By JASON KNAVEL
Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications
The Bowling Green State University Department of Athletics held the official grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for Schmidthorst Heritage Hall Saturday prior to BGSU’s women’s and men’s basketball games at the Stroh Center.
Through the generous work of Al and Carol Schmidthorst, and in collaboration with University Libraries and the Center for Archival Collection, Heritage Hall will now bring BGSU’s rich sports history to life for fans and alumni, while also introducing our history to prospective students, student-athletes and their families – a true showpiece and rallying point for the University as a whole. Schmidthorst Heritage Hall is located on the east end of the Stroh Center, at ground level.
(View video of Mickey Cochrane talking about the creation of the archive.)
Schmidthorst Heritage Hall features the Cochrane Cunningham Athletic Archives, one of the largest and most unique collections in all of college athletics. The pursuit to save all things Falcon began in 1985 after Mickey Cochrane and Don Cunningham retired from their respective full-time duties at BGSU. The two created a “museum” in a small space in Memorial Hall, where they began showcasing photographs, tattered news articles, letter jackets and anything else they could get their hands on tied to athletics. More than just a display of memorabilia, these legendary Falcons pursued the stories associated with most of these artifacts. Putting in countless hours interviewing, researching and documenting – on a purely volunteer basis – they did the hard work needed to preserve the over 100-year history of BGSU athletics.
In 2014, a new effort was introduced to make the Cochrane Cunningham Athletic Archives a reality in the Stroh Center. Initiated by the Lacrosse Alumni group and BGSU Athletics, the goal was to fully preserve and expand the voluntary work done by Cochrane and Cunningham since 1985. Schmidthorst Heritage Hall is the final step of those efforts.
(View photo gallery from grand opening.)
About Don Cunningham
A native of Lima, Ohio, Cunningham graduated from BGSU in 1943. Shortly thereafter, he began a 33-year stint in athletics administration at his alma mater. Twenty of those years were spent as the University’s first sports information director. This Athletics Hall of Famer was considered by many as a “walking media guide” and resident historian when it came to Falcon Athletics.
About Mickey Cochrane
The ultimate Falcon has been a member of the Bowling Green community since 1964, serving as an associate professor in the School of health, physical education and recreation and as a coach at BGSU. Perhaps best known for his efforts in establishing the men’s soccer and lacrosse programs at BGSU, Cochrane also witnessed many historic events first-hand while coaching wrestling, baseball, volleyball, swimming and track. Like Cunningham, he is a member of the Athletics Hall of Fame, and the soccer field is named in his honor.
