Bloomfield star Evani Velasquez signs with Oral Roberts track and field

Bloomfield High School senior Evani Velasquez has turned one of San Juan County’s strongest high school résumés into a Division I opportunity, signing with Oral Roberts University and giving local athletes another visible path from Bloomfield to college competition.

Velasquez’s latest step comes after a standout run that already made her one of the region’s most recognizable multi-sport athletes. She won the Class 4A girls 200-meter dash at the 2024 New Mexico Activities Association state meet, crossing in 25.447 seconds in the official results and 25.44 seconds on the champions list. That title helped establish her as one of New Mexico’s top sprinters and made her a natural fit for a program building around women’s track and field at the next level.

Her profile reached even farther than state lines when the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association named her Section 6 Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Section 6 includes New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado and Arkansas, placing Velasquez among elite senior athletes across a five-state region and underscoring that her value went beyond the track. She has also been recognized for her work in football and girls soccer, a reminder that her success at Bloomfield came from competing across multiple sports while maintaining the academic standing needed to draw college attention.

Oral Roberts, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a Division I NCAA member of The Summit League and sponsors both indoor and outdoor women’s track and field. The university describes itself as a Christian school focused on whole-person education, a setting that adds an academic and faith-based layer to the athletic opportunity Velasquez is entering. Its 2025-26 roster shows an active program with established recruiting and a full competitive structure already in place.

Velasquez’s signing also carries local significance because it follows an earlier recruiting path that included an invitation and scholarship offer to the United States Military Academy at West Point for Division I women’s track and field. That range of options shows how far a Bloomfield athlete can go when speed, discipline and classroom performance line up.

For younger runners, jumpers and multi-sport athletes in Bloomfield, Velasquez’s journey offers a concrete model. State titles can lead to national recognition, national recognition can bring college offers, and a strong high school career in San Juan County can carry all the way to a Division I roster.