Frank Brown (2017) - CU Athletic Hall of Fame - University of Colorado Athletics

Frank Brown

Induction:
2017
Class:
1959

Frank Brown was Colorado’s first All-American in the sport that has brought the school 20 national championships to date ... He was CU’s first truly accomplished skier, emerging as such in the eighth year of the program as a sophomore in 1957 when he earned All-America honors in both alpine and Nordic action ... He would earn the same honors in both as a junior and senior, becoming the school’s first three-time All-American in any sport … The first All-American in CU’s illustrious skiing history, he would earn the distinction three times, as a sophomore (1957), junior (1958) and senior (1959) … The ’59 team was the first in any sport at Colorado to win an NCAA championship (in 2006, the team was inducted into CU’s Athletic Hall of Fame, which he cited as one of his proudest moments) … He enjoyed a tremendous senior year, posting 13 top five finishes including four wins … He placed fourth at the NCAA’s in both the downhill and cross country events … As a sophomore and junior, he was the NCAA runner-up in the Skimeister (grouping of all four events); he had over 30 top five finishes and nine wins in his career, with eight Skimeister crowns … The team’s mantra that year was, “When the going gets tough, the tough get tougher.” … Away from CU, he won the 1958 National Alpine Combined competition at Ogden, Ore. … After college, he went on to ski in the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif. … He had a vast career spanned property management, property development, hotel and restaurant ownership, ski retail and several other projects in both Boise and McCall, Idaho … An avid golfer, he shot his age (76) when he lived in Maui … He was an A-student in Architectural Engineering at CU (he was McCall High School’s valedictorian) … He passed away on June 4, 2016 at the age of 79 in his home in McCall.