EvCC ready to induct 12 into its newly established Hall of Fame

Published 10:38 pm Thursday, April 30, 2009

EVERETT — Everett Community College is ready to honor its athletic past.

The school opens its new athletics hall of fame with a ceremony on June 11, reaching deep into its history to honor those who were standouts during their time as Trojans.

“We’ve had a tremendous response,” EvCC athletic director Larry Walker said. “There are a lot of tremendous ex-athletes who have played here. It should be awesome.”

A total of 12 individuals — six athletes and six coaches — will be honored, along with two teams. The identities of the honorees will be released in the coming days.

Mike Price is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the ceremony. Price, an Everett native and the current football coach at the University of Texas at El Paso, is the son of Walt Price, who coached football at EvCC.

The idea for opening an athletic hall began in earnest last September, with the school’s alumni association playing a central role.

“We have a new facility and we were thinking of a way to bring all the old-time alumni back into the fold,” Walker explained.

“There’s actually a hall of fame for the NWAACC, and it’s something we saw a few other colleges start up,” Walker added. “It’s something we thought we’d pursue, too, because our history is so great. It’s unbelievable the people who have played and gone to school here.”

A committee was formed, including members of the school administration, the alumni association, past coaches and players, and former Herald sports columnist Larry Henry. The committee’s mandate was to prepare a list of nominations. Submissions also were accepted from the public online.

The committee then whittled that list down to the 12 individuals and two teams that will comprise the inaugural class. That class is expected to include a heavy presence from early in the college’s existence. Even some of those on the selection committee were surprised by EvCC’s long history.

“I’ve been here 24 years and there were some people nominated I was not aware participated here,” Walker said. “We had the fire here around (1987) and that destroyed quite a few documents in the athletic department.”

The ceremony takes place in the conference center at Comcast Arena. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. and is open to the public. Tickets are $40 per person.

For more information contact the college at 425-388-9535.