Mickey Heinecken, a record-setting coach at Middlebury College for 28 years and the founder of the Vermont Chapter of the National Football Foundation, was one of 13 recent inductees into the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame. The hall inducted its 13th class on April 25, 2026 in South Burlington, Vermont.

A longtime resident of Cornwall, Vermont, Heinecken served as Middlebury's head football coach from 1973 to 2000, and he posted a 126-95-2 mark with seven one-loss seasons. When he retired from coaching, he had the sixth-best winning percentage (.567) among New England Division III football coaches. In 1993, he helped establish the Vermont Chapter of the National Football Foundation and in 2007, he received a National NFF Chapter Leadership Award.

Others inducted with Heinecken were lacrosse standout Sarah Dalton Graddock of Cornwall; Susan Dunklee of Barton, a three-time Olympic biathlete and a multi-sport standout in high school and college; Saint Michael's College basketball star and longtime high school coach Dick Falkenbush of South Burlington; the first-ever wrestler inducted, Steven Forrest of Bennington, a champion and national team member; track and field star Mary Heitkamp of Orwell; Olympic moguls skiing medalist Hannah Kearney of Norwich, Vt.; Swanton's Matt Raleigh, a standout player and successful coach at all levels of baseball; and legendary collegiate ice hockey coach Mike McShane of Norwich University;  Veteran award-winning sportswriter Tom Haley of Proctor is this year's Mal Boright Media Inductee.  Jake Agna of South Burlington, an inspirational tennis coach, is the 2026 David Hakins Inductee for exceptional promotion of sports, athletics and recreation in the state. The late Fenwick Watkins of Burlington, who had several racial firsts as an athlete and a coach in the early 1900s, is the 2026 Historical Inductee.

A portion of the proceeds raised by the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame will benefit its designated charity, Prevent Child Abuse Vermont. Prior to this year, the event has raised over $37,000 for PCAV since its inception in 2012.

###