BURLINGTON, Vt. - The University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame has unveiled its Class of 2025 inductees who will be formally inducted Friday, September 26 at the Dudley H. Davis Center on UVM Weekend. The presenting sponsor of the UVM Athletics Hall of Fame is Baker Distributing. The group includes Anja Gruber '14 (Nordic skiing), Carrie LaPine '95 (basketball), Yolanda Ngarambe '14 (track & field/cross country), Mike Paliotta '15 (hockey), Amanda Pelkey '15 (hockey) and Kristina Riis-Johannessen '14 (alpine skiing).

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The six honorees will be inducted at the 56th UVM Athletic Hall of Fame Dinner presented by Baker Distributing. Tickets are $75 and are now available at go.uvm.edu/hoftix. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. Please contact our Victory Club Office at Victory.Club@uvm.edu or (802) 656-0956 with any questions regarding this event.

Anja Gruber '14
Became the second Catamount in program history to win back-to-back national championships in Nordic Skiing in the same discipline. In 2013 and 2014 she was the National Champion in the 5k Classic. In 2014 she was a First Team All-American in the Classic and Freestyle at the NCAA Championships helping the Catamounts to a runner-up finish. She was named First Team All-East in 2013 and 2014. In her EISA career she won eight times and was the Classic Points Leader in 2014. In 2012 she posted nine top-10 finishes as a part of the Catamounts National Champion team.
 
Anja is married to former Catamount teammate Rogan Brown '15.  They live in Denver, Colorado with their two children.  She is currently completing a postdoc working on improving rural access to healthcare after earning her PhD in Economics earlier this year (2025).
 
Carrie LaPine '95
Graduated with the second-best career three-point percentage (.383) and ninth-most steals (14). She currently sits fifth in three-point percentage and 18^th in steals. Her 188 assists as a sophomore are a UVM single-season record. Recorded 77 steals as a sophomore, the fifth-highest single-season total. Holds the single-game record with 14 assists against Brown on Dec. 6, 1992. Helped the Catamounts to an America East Championship three-peat with titles in 1992, 1993, and 1994. The 1991-92 Cats finished the regular season and conference tournament with an unbeaten mark of 29-0, becoming just the third NCAA Division I women¹s basketball team to finish the regular season undefeated at that time. The team was the first UVM women¹s basketball team to win an America East regular season and tournament title and make the NCAA Tournament. UVM finished the season ranked No. 22 in the USA Today/CNN Poll. The 1991-92 Catamounts were inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. UVM notched back-to-back undefeated regular seasons in 1991-92 and 1992-93. Suffered a knee injury during her junior campaign and didn't compete as a senior She served as an undergraduate assistant coach as a senior.
 
Yolanda Ngarambe '14
Two-time NCAA East Preliminary Round Qualifier, she broke her own school record in the 800 at the 2014 NCAA East Preliminary Round with a time of 2:06.43. She won America East Championships in the 800m run (Indoor 2012, 2013, 2014; Outdoor 2013, 2014) and the 4x800m relay (Indoor 2013, 2014). Ngarambe was also a New England Champion in the mile in 2014. Registered school records in the indoor mile (4:46.72), outdoor 800m run (2:06.43), and 1500m run (4:24.02) and contributed to the outdoor 4x400m
relay (3:49.94) and indoor 4x800m relay (8:51.91) records.

Won the 3,000 meters at the 2019 Team European Championships representing Sweden. 2019 1500m World Championships semi-finalist. Has competed in three World Championships, including Doha ('19), Eugene ('22) and Glasgow (Indoor '24). She was a 2024 1500m European Championship finalist and is the three-time Swedish National Champion in the 1500m. National record holder in the indoor mile (4:23.68)
 
Yolanda Ngarambe and her boyfriend, Shane Streich, live in Atlanta, Ga. Yolanda is a full-time professional runner and has been training with Atlanta Track Club Elite for the past 10 years. In the off-season Yolanda likes to spend time with her parents and extended family, who are spread out across Sweden, Finland, and East Africa.
 
Mike Paliotta '15
The 22^nd player in Vermont Hockey history to be named an All-American and a 2015 Hockey East Second Team All-Star. He was honored as 2015 Hockey East Best Defensive Defenseman. He led the Catamounts in scoring as a senior in 2015 with 36 points – nine goals and 27 assists. He was sixth in the NCAA in defensive scoring during the 2014-15 campaign.
 
First defenseman to lead UVM in scoring since Louis Cote in 1978. Unanimous selection as team captain for the 2014-15 season. Led the Catamounts to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and helped UVM make its third-ever appearance in the Hockey East Semifinals at TD Garden in 2015. Made his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015 and won the AHL's Calder Cup with Lake Erie in 2016.
 
Mike and his wife Kiley live in Rye, NY with their one-year-old daughter Louisa. Mike works in Investment Banking at PJT Partners in New York, NY.

Amanda Pelkey '15
Finished her UVM career as the all-time leader in goals (49), assists (56) and points (105). First Catamount in program history to reach the 100-point plateau. Her class won a then-program record 45 games and helped UVM advance to the Hockey East Semifinals for the first time in program history. First Catamount in program history to make the Senior US National Team. Became the first Catamount in men's or women's hockey history to win a World Championship gold medal, doing so in 2016 and 2017. In 2018 she won an Olympic Gold Medal with the US, she is just one of five Catamounts to win an Olympic Gold Medal (winter or summer). Has played professional hockey since graduation – won a NWHL title with Boston in 2016, she was also selected to the first-ever NWHL All-Star Game. She just recently announced her retirement after playing her second season in the PWHL with the Boston Fleet.
 
Kristina Riis-Johannessen '15
She was the 2014 slalom National Champion & 2012, 2013 and 2015 runner-up in the slalom, and 3rd place in giant slalom in 2013. Member of the 2012 team that helped the Catamounts win their sixth NCAA Team Championship, with a record-breaking point total. She was a five-time All-American at UVM and was Named to the All-EISA First Team all four years at Vermont. She also captured four EISA Championships with her teammates. She earned 12 career wins and 27 career podium finishes.
 
She won the European Cup overall title in 2016/17, with victories in four disciplines: giant slalom, super-G, downhill, and combined. She ranked among the top 30 on the World Cup start list in both slalom and giant slalom. She achieved a career-best seventh place in slalom at the World Cup in Åre. She also competed at the 2017 World Championships in St. Moritz. She also won the World Cup team event with Team Norway in Lenzerheide in 2021. She won a gold medal in the Team Event for Norway at the 2021 World Championships in Cortina.
 
Kristina lives in Oslo, Norway and works at the country's largest media house, Schibsted, for the ski magazine Fri Flyt. She is also a yoga instructor and serves as an expert commentator for alpine skiing on Norwegian TV. After ending her professional skiing career, she fell in love with surfing and spent nearly a year living in Sri Lanka. She then moved to the Arctic Circle in Northern Norway for another year before returning to her hometown of Oslo.
 
Baker Distributing is the presenting sponsor of the Vermont Athletics Hall of Fame