2024 App State Legends Gala Set for June 21
April 16, 2024
Media Contact: Joey Jones (jo*****@ap******.edu)
ONLINE: https://appstatesports.com/news/2024/4/16/athletics-2024-app-state-legends-gala-set-for-june-21.aspx
BOONE, N.C. – App State’s annual Legends Gala will be held Friday, June 21 at 6 p.m. in the Grandview Ballroom of Kidd Brewer Stadium’s north end zone facility.
Established in 2017, the Legends Gala is a premier celebration of App State Athletics that recognizes the remarkable achievements of Mountaineers connected to App State and the High Country.
The 2024 Legends Gala: Forever a Mountaineer, presented by Double Wood Farm, will feature keynote speaker Omar Carter, as well as silent and live auctions, interactive exclusive App State experiences, dinner, live entertainment and a fireworks celebration to close the evening. Guests will once again be invited to wear their favorite App State-themed sneakers to go with their cocktail attire at this year’s event.
A standout for App State Men’s Basketball from 2010-12, Carter is one of six legends being honored at this year’s event. The others are Katie Boyd (softball), Lindsay Edmonds (women’s basketball), Jerry Harmon (football), Mike Ramsey (baseball) and Kate Ward (soccer).
Carter earned all-conference and all-district honors as a junior in 2010-11 before leading the team in scoring as a senior in 2011-12. He played professional basketball in Brazil and the Dominican Republic before suffering a sudden cardiac arrest while playing basketball in Charlotte in 2013. After recovering, he founded the Omar Carter Foundation, whose mission is to advocate, empower and serve communities through CPR and AED education, CV screenings, teaching the principles of CV prevention and leading athletes and their families to healthier lives.
“We look forward to the Legends Gala every year,” Director of Athletics Doug Gillin said. “This is a signature event that recognizes some of the most remarkable Mountaineers that have given their all for App State, and it continues to raise much-needed resources to support student-athlete scholarships.”
Tickets are on sale now and usually sell out before the event date.
A table reservation, which includes six seats and a “legend” or current student-athlete to be seated at your table, is $5,000 (includes a $4,000 tax-deductible gift).
Individual seats for the event are $600 per person (includes a $475 tax-deductible gift) and $1,200 per couple (includes a $950 tax-deductible gift).
Additional 2024 Legends
Katie Boyd – Softball
A 2021 inductee into the App State Athletics Hall of Fame, Katie Boyd is the softball program’s career leader in home runs (44), batting average (.357), runs scored (159), slugging percentage (.697) and walks (171). She was a four-time all-conference performer as a catcher and third baseman and still holds numerous single-game and single-season school records. In her career on the mountain, she was a five-time SoCon Player of the Week and two-time SoCon Player of the Month.
Lindsay Edmonds – Women’s Basketball
A former basketball player and assistant coach at App State, Lindsay Edmonds has made a name for herself as a standout in the women’s basketball college coaching ranks. In three years as head coach at Rice University, she has turned the Owls into a contender, having made back-to-back postseason appearances including a 2024 NCAA Tournament berth after winning the American Athletic Conference tournament title. After scored more than 1,000 points for the Mountaineers from 2001-05 (as Lindsay Smith) and coaching in Boone from 2007-09, she was an assistant coach at JMU and NC State before becoming associate head coach for the Wolfpack from 2019-21.
Jerry Harmon – Football
Jerry Harmon was a standout kicker on App State’s football team from 1972-74, earning All-Southern Conference honors in his final season. In the most dramatic of 33 all-time meetings between App State and East Carolina, with both teams undefeated at the time, Harmon booted a 47-yard field goal with 32 seconds remaining in the 1974 showdown to lift the Mountaineers to a 23-21 victory in Boone. He ended that season with 10 made field goals as App State finished second in the SoCon.
Mike Ramsey – Baseball
Mike Ramsey was named a member of the Southern Conference’s 100th anniversary baseball team in 2021 and was a 1988 inductee into the App State Athletics Hall of Fame. As a shortstop from 1973-75, Ramsey finished his career with school records in career batting average (.380) and stolen bases (64) and still ranks top four in both categories. The 1974 SoCon Player of the Year and 1975 All-American was a member of the 1973 Mountaineer squad that won the program’s first SoCon regular season title. Ramsey was drafted by St. Louis Cardinals in the 1975 MLB Draft as the highest App State baseball draft pick to date (third round, 64th overall) and played seven seasons in the Majors.
Kate Ward – Soccer
A four-year letterwinner who played in 47 games at App State from 2012-15, Kate Ward has more than made her mark on the international stage since her time in Boone. Being hearing impaired since childhood, she has been part of six world soccer titles as a member and captain of the U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team between the Deaflympics and Deaf World Cups. She holds leadership positions with organizations such as FIFA, U.S. Soccer, United Soccer Coaches and USA Deaf Soccer and was nominated for an ESPY in the category of Best Athlete with a Disability, Women’s Sports, after the U.S. team’s gold medal at the Deaflympics in Brazil in 2022. She is currently an assistant coach with High Point University’s women’s soccer team.
Past Legends Gala Keynote Speakers
2017 – Mack Brown
2018 – Joe Gibbs
2019 – Bobby Cremins
2021 – Daniel Jeremiah
2022 – Chris Swecker
2023 – Dexter Coakley
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App State Athletics Strategic Communications
425 Jack Branch Drive
Boone, NC, 28608
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