The Eaglecrest High School Athletic & Activities Hall of Fame is set to grow again at a Nov. 16 ceremony.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2023 — which will be the ninth since the school began to recognize its best and brightest in athletics and activities back in 2014, with a gap in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic — is made up of the new selections Davis Bryant (golf), Will Smith Jr. (track & field) and Austin Brown (FBLA), as well as holdover Jordyn Poulter (who was unable to attend the ceremony in 2021). The group will be welcomed in an evening gathering at Heritage Eagle Bend.
The dinner and induction ceremony is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. following a cocktail hour. Tickets cost $30 and can be purchased by contacting the Eaglecrest athletic department.
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. The three new additions this year will make 40 total members.
A brief bio of the inductees in the ninth class:
Davis Bryant, golf (Class of 2018)
Bryant is the most accomplished boys golfer in Eaglecrest history thus far and became the program’s only Class 5A state champion in 2017. A four-time state qualifier for coach Stan Adams’ team, Bryant finished 30th as a freshman at the 5A state tournament, moved up to 12th as a sophomore and then finished second as a junior, which was the precursor to his state championship victory, which was followed a few months later in the 5A girls season by younger sister, Emma. Davis Bryant was a three-time selection for Colorado’s Junior Americas Cup and qualifier for multiple national tournaments (including the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, twice) during his prep days, then went on to a standout five-season career at Colorado State University, which concluded in 2023 with him as the Rams’ all-time leader in rounds played, round of even par or better and rounds in the 60s. He is set to turn professional.
Will Smith Jr. (Class of 2004)
Smith Jr. is part of Eaglecrest’s deep tradition in track & field, as he was a three-time Class 5A state qualifier and won a state championship in the boys 110 meter hurdles at the 2004 state meet. He made it to state three times for the 300 meter hurdles and twice in the 110s, which he won in his senior year with a time of 13.62 seconds, which still stands as the Colorado High School Activities Association’s all-time state meet record regardless of classification and put him on the All-Colorado first team. Smith Jr. went even faster earlier in the season — 13.61 — at the Robert F. Caviness Invitational for a time that remains in CHSAA’s record book as the all-classification state record. Smith Jr. was the Centennial League 110 meter hurdles champion twice and the state runner-up in the event in 2003 and he was part of the Eaglecrest team that won the 2002 5A boys state track & field championship.
Austin Brown (Class of 2011)
Brown is the first member of the Eaglecrest Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) program to earn selection into the Hall of Fame and he did so after a career that saw him win two state championships. At the 2010 competition, he earned first place in the 2010 Computer Game & Simulation Programming category (in which he would finish fourth the next year as well) and also topped competitors in the E Business category in 2011. Brown earned an AP Scholar award as a junior in 2010 and as a senior in 2011, was an Honors Diploma recipient, an AP Scholar with Distinction honoree and received academic awards from the school in business and science. He went on to study abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, and graduated from the University of Colorado Summa Cum Laude in 2015. Brown returned to South Korea and has worked in a variety of roles in the tech industry and currently is a team leader with Interpark Triple.
Jordyn Poulter, volleyball (Class of 2015) — Holdover from 2021
Poulter was a highly-decorated volleyball player while at Eaglecrest, where she started four varsity seasons and earned All-Centennial League first team honors in each of them. She was a three-time All-Colorado selection, while she helped then-coach Tanya Bond’s program reach the Class 5A semifinals in 2013, while she also earned multiple chances to play abroad with USA Volleyball. Poulter went on to an accolade-filled Division I career at the University of Illinois from 2015-18 and earned a spot on the U.S. women’s indoor volleyball team for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She earned the starting setter spot and came back from injury to lead the Americans to a win over Brazil in the gold medal match was named the Most Outstanding Setter for the Olympics. Poulter subsequently has played professionally abroad.
— Sports Editor Courtney Oakes
EAGLECREST ATHLETICS & ACTIVITIES HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
2023: Davis Bryant (golf), Will Smith Jr. (track & field), Austin Brown (FBLA), *Jordyn Poulter (volleyball) — 2021 selection included in 2023 ceremony — Bios above
2022: Serena Johnson (track & field), Xavier Lewis (football), TreShawn Wilford(basketball/football); *Sarah Wire (newspaper); * — 2021 selection included in 2022 ceremony — Bios
2021: Sheila Olachea (volleyball); Jordyn Poulter (volleyball), Elijah Ross(basketball/football), Danielle Williams (track & field) — Bios
2019: Terrill Cameron (football/basketball/baseball), Lindsey Keller (Easton) (track, cheer), Jenny Potts-Baca (cheer, performing arts) and Jack Stephens (performing arts) — Bios
2018: April Thomas (cross country/track & field), Melissa Westhoff (soccer/cross country), Basil (BJ) Williams (football/basketball/track & field) and Gage Wooten(basketball) — Bios
2017: Sola Abolaji (boys soccer), Jasper Armstrong (football), Nick Harper (boys lacrosse) and Courtney Karst (volleyball) — Bios
2016: Aubrey Mable (softball/golf/basketball), John Green (coach/athletic director),Zak Edwards (performing arts), Doug Moreland (volunteer), Kevin Yu (tennis) andJennifer Condreay (teacher/theater director) — Bios
2015: Ralph Gorton (volunteer), Lisa Roberts (Sprague) (softball, lacrosse, basketball), Kristen Schevikhoven (volleyball), Kimberly Tedder-Avalos (theater), Stacey Timberman (cheer) and Gregory Treco (theater, dance, vocal music) — Bios
2014: J.J. Billingsley (football/track & field), Damian Brown (football), Ben Baum(basketball), Tara Mendozza (DeCrescentis) (cross country, track & field) and Stacey Jennings (softball) — Bios