A Night of Champions is more than just an evening with sports champions. It’s about people who became champions with their lives.

Their messages will be part of A Night of Champions, which runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Senator Bob Martin Eastern Agricultural Center in the Sandy Ridge community outside Williamston. The speakers come from eastern North Carolina.

Kristi Overton-Johnson, a world-champion water-skier, will be the keynote speaker of the evening. Overton-Johnson, who was born in Greenville in 1970, runs a ministry, In His Wakes, based in Keystone Heights, Fla.

Overton-Johnson became a professional water skier at the age of 13, retiring at 34. She moved to Florida to train in a warmer climate and pursue her career. After graduating from the University of Central Florida, she continued with her skiing career.

“I’m glad to be coming back to my home state of North Carolina and really talk about how to be a champion,” she said, “both in sports and in life.”

Mike Leggett, a former East Carolina University football player and former addict, said he wanted to put something together to reach out to and spread the word of God to youth in Martin County and surrounding areas.

“We all struggle from time to time and face hardships in life,” he said. “That’s why God has provided the Holy Spirit to guide and support us.”

Leggett said A Night of Champions is about life and the choices people make. Leggett said there is no admission fee for the event because “Jesus paid it all.”

Danny Woods, formerly with the Chairmen of the Board, will sing selections from his new gospel album.

Former ECU football defensive standouts Pernell Griffin and C.J. Wilson will share what their faith means to them.

Leggett said he knows Griffin and Overton-Johnson from his days at ECU. Griffin, a standout football player at Williamston High School, earned a scholarship to ECU.