Westborough Patch Athlete of the Year: Anna Savage

Editor's note: We had many deserving nominations for Westborough Patch Athlete of the Year, demonstrating what a talented and diverse group of people participate in athletics. Thank you to everyone who took the time to send an email nomination, and congratulations to Anna for her accomplishments in cyclocross.

This year’s Patch Athlete of the Year is 11-year-old Anna Savage, a young cyclocross competitor who won the 2011 Massachusetts State Cyclocross Championship for 10-12 girls, and recently competed in the USA Cyclo-cross National Championships.

If you’ve never heard of cyclocross, you’re not alone. The sport, fairly new in popularity, is a form of bicycle racing that combines elements of cross-country and mountain bike racing. Riders must expertly navigate under-tire conditions like dirt, rocks, grass, mud, and ice, while climbing hills and dismounting to clear obstacles like ditches, steps or wooden barriers. The bikes used are lightweight with special knobby tires and cantilever brakes.

Anna, fifth-grader at has been a cyclocross enthusiast since age 4 when she and her brother William would accompany their dad, Todd Savage, on cyclocross races with The Minuteman Road Club.

“The kids would come with me when they were little,” said Todd. “They started racing on bikes with training wheels, just for fun.”

By age 9, Anna began seriously participating in cyclocross, and at age 10 began to cycle competitively with the Minuteman Road Club. Anna raced 16 times between September and December 2011 as part of the Verge New England Championship Cyclocross Series. She placed 10^th in her age group, which includes both boys and girls up to age 14. Anna placed first in her gender.

“A lot of boys are stronger than the girls, and we have to race with the boys,” said Anna. “The best part about the races is seeing the other girls at the sport. We’ve become good friends,” she added.

Anna has been paving the way to get the girls in her age category the right to their own recognition in the race. “When you win, they give you a new jersey. A woman who won asked for an Extra Small and gave it to me,” said Anna. “By wearing the shirt, we were saying we should have our own category for the girls.”

At the final race in the series, Anna’s advocacy was rewarded when the promoters granted the first U15 girls podium presentation in the series' 12-year history.

This January, Anna competed for the first time at the USA Cyclo-cross National Championships in Madison, WI, with seven other girls from around the country in the 10-12 age group. This year the event hosted a session on Women and Cyclocross to discuss how to improve opportunities for junior girls and encourage involvement in the sport for women of all ages.

For Anna, these nationwide efforts to shape the future of women’s cyclocross racing will give her and other young girls more opportunities to shine in this increasingly popular cycling sport.

Anna plans to continue competing at cyclocross events. “I can’t think of any other biking I’d rather do,” Anna said. “I like cyclocross better than all the others.”

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