Green Mountain Gold

Three members of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023, each with ties to southwestern Vermont, will discuss their careers during an evening to celebrate sports in the Green Mountain State at the Rutland Free Library on Tuesday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m. Two-time Olympic mountain biker Lea Davison, who lives in East Arlington, has won eight U.S. championships and is co-founder of Little Bellas, a program that uses the sport to encourage girls to get involved and grow. Before taking up mountain biking, she was an alpine skier and cross-country runner at Middlebury College. After a storied three-sport career at Rutland High School, Jake Eaton became a legendary quarterback at the University of Maine, where he set numerous passing records and led the Black Bears to two conference championships. He now coaches boys basketball at Proctor High, where he has led the Phantoms to five state titles. Dave Fredrickson of Arlington guided the Mount Anthony Union High boys basketball teams to eight state crowns during a coaching career that began at Arlington Memorial High in 1963. His teams won more than 500 games over a 36-year span. Since retiring in 1999, he has served as executive director of the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association. The three enshrinees, who will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame in South Burlington on April 29, will be engaged in conversation by Rutland Herald sports editor Tom Haley and Jack Healey of the Northeast Sports Network. The event is set for the Fox Room of the Rutland Free Library at 10 Court Street. Admission is free and light refreshments will be served. Copies of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame’s book Green Mountain Gold will be available for sale and signing, with all proceeds benefiting the Hall’s designated charity, Prevent Child Abuse Vermont.