Mike Cotton (pole vaulter)
Encyclopedia
Richard Michael "Mike" Cotton is a former American college and international track and field
athlete who was the United States national champion pole vault
er.
Cotton attended the University of Florida
in Gainesville, Florida
, where he was a member of the Florida Gators track and field team. He was the 1973 National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) pole vault champion, as well as the Southeastern Conference
(SEC) champion in 1971 and 1973. He earned All-American recognition in 1973 and he was an All-SEC selection in 1971, 1972 and 1973. He held the University of Florida's pole vault record of seventeen feet, six inches for fourteen years and was a member of the 1976 USA National Team. In 1973, he was U.S. Outdoor National Pole Vault Champion and Pan-Am Games champion.
Cotton graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree
in business administration in 1973, and he was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2009.
Cotton founded and manages Cotton's All Lines Insurance in Gainesville, Florida.
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
athlete who was the United States national champion pole vault
Pole vault
Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...
er.
Cotton attended the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, where he was a member of the Florida Gators track and field team. He was the 1973 National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) pole vault champion, as well as the Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
(SEC) champion in 1971 and 1973. He earned All-American recognition in 1973 and he was an All-SEC selection in 1971, 1972 and 1973. He held the University of Florida's pole vault record of seventeen feet, six inches for fourteen years and was a member of the 1976 USA National Team. In 1973, he was U.S. Outdoor National Pole Vault Champion and Pan-Am Games champion.
Cotton graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in business administration in 1973, and he was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2009.
Cotton founded and manages Cotton's All Lines Insurance in Gainesville, Florida.
See also
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- List of University of Florida alumni