by Daniel Olsen
Since March is Women’s History Month, we are partnering with the Utah Sports Hall of Fame to focus on the great women in the sports history of the Beehive State. This week’s feature is Lori Salvo.
Title IX is a monumental civil rights law passed in 1972 that demanded that women’s sports receive the same amount of athletic scholarships as men. Several women in the state of Utah benefited from this historic decree. One of them was three-sport Ute athlete Lori Parrish (now Lori Salvo).
Legacy at Utah
Salvo competed in volleyball, basketball and track for the Lady Utes. In 1976-1977, the Utes basketball team had a 19 game winning streak behind her leadership. It was the longest streak for the program until the 2007-2008 came and went undefeated in conference play.
Salvo was the first All-American women’s basketball player to suit up for the Utes. She was also an All-Conference performer in volleyball and track and field. She was a finalist for the 1979 Wade Trophy, an award for the best women’s college basketball player. The award ended up going to Nancy Lieberman of Old Dominion but it was still a great accomplishment to be named a finalist. Salvo was named one of the Top 50 Utah athletes of the century by Sports Illustrated in 1999.
You can listen to this weeks podcast for more information on Lori Salvo. Tune in every week to learn about a different featured inductee.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3CDqWWbnzhjBBr15bpJh2O?si=MDzGG1rDREihGIs2ZzZ5KQ
After College: Coaching and Carrying on Family Legacy
Since retiring from volleyball, her daughter Airial at Viewmont High. Arial went on to play volleyball for the University of Washington after transferring from the University of Utah. There, she became an All-Conference player. For all these accomplishments, Lori Salvo was named an inductee of the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. Maybe some day her daughter will receive the same honors.
You can find out more about the Utah Sports Hall of Fame by visiting their website or going to their museum:
Website: https://www.utahsportshalloffame.org/
Museum Address: 99 W S Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Featured image courtesy Jason Olson, Deseret News