Colchester, a town that may be small by some American standards, has a rich history of producing top-tier athletes and sportspeople. Among them are three individuals, each with a unique connection to this community. One was born and raised in Colchester, another found their way here as a child, and the University of Vermont reveres the third. Curious to know who they are? Keep reading.
Ray Collins – Baseball
Ray Collins played professional baseball in a time long before many Colchester residents were born, but that should not take anything away from him. Born in Colchester in February 1887, Collins made it to Major League Baseball (MLB), spending his six-year career with the Boston Red Sox before returning to his roots after his retirement.
The Online betting California and other states’ residents enjoy today was still more than 80 years away when Collins represented the University of Vermont. Collins played as a pitcher, and coaches noted his remarkable control and excellent fielding abilities. He was destined to play in the MLB.
Collins put pen to paper on a professional contract with the Boston Red Sox in 1909, becoming a regular starter in 1910. His first full season as a Rod Sox player was successful, finishing with a 13-11 record, making him the second-winningest pitcher on the team behind Eddie Cicotte. Although Collins missed the first two months of the 1912 season through injury, he recovered and was part of the Red Sox team that won the 1912 World Series, defeating the New York Giants.
Between 1912 and 1914, Collins ranked among the leaders in the American League in the fewest walks allowed per nine innings. However, a significant loss of form in 1915, coupled with the Red Sox’s wealth of up-and-coming young pitchers (including Babe Ruth), meant Collins struggled for game time. The Red Sox won the 1915 World Series, but Collins did not pitch a single inning. The Red Sox wanted Collins to take a pay cut at the end of the season, but he refused and opted to retire at age 29. It was revealed at the time that Collins had a $5,400 salary, the equivalent of $165,000 in today’s money.
Collins returned to Vermont and served as the baseball coach from 1923-1928. He operated a dairy farm until 1960, co-founded Burlington Milk Cooperative Creamery, and represented Colchester in the Vermont House of Representatives during World War II.
The Vermont Sports Hall of Fame inducted Collins into the inaugural class in 2012, 42 years after his death in Burlington. Collins had a wife, Lillian, and five children; the last surviving child, Ray Jr., died a year later at age 99.
Mat Fraser – CrossFit
Mat Fraser was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, in January 1990, but his heart is in Colchester, Vermont. Fraser’s family moved to Colchester in his early childhood, and he attended and graduated from Colchester High School.
Fraser was athletic from an early age. He learned to swim when he was one, could ski at two, and began weightlifting at age 12. After graduating high school, he began training full-time in Olympic weightlifting at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Fraser’s athletic career almost ended before it took off. In 2009, Fraser injured his back while training for the Junior World Weightlifting Championship in Romania. He further damaged it after returning to training too soon. He competed in the Championship despite being in pain and discovered on his return to Colchester that he had broken two vertebrae. Fraser wore a brace for four months before undergoing experimental surgery that involved rebreaking his back. Thankfully, the surgery succeeded, and Fraser resumed training four months later.
Fraser gave up weightlifting and focused on CrossFit while pursuing a double major in mechanical engineering at the University of Vermont. Although he intended to pursue an engineering career, a stint as an internet in 2014 convinced him that professional CrossFit was where his future lay.
After graduating with degrees in engineering and business in 2016, Fraser wasted no time launching his CrossFit career. He won gold in the 2016 CrossFit Games and every year up to 2020. A gold in the 2019 Rogue International was sandwiched between those impressive results.
Despite traveling the world to compete, Fraser often trained in his parents’ basement home gym and at Champlain Valley CrossFit. Fraser retired from competitive CrossFit in February 2021.
Tom Brennan – Basketball
Tom Brennan was born in May 1949 in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, but has a strong affinity with Vermont after serving as the head coach of the University’s basketball team for 19 years. Brennan played college basketball for Georgia from 1968-71 but never pursued a professional career. Instead, Brennan opted to go into coaching, taking the role of assistant coach for Georgia.
Spells with Seton Hall, Villanova, FDU-Florham, William & Mary, and Yale followed with varying degrees of success. The Vermont Catamounts appointed Brennan as head coach in time for the 1986-87 season, but the team finished with a 5-23 overall record. Brennan’s teams had relatively mediocre records until his final four years in charge.
In 2001-02, Brennan’s Catamounts finished with a 21-8 overall record, including 13-3 in the America East Conference. Success continued during the next three seasons, each seeing the Catamounts record 20+ wins, capture three America East championships, appear
in a trio of NCAA Tournaments, and enjoy the school’s first NCAA tournament win.
Brennan brought belief to the basketball-loving community, and the Patrick Gymnasium was sold out for every home fixture during Brennan’s last season in charge. Furthermore, the 2004-05 Catamounts season was subject to ESPN’s “The Season” television series, which received critical acclaim.
Since retiring from coaching, Brennan has worked as a college basketball studio analyst and done color commentary for ESPN. These days, he does radio commentary for the New York City radio station Westwood One.
