A Brookfield, Missouri native, Cochran won NCAA discus championships in 1959 and ‘60 and was bronze medalist at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. He participated in the 1959 Pan American Games as well. Cochran won Big Eight Conference discus crowns in 1959 and ‘60 and achieved a track-and-field rarity in 1959, when he was a grand-slam winner in discus, claiming championships in the Texas, Kansas and Drake Relays.