As you may have read in the all-around-awesome blog of Carol Toler, Ricky Zorn will represent the South Region as the 2010 National High School Scholar-Athlete Award Winner. Only five student athletes across the country are selected to represent the best high school athletes. All of the athletes selected are currently playing college football and are recognized for their high school accomplishments.
“It took a while for the national part of it to hit,” Zorn said. “It’s something that happened in my senior year and that’s over. But it’s nice to be recognized for what I did. I am very proud to represent the state of Texas, the city of Dallas and Lake Highlands. This is more thanks to the people who were around me and supported me.”
Zorn was a three-year letterman at quarterback and a two-time captain at Lake Highlands. He earned District 9-5A MVP honors as a junior and a senior. He received Lake Highlands’ All-Around Skills award, selected by the Wildcat coaching staff, as a junior in a season where he threw for 1,889 yards and 23 touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,229 yards and 21 scores. In his senior season, Zorn threw for 1,584 yards and 18 touchdowns and gained 1,124 yards rushing with 12 touchdowns. In a two year career, Zorn accumulated 5,826 all-around offensive yards and scored 74 touchdowns.
“Players like Ricky Zorn come around very infrequently,” Scott Smith, Lake Highlands head coach said. “He could have been more productive in his senior season but he shared the load a little more with the rest of his team. He was always exciting to watch on the football field and even more fun to be around as a person. In the classroom he was everything you could ask for out of an athlete.”
In the classroom, Zorn ranked second in a class of 494 students with a GPA of 102.38 on a 100-point scale. He was selected to the National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta. He was chosen as the Youth of the Month by the Exchange Club of Lake Highlands for excellence in academics, leadership and community service.
Gerald Brence, Plano ISD Athletic Director reached out to Zorn to tell him about applying for the award. Zorn said Brence was very supportive in his pursuit of the award and that when he heard the news, Brence openly expressed how proud he was of the Harvard freshman. Brence said he has tremendous respect for Zorn as an athlete and student.
“Yes sir we’re very proud of Ricky Zorn,” Brence said. “This is well deserved and we’re very happy for him. It’s a great honor for the National Football Foundation Gridiron Club of Dallas to have Ricky Zorn represent us. I am very proud of him. I certainly know that it is a great honor for Lake Highlands High School and the Zorn family.”
Zorn also served as vice president of the World Affairs Club; participated as a member of the Lake Highlands Student Council for four years; and played a role in the Richardson Independent School District Bi-Racial Committee. Selected for the Professional Internship Program during his senior year, he interned at Morgan Keegan, a brokerage and investment banking firm, during the fall semester.
Zorn is currently at Harvard where he says the game has gone to another level.
“People up here always ask me what high school football is like in Texas,” Zorn said. “But up here, the stadium is packed every week for a regular season game. We have as many people every week as we would have at Texas Stadium for a high school playoff game. So it is just unbelievable to see how much the game changes from high school to college level. i’m really enjoying it right now.”
Zorn and the other four award winners will be honored for their high school accomplishments during the NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon Tuesday, December 7, 2010, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.
