A dozen new members to be inducted April 27, 2024
February 8, 2024
For Immediate Release
Contact: Mike Donoghue (mdonoghue@smcvt.edu)/ Bruce Bosley (bosleyb@comcast.net)
Champions of racetracks and Nordic trails, record-setters in football and the links, top scorers from hoops, ice hockey and soccer, an award-winning broadcaster, the hall’s first lacrosse player and three legendary high school coaches make up the 12 newest inductees of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame. Today, the VSHOF Board of Directors announced its 11th group of inductees, its class of 2024.
The inductees are record-setting football and track athlete, David Ball of Barre and Orange; five-time Vermont Men’s Amateur golf champion Shawn Baker of Brattleboro; state and national champion Nordic skier Andrew Johnson of Greensboro, a two-time Olympian; high school and collegiate ice hockey standout Jim Larkin of Wallingford, also a member of the U.S. Junior National Team; auto racing champion Kevin Lepage of Shelburne, who competed at NASCAR’s highest level; a women’s soccer star who was all-state in high school and all-region in college, Kristi (Lefebvre) Huizenga of Colchester; Division I women’s lacrosse All-American Alyssa Trudel of Shoreham; Dr. Kim Silloway of St.Johnsbury, a hoops star in the state and then in the ACC; and legendary high school coaches Gail Jette of Middlebury, Donald Maley Sr. of Burlington and Brattleboro’s Andy Natowich. Award-winning sports broadcasting veteran George Commo of Burlington is this year’s Mal Boright Media Inductee.
The class will be formally inducted at the 2024 Vermont Sports Hall of Fame Induction Dinner and Celebration at the Delta Marriott Burlington Hotel on Williston Road in South Burlington on Saturday, April 27, 2023. The evening begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. and the induction ceremony follows dinner at 6:30 p.m.
Ticket information for the 2024 dinner will be available soon on the VSHOF website at www.vermontsportshall.com. Proceeds from the event go to Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, the designated charity of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame. The past dinners and other fundraisers have raised over $33,000 to support PCAV’s work state-wide.
This year’s class brings the membership in the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame to 130 since its first class was inducted in 2012. The inductees now represent 57 towns in the Green Mountain State and 13 of the state’s 14 counties. The Class of 2024 was selected by three groups: the 15-member VSHOF board of directors, a statewide sports advisory panel and the previous inductees.
Besides honoring those making significant contributions to the state's sports legacy, the Hall is designed to help promote and provide inspiration in sports and recreation to the youth of Vermont.
To view previous classes and for more information on the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame, log on to its official website, www.vermontsportshall.com. For more information on the VSHOF’s designated charity, Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, log on to www.pcav.org
Introducing the 2024 Vermont Sports Hall of Fame Inductees:
(complete bios available online at http://www.vermontsportshall.com/2024class.html )
Shawn Baker, Brattleboro, golf: After winning the state’s high school title in 1981, Baker won a record five Vermont State Amateur golf championships in a seven-year span from 1983 to 1989. He also was a three-time NCAA Division II All-American for Central Connecticut State (1983, 1984 and 1985), where he finished as high as third in the national championship as an individual. Now a PGA professional on Long Island, Baker’s pro career included an appearance at the 2005 Barclays Classic and qualifying for the 2015 Senior PGA Championship.
David Ball, Barre/Orange, football, multi-sport athlete: A three-sport standout at Spaulding High in Barre and a two-sport star at the University of New Hampshire where on the gridiron, he was a three-time all-American wide receiver setting several national records, including one set by NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. While at Spaulding, Ball was an All-State selection in both football and basketball and was an individual champion in track and field. At UNH, he was a four-year starter at wide receiver, setting most of the program and conference receiving records, while also being in the top five in several national categories. His 58 receiving touchdowns were a NCAA FCS (D-1 AA) mark, besting the mark previously by set Rice.
Gail Jette, Middlebury, coach- field hockey: In 37 years as coach of the Middlebury Union High School field hockey team, the late Gail Jette went from trailblazer to icon to legend as her Tigers piled up wins and championships. She coached at Middlebury from the pre-Title IX era, launching the program in 1964, to the dawn of the 21st century. She built the field hockey program into a bona fide powerhouse by the time she stepped down after the 2000 season, her teams amassing a 372-73-73 record with eight D-I state championships in 16 trips to the title game. She also led the Tigers tennis team to four state titles and served as a ski instructor at the Middlebury College Snow Bowl for more than 35 years.
Andrew Johnson, Greensboro, Nordic skiing: A state, regional and national champion in Nordic skiing at Lyndon Institute, Johnson went to be a three-time all-American at Middlebury College and skied in two Olympic Games, competing for the U.S. in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and the 2006 Olympics at Torino, Italy. He also won four U.S. National Championships and was the 1996 U.S. Junior National Champion. At Lyndon Institute, he won six individual Vermont high school Nordic titles and was the 1996 New England champion. In ‘foot-running’ he won two state cross country titles and was an outdoor track champion. Johnson is currently the head Nordic ski coach at Middlebury College.
Kristi (Lefebvre) Huizenga, Colchester, soccer: The state’s top player at Colchester High, Lefebvre played for the U.S. youth national team before going on to a four-year career and reaching the NCAA championship game with the University of Connecticut. At Colchester, she was a two-time All-America selection and a Gatorade player of the year. She was on a Maryland club soccer national title team, the U-17 championship in 2001, and was part of the U.S. National Team player pool from 1998-2001, earning a spot on the 2000 U-16 National Team roster. All-New England in 2005 at UConn, she helped the Huskies win two Big East crowns and reach the NCAA tournament four times including the title game in 2003. Since 2010, she has been the head women’s coach at UVM, leading the Catamounts to the NCAAs in 2021.
Jim Larkin, Wallingford, Ice Hockey: The state’s three-time leading scorer in high school hockey at Mount Saint Joseph Academy in Rutland, Larkin made the jump directly from tiny MSJ to star on the ice for the University of Vermont. He led the Mounties to four straight trips to the title game, winning two D-II titles in 1986 and 1987, before falling in the D-I title game in 1988. At UVM, he led the Catamounts in scoring as a freshman and was named to the ECAC all-rookie team. He was the second Vermont ever to skate for the US National Junior Team, playing in 1990 at the World Junior Championships in Finland. A ninth round NHL draft choice by Los Angeles in 1988, he played five years for four minor league teams, scoring 50 goals in one season.
Kevin Lepage, Shelburne, auto racing (stock car): The only Vermont-born stock car driver to compete at the highest levels of NASCAR racing, Lepage is only one of four New Englanders to achieve that success. He raced on NASCAR’s Winston Cup series, the major leagues of stock car racing, for 13 years starting in October, 1997. He had a very successful run on short track in Vermont and New England, including Barre’s Thunder Road, winning three Milk Bowls, and raced on the American-Canadian Tour for 13 years (1980-93) with 11 career wins. After a strong performance on NASCAR’s Xfinity Tour, he made the jump to the prestigious Winston Cup series, racing for 13 years in 201 races, compiling two top 5s and nine top 10s while earning one pole.
Donald ‘Don’ Maley Sr., Burlington, multi-sport athlete/coach/official: The late Don Maley did it all in an award-winning career throughout Vermont. He was an excellent athlete at UVM, went on to teach and coach several sports for over three decades at several high schools, pausing to serve in World War II and in Korea, and also officiated many sports. He is best know as a boys basketball coach at Woodstock, Cathedral (now Rice Memorial), Burlington, and South Burlington where he won 414 games and at one stretch his record was an incredible 266-42. His teams won 17 league championships and his 1955 BHS state championship team had a strong finish at the New Englands. Prior to his teaching and coaching career, Maley was a three-sport standout for UVM, graduating in 1941.
Andy Natowich, Brattleboro, coach (football-baseball): A longtime football and baseball coach winning multiple state championships in both, the late Andy Natowich spent his entire career at Brattleboro Union High School, and was one of the top coaches of his era in southern Vermont. He led the Colonels to three state football titles (1950, 1957, and 1965) and three on the diamond (1951, 1956, and 1961). His record in football was 113-53-3 and in 24 baseball seasons he was 201-158. He came to Brattleboro in 1945 after being a football all-American at Holy Cross and a stint with Washington in the NFL. The Brattleboro Union High football field is named in his honor.
Dr. Kim Silloway, St. Johnsbury, basketball: An all-ACC basketball player at the University of Virginia, Kim Silloway was one of the state’s top girl’s players in the early 80s, amassing 1,523 points in basketball and leading St. Johnsbury Academy to back-to-back D-I state championships in 1981 and 1982. Collegiately as a standout guard for the Cavaliers, she helped lead Virginia to its first two NCAA tourney appearances in 1984 and 1985, and the ACC regular season title in 1984. She was a second team all-ACC selection in 1985, and earned UVa’s ACC Female Scholar-Athlete Award in 1986, awarded to the school’s top student-athlete for academic and athletic performance. She also was a state champion track and cross country athlete for the Hilltoppers.
Alyssa Trudel, Shoreham, lacrosse: As an All-American at the high school and collegiate level, Trudel set the bar for Vermonters to chase in women’s lacrosse. She collected four high school state championships with Middlebury Union High, and added a trio of America East crowns at Boston University, where she graduated as the program’s second-leading scorer and set the career assist record. She was one of the nation’s leading scorers as a sophomore at Boston U. in 2003 and was named the America East Player of the Year. That season she was the first Terrier to be named a first team All-American and she would be named first team all-conference three times. Currently the head girl’s lacrosse coach at Mount Anthony Union High in Bennington, Trudel is the first lacrosse player to be inducted into the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame.
George Commo, Burlington, media (Mal Boright Inductee): A ten-time winner of the Vermont Sportscaster of the Year award, Commo has broadcast sports in Vermont for over five decades, on the radio, on television, and now on the internet. He was the radio voice for UVM men’s hockey for 18 seasons, then 25 years at Norwich from 1998 to 2023. He also has called minor league baseball in the area since the 1980s, first with the Vermont Reds and Mariners, the Vermont Expos and Lake Monsters from 1994 to 2019, and now for the Lake Monsters in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.