Wednesday.  Cochran skied for the 
Catamounts for just one season in 2003, but earned All-America honors 
that year.

Former men?s hockey standout Martin St. Louis ?97 will compete in his 
first Olympic Games as a member of the Canadian Men?s Hockey Team.  St. 
Louis, currently a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, is the reigning 
NHL MVP and led Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup Championship in 2004.

A pair of former UVM student-athletes, Aaron Miller ?93 and Kris 
Freeman, will be making their second straight Olympic appearances.   
Miller, a defenseman for the Los Angeles Kings and a 1993 Vermont 
graduate, will compete in the Olympics for the second consecutive time 
as a member of the US Men?s Hockey Team.  Miller earned a silver medal 
in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.  Freeman, a former 
Nordic standout, skied for the Catamounts for one season before moving 
onto train with the US Ski Team on a full-time basis.  He was named to 
the US Cross Country Ski Team for the 2006 Games.  While at Vermont, he 
earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships in 2000 and 
competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Three other graduates will also be in Torino, but as coaches for the US 
Ski Team.  Johno McBride ?88 is the head speed coach for the US Ski 
Team, while Jesse Hunt ?90 is the alpine director for the squad.  Hunt 
was a two-time All-American at Vermont during his career with the 
Catamounts.  Trond Nystad, inducted into the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame 
two years ago, will serve as the head cross country coach for the US 
Ski Team.  He won the NCAA Championship in the 20K classical in 1992, 
leading Vermont to the national championship that year.  Nystad was 
also a three-time All-American during his Nordic career.  Former men?s 
ice hockey head coach Mike Gilligan will also be in Torino.  He is an 
assistant coach on Ben Smith?s staff for the US Women?s Ice Hockey Team.

The 2006 Winter Olympic Games run from February 10 to February 26 and 
NBC will carry much of the action on its family of networks (NBC 
affiliate, MSNBC, CNBC, USA).  For more information on the 2006 Winter 
Olympics visit http://www.usolympicteam.com/.

-- 
Vermont Athletic Communications
http://www.uvmathletics.com