The Eaglecrest High School Athletics & Activities Hall of Fame has made the turn into its second decade of existence with the upcoming induction of the Class of 2025.
The school will again honor some of the best and brightest figures from its past in athletics, the theater and many other extracurricular arenas for their contribution, including a combo pairing for the first time.
The Class of 2025 includes two individuals in Jalen Mergerson (football) and Andrew Woods (performing arts) in addition to the dynamic pitcher-catcher duo of Alyssa Velazquez and Brooklyn Fields from the 2005 team that won the school’s only softball state championship.
The Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony is set for Nov. 20 at Heritage Eagle Bend and will include a 5:30 p.m. cocktail hour, followed by a dinner at 6:30 p.m. Contact the Eaglecrest athletic department for more information.
Those eligible for the Athletic and Activities Hall of Fame must be graduated from Eaglecrest for at least five years and be nominated by a member of the community. Honorees are selected by a committee of school administrators, members of the community and local media.
Brief bios of the inductees in the 11th class:
ALYSSA VELAZQUEZ AND BROOKLYN FIELDS (CLASS OF 2006)
The only Class 5A state softball championship in Eaglecrest history had the fantastic senior battery of Velazquez and Fields front and center. While the rest of the Raptors made significant plays along the way, a team coached by Dave O’Neil was nearly unbeatable with Velazquez in the circle and Fields behind on the plate, especially in the postseason. That’s how the No. 13 seed in the 16-team tournament claimed the 2005 5A state title, as it allowed just four runs in four state tournament games. Eaglecrest did not cede a single run in its final 14 innings of play with back-to-back 1-0 shutouts of Rocky Mountain (the undefeated No. 1 seed) in the semifinals and Pomona in the state title game. Velasquez finished with an 18-7 record and a sparkling 0.74 ERA in a whopping 180 innings pitched — in which she struck out 198 hitters — as she was the state tournament Most Valuable Player and an all-state first team selection, while she also was an outstanding hitter in the heart of the Eaglecrest lineup. In addition to her key role behind the plate, Fields provided the offense that was needed, especially in clutch situations. In the state championship game, her line drive solo home run off Pomona star pitcher Jenn Brock was the difference, while she also drove in the go-ahead run in extra innings of a 2-1 win over Ponderosa in the quarterfinals. Velazquez went on to play at Norfolk State, where she appeared in 110 games and finished with a pitching record of 36-43 with a 2.70 ERA.
JALEN MERGERSON (CLASS OF 2018)
The renaissance of football at Eaglecrest in the past decade has many faces, but one of the most prominent is Mergerson, who very nearly led the program to its second all-time state championship in 2017. Mergerson deftly quarterbacked coach Mike Schmitt’s Raptors to a whopping 49 points against Pomona in what remains the highest-scoring Class 5A state championship game in state history, as he threw two touchdown passes and ran for another inside the final two minutes that gave Eaglecrest a chance to tie before a late onside kick attempt was unsuccessful in a wild 56-49 loss. It was the only blemish on a 13-1 season in which Mergerson accumulated a whopping 3,615 total yards (2,544 passing, 1,071 rushing) and accounted for a combined total of 33 touchdowns (20 passing, 13 rushing). He played in 37 varsity games over four years for the Raptors and accounted for 5,660 yards passing and 2,266 rushing with a total of 84 touchdowns. Contributing as much in leadership as he did statistically, Mergerson helped Eaglecrest to a 28-8 record in three seasons as a starting quarterback. He also contributed significantly to Eaglecrest’s boys basketball and track & field teams before he headed off to the Air Force Academy.
ANDREW WOODS (CLASS OF 1995)
Woods was incredibly impactful behind the scenes of the Eaglecrest performing arts program, as he was instrumental on the technical side of a wide variety of productions over four years of involvement. He led tech teams, trained new students and also handled the details of theater rentals, school assemblies, concerts, plays and conferences, while he was also very accomplished in the classroom. Woods went on to attend the University of Colorado in Boulder with a double major (including a BFA in Technical Theater: Lighting and Scenic Design) and after graduation, he worked on the technical crew for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and later became a professional who traveled and worked in other countries, including Europe. He now works at Gateway High School, where he has transformed the Career Education department into a thriving training department for construction and building controls.
— Sports Editor Courtney Oakes