Maureen Burchill Cooper

Maureen Burchill began making sports headlines at the age of 12 when she was the first girl to be selected to a Maine Little League All Star team.

She went on to dominate women's athletics at Deering High School in the early 1980's. She was an All Southern Maine selection five times - twice in softball and three times in basketball. As a senior, she was a 1981 McDonald's All American and a Converse All American honorable mention.

At the University of Southern Maine, Maureen quickly rewrote the Lady Huskies basketball record book. In only her sophomore season, she established a new USM career scoring record. In her senior year, Maureen Burchill set the national NCAA Division III career scoring record with 2357 points. Also in 1985, she led her team to a 23-6 season and a berth in the NAJA national tourney in Iowa.

She earned both All Conference and All Maine honors four times and was selected to the All New England team for three years. Maureen was an NAJA second team All American once and was a Kodak Division III All American twice.

In softball as a junior, she played shortstop, batted over .400 and sparked the Huskies to an appearance in the NAJA national tournament in Nebraska.

Maureen played professional basketball during the 1985-1986 season in West Germany, where she was the league's second leading scorer. Following that season, she returned to Maine to marry Bruce Cooper, and they both began teaching and coaching careers in Augusta.

In recognition of her great accomplishments, Maureen was inducted into the USM Hall of Fame in 1991.

Maureen is a first grade teacher at the Gilbert Elementary School in Augusta. She and Bruce have two young children, Cassandra and Wade.