for what its worth, this is from "the college names of the games," a book
that lists origins of college nicknames.
 
"in 1926, the students [at UoV] went to the polls to elect a mascot, and a
longshot came away a winner. The students were in search of a wild mt.cat-
type nickname because of the campus location near the Green Mts.
 The ballot listed Lynx and Wildcat as well as provided a place for write-
ins. It is not known specifically what type of campaig took place, but when
the votes wer counted, 'a longshot from left field pulled theupset of upsets'
and the catamount was the students choice.
 The 1926 baseball team was the first team to use Catamounts as a name."
 
hope this helps
 
mlc