2022 Legends Gala

Athletics

Recapping the 2022 Legends Gala

BOONE, N.C. — App State alum, NFL defensive back and mental health advocate Doug Middleton posted an eye-catching tweet one day before the 2022 Legends Gala, declaring, "If your dream doesn't scare you, it's not big enough!!"

Addressing a large crowd in the Grandview Ballroom of the north end zone facility, App State Director of Athletics Doug Gillin referenced that message before adding, "What we dream for App State Athletics is really, really big."

For the fifth time since the inaugural event in 2017, with Double Wood Farm as the title sponsor, the Legends Gala served as a platform to celebrate App State Athletics, honor a number of alums as gala "Legends" and raise money for scholarship support.

This year's event broke the record for most money raised at a Legends Gala. The festivities included a silent auction on App State-themed items as well as a live auction that included strong participation from the crowd to the tune of covering the cost of six full scholarships.

"We operate at a high, high level, certainly academically and competitively," Gillin told the crowd. "That's the good news. Even better news, under the Chancellor's leadership, we collectively created one of the best conferences in America last year. We went from the old Sun Belt to the new Sun Belt, and It's one of the best conferences in America. What we need to continue to do is keep our game at a high, high level."

With Gillin and emcee Charley Belcher welcoming the crowd, one of the eight 2022 Legends, Chris Swecker, served as the keynote speaker. Andre Crawford (baseball from 1985-87, plus football), Mike Metcalf (football, 2003-04), Tom Peterson (men's track/cross country, 2007-09), Keith Richardson (men's tennis, 1971-75), Donald Sims (men's basketball, 2007-11), Tommy Sofield (football, 1971-75) and Tristin Van Ord (women's track/cross country, 2013-17) were also recognized as Legends.

Swecker, like Sofield, Rick Beasley and John Wynn, played football at App State in the 1970s after arriving from the Tidewater area of Virginia. Swecker earned three letters as a quarterback before embarking on a distinguished career as both an attorney and law enforcement agent. A 24-year career as an FBI special agent culminated in a stint as the bureau's assistant director from 2003-06, when he oversaw all of the FBI's criminal investigations, cyber investigations and international operations as part of his executive duties.

"The decision to come here shaped us for the next 40 years," Swecker said of those Virginia-raised Mountaineers who played for coach Jim Brakefield. "There's no place like App State. It's going to reach out and grab you. and it has. Anyone who has been to a football game here in October knows what I'm talking about, but you'd sell App short if you said it was just the setting. It really is the people and the experiences."
 
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