The Arlington Sports Hall of Fame recently announced six new members who will be inducted during an Oct. 11 dinner ceremony.
The Hall of Fame, co-sponsored with the Better Sports Club of Arlington and founded in 1958, will have 68 inductees after that event. The dinner will be at the Knights of Columbus Main Hall on Little Falls Road.
The Class of 2023 inductees are:
Noel Deskins (Yorktown High School, Class of 1979): Deskins was a track and field record-holder and Athlete of the Year at Yorktown and participated in sports at James Madison University. After college, Deskins was the girls head basketball coach at Wakefield High School, then later became the school’s longtime director of student activities, until retiring two years ago.
Eric Metcalf (Bishop O’Connell High School Class of 1985): Metcalf was a multiple-sports star at O’Connell in football and track and field, then later in college for the University of Texas football team. Next, Metcalf was a standoiut runningback and kick returner in the National Football League. He is a Hall of Famer at both O’Connell and the Universisty of Texas.
Tia Moore (Wakefield High School Class of 1999): Moore was a 1,000-point career scorer in girls basketball at Wakefield, then in college at Christopher Newport University she scored more than 1,500 points. Moore has been a longtime teacher at Wakefield.
Henry Crawford Palmer (Washington-Lee High School Class of 1988): Palmer was a boys basketball star at Washington-Lee (now named Washington-Liberty), then in college he was a player on the 1991 national-championship Duke University men’s team. At Dartmouth College, Palmer was an all-Ivy League player.
Walter Scott Palmer (Washington-Lee High School Class of 1986): Palmer was a boys basketball standout at Washington-Lee (now named Washington-Liberty). He then played the sport at Dartmouth College, followed by a National Basketball Association career, then in the European professional league.
Jake Scott, posthumously: Scott was a football standout at Washington-Lee High School, then graduated from the Bullis School in 1966. He became a standout football defensive back at the University of Georgia, and later in the National Football League for the Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins. Scott was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl VII and was a five-time NFL all-pro selection.
The Arlington Sports Hall of Fame honors Arlingtonians who have excelled in sports as an athlete, coach or other contributor, and who through such achievements have gained state or national recognition.
In 2019, the first-ever physical Arlington Sports Hall of Fame was unveiled, and has been exhibited at Marymount University, Yorktown and Washington-Liberty high schools, Arlington Education Center and the Arlington Kiwanis Club.
Non-honoree membership in the Hall of Fame is open to local citizens. The website is: www.arlsportshof.org.
