The winter sport season is suddenly upon us here in Vermont, and we are remembering a UVM trailblazer: Ann Shaw Savela '53. 

Ann was inducted into the UVM Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984 with these reflections:

"What do you do when you go to college and there's no team for your favorite sport? If you're anything like Ann Shaw Savela, you start a program, earn letters and serve as captain for four years. Now a national power, the UVM women's ski team was initiated in 1950 by Shaw Savela, a 1984 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, during her freshman year.

The Stowe, Vt.-native was a skier since age five and a competitive racer in high school. In that first year, she earned a spot on the U.S. Ski Team, for competition against Canada. She won three slaloms and a giant slalom at Middlebury Winter Carnivals during her career, and in 1953 won the New York State Slalom Championships.

As a sophomore, Shaw Savela received a tryout for the 1952 Olympics in Sun Valley, Idaho, and, as a junior she placed fifth in the slalom at the nationals, held in her hometown of Stowe.

An extremely versatile athlete, Shaw Savela was an accomplished basketball player in high school, and continues to have a distinguished golf career. She played in more than a dozen Vermont State Amateur Golf Championships, finishing eighth in 1973 and 1976, and sixth in 1977. She has captured the Stowe Country Club Championship seven times, and has been a Tri-State team member for over 10 years.

As a masters skier, Shaw Savela has competed in the New Englands, Easterns, the Trans-National, and the National Seniors. Shaw Savela's nephew, Andy (UVM '86) a standout skier for the Catamounts, is also a member of the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame."

Ann passed away in July 2024, and is gratefully remembered as a generous and energetic part of the Catamount community, volunteering her time and supporting causes that were important to her, including many Athletic programs and teams.  As we cheer on this season's athletes, we will be thinking of her and her family with gratitude for their part in charting the course forward.

It is our great honor to be able to tell the stories of alumni and the lives they led at UVM, and after. If you have an alumni story to tell, please feel free to send it our way via Class Notes any time or email us to let us know.