December 9, 2009
Bloomington (Central Catholic) senior Kelly Curran and her family will be in New York City this weekend on an all-expense paid trip, as the two-time IHSA Class 1A Girls Cross Country individual state champion vies for one of the nation’s most prestigious high school awards.
The Wendy’s High School Heisman will be presented on Saturday, December 12 on Broadway at the Nokia Theater to one national male winner and one national female winner. Curran was named a finalist for the award at a surprise pep rally at Central Catholic in November. She was selected as the female representative for the Midwest Region and will be joined by five other female nominees and six male nominees from across the country. The field for the Wendy’s High School Heisman, which recognizes the nation’s most esteemed high school senior men and women for excellence in academics, athletics, and community involvement, began with over 54,000 candidates. The field was initially narrowed to 1,020 State Finalists (10 male and 10 female per state plus the District of Columbia) in October.
Curran, who owns a 4.1 grade point average (4.0 scale) and a 34 ACT score, is considering attending the University of Notre Dame, the University of Illinois and Duke University next year. In November, she became the ninth runner in state history to win multiple individual cross country state championships, as she defended her 2008 title at Detweiller Park in Peoria with a time of 17:46. Curran also won a state title in track & field in 2008, when she took top honors in Class 1A in the 3200-meter run (11:17.32).
Central Catholic receives a $2,000 dollar grant from Wendy’s in Curran’s name, while the school of each national winner receives an additional $10,000 dollars. A film crew from ESPN shot footage of Curran in November for this weekend’s presentation and ESPN will feature all 12 National Finalists during the national telecast of the college Heisman Memorial Trophy presentation.
The only previous national winner of the Wendy’s High School Heisman from Illinois is Kaylee Jamison of St. Charles (North) in 2006. Jamison is currently a swimmer at the University of Minnesota.