John Cochrane

Head Cross Country & Track Coach

John Cochrane has been the women's track and field/cross country coach since 1980. In 2006, Cochrane took over the men's program following the retirement of Ed Schneider. His teams have won six Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association track & field championships and one cross country crown in his career.

At the 2006 cross country regionals, Jacquie Faust captured the regional title with a time of 22:00 and became the second Bulldog runner to win the championship under Cochrane. Faust advanced to the Division II national championship where she earned all-America status with a 29th place finish

In 2004, Truman had its best ever finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championship, scoring 24 points and finishing ninth in the nation. The Bulldogs were led by Christina Winkler, who won three all-American awards, including winning the 400m hurdle nation championship. During the 2004 cross country season, Truman set another school first, advancing as a team to the national meet for the first time.

From 1999-2004, his indoor track & field teams placed in the top three at the MIAA meet. During the same span, his outdoor squads were in the top three every year but one. The Bulldogs won the 2003 conference indoor title and swept the indoor and outdoor conference crowns in 2000. The outdoor title was the team’s first since 1983, while the indoor crown was last won by the Bulldogs in 1989-90.

When the Bulldogs won the MIAA outdoor track title in 1983, Cochrane was voted MIAA Coach of the Year. In 1999 indoor season, he was named MIAA Coach of the Year and the USTCA Great Lakes Coach of the Year for women’s indoor track. In 2000, Cochrane was named the conference’s indoor coach of the year and followed up with the outdoor honor later that year. He was also named the conference’s cross country coach of the year for 2000.

Since Cochrane’s arrival in 1980 at Truman, the Bulldog track program has produced 25 all-America performers and three national champions.

In 1990, the Bulldog track team charted its highest finish at the national indoor meet, placing eighth overall. In that season, Cochrane led his team to its second consecutive indoor MIAA title.

Cochrane is a 1968 graduate of Iowa State University and received a master’s degree in physical education from Truman in 1982. He has been in the coaching field for 33 years, including an 11-year stint at Williamsburg (Iowa) Community School. While there, Cochrane led his 1978 and 1979 cross-country teams to fifth-place finishes at the Iowa 2-A state meet, and in 1978, his track squad finished fourth in state competition. Prior to coaching at Williamsburg, Cochrane directed all sports at Colo, Iowa, for one year.

Cochrane received the Distinguished Service Award from the NCAA Division II cross-country coaches for his contributions to the sport in 1992. He was a 1996 recipient of the NCAA Division II Track Coaches Distinguished Service Award.

Cochrane and his wife, Christina, have two sons, David and Douglas.