Lemont's Taylor Campos Chosen as 2015 Wendy's High School Heisman Award Winner

Lemont High School senior Taylor Campos has been named as one of two recipients of the 2015 Wendy’s High School Heisman Award. Campos received her honor at an awards ceremony in New York City on December 11. Zach Hughes (Westminster Christian Academy; Town and Country, Mo.) also was named as a winner of the honor.

The Wendy’s High School Heisman Award program recognizes outstanding students across the country for their athletic prowess, academic achievement and leadership within their community. Like The Heisman Memorial Trophy, Wendy’s believes in the pursuit of athletic and academic excellence with integrity. Additionally, Wendy’s High School Heisman is committed to inspire high school students to achieve personal bests and pursue their higher educational goals.

In November, Campos learned that she not only had been selected as the Wendy’s High School Heisman Award female winner for Illinois, but also as one of just 10 Wendy’s High School Heisman Award National Finalists.

Besides Campos and Hughes, the other national finalists included Rick Basak (Hamden High School; Hamden, Conn.), Maggie Beazer (Stansbury High School; Stansbury Park, Utah), Jada Dayne (Waunakee High School; Waunakee, Wis.), Kayla Dobies (Dakota High School; Macomb, Mich,), Seneca Friend (Long Reach High School; Columbia, Md.), Alek Parsons (Ogden High School; Ogden, Utah), Sean Rausch (Longwood High School; Middle Island, N.Y.) and Ian Saum (Central Cass High School; Casselton, N.D.).

Wendy’s sent all of the national finalists and their families to New York City for Wendy’s High School Heisman and Collegiate Heisman Memorial Trophy Weekend (December 11-13). The national finalists were selected from the 102 state winners from across the country—one male and one female from each state and the District of Columbia.

As part of her experience, Campos’s life—at home, in class, and athletically—was documented in a short film. During her Heisman weekend experience, she participated with the rest of the national finalists in tours of New York City, a private reception with Wendy’s Heisman alumni, an awards dinner and the awards ceremony. On Saturday, she attended the Heisman Trophy awards ceremony, where Alabama’s Derrick Henry was named this year’s Heisman Trophy Award winner.

As this year’s winner, Campos received a crystal Wendy’s High School Heisman Trophy. Lemont High School will receive a donation of $5,000 from Wendy’s in honor of her selection. Campos is the second straight winner from Illinois, and the third in state history. Lauren Van Vlierbergen (Jacobs High School; Algonquin, Ill..) earned the honor in 2014, while Kaylee Jamison (St. Charles North High School; St. Charles, Ill.) did so in 2006.

The Wendy’s High School Heisman Award television special aired on ESPN2 on December 13.

Campos is one of the most decorated student-athletes in Lemont High School history. She has excelled as a distance runner on the school’s cross country and track and field squads, having represented the school in IHSA State Finals competition on four occasions. In the classroom, Campos has accumulated a GPA of better than 4.50 while taking the most rigorous classes the school offers. She is one of only two students in school history to achieve a perfect score of 36 on the ACT, and is a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist.

ABOUT TAYLOR CAMPOS

• Last spring, Campos learned that she had joined a very select club, as she became just the second Lemont High School student ever to record a perfect 36 on the ACT. On average, less than one-tenth of one percent of students across the world who take the ACT earn the top score.

• Campos is a three-time IHSA Cross Country state qualifier. In 2014, she earned all-state honors after posting a school record time and earning a 23rd-place finish at the IHSA Class 2A State Finals. She helped her team to a fourth-place finish at the event, which is the best placement in school history. She also qualified as an individual as a sophomore in 2013, and helped her team to an eighth-place finish at this year’s state finals.

• Campos made her IHSA Track and Field State Finals debut last spring when she competed in the 3200 meter run at the IHSA Class 3A State Finals. She earned her state finals berth by finishing fourth in sectional competition with a school- record effort.

• Campos recently was named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, thanks to her performance on the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. As a National Merit Semifinalist, she is in the running for some of the $32 million of National Merit Scholarships that will be offered in Spring 2016.

• Campos took four Advanced Placement classes as a junior, and qualified for AP Scholar with Honor designation for her effort on those exams. Her schedule this year includes five more classes at the AP level or greater.

• Campos has been inducted into the National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, and the Mu Alpha Theta mathematics honor society. She has participated in state finals competition for both the Future Business Leaders of America and Worldwide Youth in Science & Engineering teams, and has even earned national medalist honors through the National Spanish Examinations program.

• Campos has demonstrated leadership abilities by serving as a class officer and as a member of the Student Council, and also is one of just eight area students to serve on Illinois State Representative Jim Durkin’s Youth Council. She has served as the Public Relations Chair for the school’s Interact Club, dedicates dozens of hours annually to various community service activities, and is a tutor for the school’s Special Education/STEM program.

• Campos plans on running cross country and track and field at the collegiate level. Her top choices include the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and Loyola University Chicago.