A TRADITION BUILT OVER GENERATIONS
Highland Park football is one of the most storied high-school programs in Texas.
The Scots have won six state championships, appeared in 10 state championship games, and made 67 playoff appearances through the 2025 season. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football identifies Highland Park as the winningest program in Texas high-school football history. The program’s history stretches from the earliest days of Texas high-school football through the modern era. It has produced a Heisman Trophy winner, Pro Football Hall of Famers, Texas High School Football Hall of Famers, NFL champions, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback and generations of Scots who carried Highland Park football to the highest levels of the game.
DOAK WALKER
Highland Park #37 • SMU • Detroit Lions
Doak Walker became one of the most celebrated football players ever produced by Texas. At Highland Park, Walker teamed with Bobby Layne before continuing his career at SMU, where he became a three-time All-American and won the 1948 Heisman Trophy. Walker later starred for the Detroit Lions and helped the franchise win NFL championships in 1952 and 1953. His famous #37 followed him throughout his entire football career — Highland Park, SMU and the Detroit Lions. Walker was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: #37 • Heisman Trophy • Pro Football Hall of Fame
BOBBY LAYNE
Highland Park • Texas • Detroit Lions
Before becoming one of professional football’s legendary quarterbacks, Bobby Layne was a star at Highland Park. Layne helped establish Highland Park’s early passing tradition and played alongside Doak Walker before continuing his career at the University of Texas. He later played 15 seasons of professional football and became one of the defining quarterbacks of his era. Layne helped Detroit win NFL championships and ultimately earned induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: Pro Football Hall of Fame
JACK COLLINS
Highland Park • Texas
Jack Collins was at the center of one of the greatest seasons in Highland Park football history. As a senior in 1957, Collins rushed for 1,473 yards, added approximately 600 receiving yards and scored 148 points while leading Highland Park to the Class 4A state championship. In the state semifinal, Collins helped Highland Park end Abilene’s remarkable 49-game winning streak. The Scots then defeated Port Arthur 21–9 for the state championship. Collins continued his career at the University of Texas and later became the first player ever featured on the cover of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: 1957 State Champion • Texas High School Football Hall of Fame
LANCE McILHENNY
Highland Park • SMU
Lance McIlhenny became one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in Highland Park history. During his Highland Park career, McIlhenny rushed for more than 2,000 yards and passed for more than 3,000 yards. As a sophomore, he helped lead the Scots to a 12–0 start in 1977, and as a senior he earned Parade All-America honors. At SMU, McIlhenny became a three-time All-Southwest Conference quarterback and led the Mustangs to Southwest Conference championships in 1981 and 1982. He was inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: Texas High School Football Hall of Fame
DAVID RICHARDS
Highland Park • SMU • UCLA • NFL
David Richards became one of the nation’s most highly regarded high-school offensive linemen while playing at Highland Park. In 1983, Richards became the first offensive lineman ever named Parade Magazine’s National Offensive Player of the Year. He became a three-year starter and two-time All-Southwest Conference performer at SMU before transferring to UCLA, where he earned All-America honors. Richards was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the fourth round of the 1988 NFL Draft and played nine NFL seasons. He entered the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: National Offensive Player of the Year • NFL • Texas High School Football Hall of Fame
MATTHEW STAFFORD
Highland Park #7 • Georgia • NFL
Matthew Stafford produced one of the greatest quarterback careers in Highland Park history. As a three-year starter, Stafford threw for approximately 9,000 yards and 94 touchdowns. His senior season ended with a perfect 15–0 record and the 2005 state championship, Highland Park’s first football state title in 48 years. Stafford continued his career at the University of Georgia before becoming the first overall selection in the 2009 NFL Draft. In 2021, he quarterbacked the Los Angeles Rams to victory in Super Bowl LVI. Highland Park later retired Stafford’s #7.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: #7 • 2005 State Champion • No. 1 NFL Draft Pick • Super Bowl Champion
FRED BENNERS
Highland Park • SMU • New York Giants
Fred Benners was a three-sport athlete at Highland Park before becoming one of SMU’s leading quarterbacks of the early 1950s. At SMU, Benners ranked among the nation’s top passers and helped produce one of the landmark victories in Mustang history when SMU defeated Notre Dame in South Bend in 1951. Benners threw for 336 yards in that victory. The New York Giants selected him in the 1951 NFL Draft, and he played professionally for the franchise during the 1952 season.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: Highland Park • SMU • NFL
JOHN ROACH
Highland Park • SMU • Green Bay Packers • Dallas Cowboys
John Roach was a true multi-sport Scot. He graduated from Highland Park in 1951 after lettering in football, basketball and track, then continued his football career at SMU. Roach later played quarterback and defensive back in professional football. He became a member of Vince Lombardi’s 1961 and 1962 Green Bay Packers NFL championship teams before finishing his playing career with the Dallas Cowboys. Roach remains a particularly distinctive part of local football history as a player who represented:
Highland Park
SMU
Dallas Cowboys
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: Two-time NFL Champion
ANTHONY SCHLEGEL
Highland Park • Air Force • Ohio State • NFL
Anthony Schlegel developed into an elite linebacker after beginning his football career at Highland Park.
He played collegiately at Air Force before transferring to Ohio State, where he became a two-year letterwinner and starting linebacker.
The New York Jets selected Schlegel in the third round of the 2006 NFL Draft, and he later played for the Cincinnati Bengals.
After his playing career, Schlegel returned to football in strength and conditioning and coaching roles.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: Highland Park • Ohio State • NFL
DANIEL SEPULVEDA
Highland Park • Baylor • Pittsburgh Steelers
Daniel Sepulveda’s journey from Highland Park to professional football was anything but conventional.
At Highland Park he played linebacker, not punter.
After arriving at Baylor as a walk-on linebacker, Sepulveda developed into one of the greatest punters in college football history.
He became the first two-time winner of the Ray Guy Award and earned consensus All-America honors.
Sepulveda later played professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: Two-time Ray Guy Award Winner • NFL
NICK ROSE
Highland Park • Texas • NFL
Nick Rose continued Highland Park’s tradition of producing athletes who reached major college and professional football.
At the University of Texas, Rose played in all 51 games of his four-year career and finished with 152 points as a place-kicker and kickoff specialist.
Rose later reached the NFL, appearing in 10 regular-season games for Washington and the Los Angeles Chargers during the 2017 season.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: Highland Park • Texas • NFL
KYLE WILLIAMS
Highland Park • USC • Seattle Seahawks
Kyle Williams developed into an elite offensive line prospect at Highland Park.
During his senior season, Williams recorded 126 pancake blocks without allowing a sack and earned All-State and national recruiting honors.
He continued his career at USC during one of the most successful periods in Trojan football history.
Williams later reached the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks, appearing in seven games over the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: All-State Scot • USC • NFL
SIX STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Highland Park football’s history is not defined only by individual stars.
The Scots have won six state championships:
1945
Co-Champions with Waco
Highland Park and Waco played to a 7–7 tie before 45,790 fans at the Cotton Bowl, one of the largest crowds ever to attend a Texas high-school state championship game.
1957
Highland Park 21 • Port Arthur 9
Jack Collins helped lead the Scots to their first outright state football championship after Highland Park ended Abilene’s 49-game winning streak in the semifinal.
2005
Highland Park 59 • Marshall 0
Matthew Stafford and the “Band of Brothers” completed a perfect 15–0 season and delivered Highland Park’s first championship in 48 years.
2016
State Champions
The victory began one of the greatest championship runs in Highland Park football history.
2017
State Champions
Highland Park captured its second consecutive championship in a dramatic title-game comeback.
2018
State Champions
The Scots completed the three-peat with a 27–17 victory over Shadow Creek, finishing the season 16–0 — the first 16-win season in program history.
THREE GENERATIONS OF CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL
Few programs can connect football history across as many generations as Highland Park.
The early Scots produced Doak Walker and Bobby Layne.
The 1957 champions were led by Jack Collins.
The 2005 championship team featured Matthew Stafford.
And from 2016 through 2018, Highland Park accomplished something extraordinary:
THREE CONSECUTIVE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS.
That history spans different coaches, players and eras — but the standard has remained remarkably consistent.
ONE RETIRED NUMBER. ONE EXTRAORDINARY LEGACY.
Highland Park formally retired:
#7 — MATTHEW STAFFORD
The number represents more than Stafford’s later NFL success.
It forever connects him to the perfect 2005 Highland Park team that ended a 48-year championship drought.
From Highlander Stadium to Georgia to the NFL and ultimately a Super Bowl championship, Stafford’s story remains one of the defining chapters in Highland Park football history.
HIGHLAND PARK FOOTBALL
TRADITION • EXCELLENCE • LEADERSHIP
SCOTS FIND A WAY.
A TRADITION OF CHAMPIONS
Highland Park baseball has a history of competing at the highest level of Texas high-school baseball.
The Scots reached the UIL state tournament in 1951, 1956, 1997, 1998 and 2002, and captured the 1998 Class 4A state championship with a 5–2 victory over Corpus Christi Calallen.
That 1998 championship team included a young Chris Young, who would go on to pitch in the Major Leagues, become an MLB All-Star and later help build a World Series championship organization.
In the years that followed, Highland Park produced one of the greatest pitchers of his generation in Clayton Kershaw and another Major League pitcher in Bo Schultz.
Three different paths. One Highland Park baseball tradition.
CHRIS YOUNG
Highland Park #25 • Princeton • Major League Baseball
Chris Young was one of the most accomplished multi-sport athletes in Highland Park history.
As a senior, Young earned All-State honors in both baseball and basketball. On the mound he went 8–3 with a 1.70 ERA and helped lead Highland Park to the 1998 Class 4A state championship.
Young continued playing both baseball and basketball at Princeton before beginning a 13-year Major League pitching career.
He became a National League All-Star in 2007 and later helped the Kansas City Royals win the 2015 World Series.
His baseball career then moved from the field to the front office. Young ultimately became President of Baseball Operations for the Texas Rangers and helped lead the organization to its first World Series championship in 2023.
In 2024, Highland Park retired Young's #25.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: #25 • 1998 State Champion • MLB All-Star • World Series Champion
CLAYTON KERSHAW
Highland Park #23 • Los Angeles Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw's extraordinary pitching career began at Scotland Yard.
He graduated from Highland Park in 2006 as the school's all-time leader with 38 career victories. During his senior season, Kershaw went 12–0 with a 0.77 ERA and 139 strikeouts in only 64 innings and was named both the USA Today High School Baseball Player of the Year and Gatorade National Player of the Year.
One of the defining performances of his Highland Park career came in the 2006 playoffs, when Kershaw threw a five-inning perfect game and struck out all 15 batters he faced.
The Los Angeles Dodgers selected him seventh overall in the 2006 MLB Draft.
Over an 18-year Major League career spent entirely with the Dodgers, Kershaw became an 11-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner, 2014 National League MVP and a member of the 3,000-strikeout club.
He retired following the 2025 season as a three-time World Series champion.
Highland Park retired Kershaw's #23 in 2024.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: #23 • National Player of the Year • 3× Cy Young • NL MVP • 3,000 Strikeouts • 3× World Series Champion
BO SCHULTZ
Highland Park • Northwestern • Major League Baseball
Bo Schultz's route from Highland Park to the Major Leagues is a story of persistence.
Schultz graduated from Highland Park after playing four years of baseball and three years of football. He continued at Northwestern, where he earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition.
His professional journey was anything but direct.
After going undrafted out of Northwestern, Schultz signed with Oakland, was later released, and continued his career in independent baseball with the Grand Prairie AirHogs. Arizona eventually signed him, and he continued working his way through the minor leagues until he reached the Major Leagues.
Schultz made his MLB debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014 and later pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays, appearing in 51 Major League games over three seasons.
His journey from Highland Park to Northwestern, independent baseball and ultimately the Major Leagues makes his story a different but important part of Scots baseball history.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: Highland Park • Northwestern • Major League Baseball
THE 1998 STATE CHAMPIONS
The 1998 season deserves its own short historical callout.
Highland Park entered the state tournament with a 28–8 record.
The Scots defeated Fort Worth Arlington Heights 7–0 in the state semifinal before defeating Corpus Christi Calallen 5–2 for the Class 4A state championship.
The UIL roster for that championship team includes Chris Young along with:
Scot Lenarsky, Kevin Colon, Brian Brooks, Sanders Avrea, Clark Webb, Greg Bratton, Zane Carlson, Warren Lee, Josh Flores, Tobin Swope, Kirk Meyer, Edward Tribble, Doug Gibbins, James Brown, Michael Cates, Barret Kingsriter, J. Thompson, Michael Matthews, William Cervin, John Klein and Austin Moore.
Head Coach: Lew Kennedy
That is worth preserving on this page because the Legends project should celebrate not only individuals who became nationally famous, but also the Highland Park teams that created the history.
TWO NUMBERS. ONE EXTRAORDINARY LEGACY.
In January 2024, Highland Park honored the two most decorated players in the history of its baseball program by retiring:
#23 — CLAYTON KERSHAW
#25 — CHRIS YOUNG
Their numbers are now permanently connected to Scotland Yard and Highland Park baseball.
One became one of the greatest pitchers of his generation.
The other became an MLB All-Star, World Series champion and championship baseball executive.
Both began as Highland Park Scots.
A TRADITION OF CHAMPIONS
Highland Park golf has produced one of the deepest traditions of championship golf in Texas.
UIL records document Highland Park team state championships stretching from the 1950s through the modern era, including a remarkable run of five consecutive boys team championships from 1989 through 1993.
Those teams helped launch the careers of players who would go on to win USGA championships, PGA TOUR events, major championships and an Olympic gold medal.
Highland Park golf has produced:
USGA champions
PGA TOUR winners
Texas Golf Hall of Fame members
An Olympic gold medalist
Multiple major championships
Generations of individual and team state champions
Few high-school golf programs can claim a tradition this deep.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER
Highland Park • Texas • PGA TOUR
Long before becoming one of the dominant players in professional golf, Scottie Scheffler was building a championship résumé at Highland Park.
Scheffler played both basketball and golf at HP and won the Texas individual golf state championship three consecutive years — 2012, 2013 and 2014. His 2013 performance also helped lead Highland Park to the team state championship.
He continued his career at the University of Texas before reaching the PGA TOUR.
Scheffler went on to become the world's No. 1-ranked golfer and, by the end of the 2026 season, had won 22 PGA TOUR events. His championship résumé includes:
2022 Masters Champion
2024 Masters Champion
2025 PGA Champion
2025 Open Champion
2024 Olympic Gold Medalist
2024 & 2026 FedExCup Champion
His 2025 Open Championship victory gave him four major championships and victories in three of golf's four majors.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Scheffler closed with a 9-under 62 to win the Olympic gold medal for the United States.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: 3× Individual State Champion • Olympic Gold • 4× Major Champion
KELLI KUEHNE
Highland Park • Texas • USGA Champion
Kelli Kuehne produced one of the most extraordinary high-school golf careers in Highland Park history.
She completed her four-year Highland Park career with a perfect:
20–0 RECORD.
UIL records show Kuehne winning four consecutive individual state championships from 1992 through 1995.
Her success continued on the national and international amateur stage.
Kuehne won:
1994 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship
1995 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship
1996 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship
1996 Women's British Amateur Championship
She became the No. 1-ranked women's amateur in the world and earned first-team All-America honors at the University of Texas.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: 20–0 • 4× State Champion • 3× USGA Champion
TRIP KUEHNE
Highland Park • Oklahoma State • USGA Champion
Trip Kuehne helped establish what became one of the most remarkable golf families in American amateur golf.
At Highland Park, Kuehne won back-to-back Texas individual state championships in 1990 and 1991 while helping the Scots win team championships during the same era.
Kuehne later became an All-American at Oklahoma State and one of America's premier amateur players.
His career included three Walker Cup appearances and one of the most famous U.S. Amateur finals ever played — his 1994 championship match against Tiger Woods.
Thirteen years later, Kuehne captured the 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, earning another trip to Augusta National and the Masters Tournament.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: 2× Individual State Champion • U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion
HANK KUEHNE
Highland Park • SMU • U.S. Amateur Champion
Hank Kuehne continued the extraordinary Kuehne family tradition at Highland Park.
He was a member of three Highland Park state championship teams from 1991 through 1993 and won eight individual tournaments during his HP career.
At SMU, Kuehne became a four-time All-American.
His defining amateur achievement came in 1998 when he captured the U.S. Amateur Championship at Oak Hill Country Club.
Kuehne later competed professionally on the PGA TOUR and became famous for his extraordinary length, leading the PGA TOUR in driving distance in 2003.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: 3× Team State Champion • U.S. Amateur Champion
THE KUEHNE FAMILY
Trip • Hank • Kelli
The Kuehne siblings occupy a unique place in Highland Park — and American golf — history.
All three became state champions at Highland Park.
All three became elite amateur golfers.
And all three won championships conducted by the United States Golf Association.
Trip won the U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Hank won the U.S. Amateur.
Kelli won the U.S. Girls' Junior and two U.S. Women's Amateurs.
The Texas Golf Hall of Fame identifies Trip, Hank and Kelli as the only trio of siblings to each win USGA championships.
THREE SIBLINGS. THREE USGA CHAMPIONS.
ONE HIGHLAND PARK FAMILY.
HARRISON FRAZAR
Highland Park • Texas • PGA TOUR
Harrison Frazar became a three-time All-State golfer at Highland Park after moving to Dallas in 1985.
He helped Highland Park capture two state championships, including the 1989 and 1990 titles alongside Trip Kuehne.
Frazar continued his career at the University of Texas, where he became a three-time All-American.
He then built a long professional career on the PGA TOUR.
In 2011, Frazar captured the FedEx St. Jude Classic for his first PGA TOUR victory. He later added a PGA TOUR Champions victory at the 2023 Dominion Energy Charity Classic.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: 2× Team State Champion • PGA TOUR Winner
CODY GRIBBLE
Highland Park • Texas • PGA TOUR
Cody Gribble added another chapter to Highland Park's championship golf history.
In 2008, Gribble won the individual state championship while also leading Highland Park to the team title.
He returned the following year and won the individual championship again, shooting 66–69 for a 135 total and winning by six strokes.
Gribble continued his career at the University of Texas, where he became a two-time All-American and was a member of Texas' 2012 NCAA national championship team.
In 2016, Gribble captured the Sanderson Farms Championship by four strokes for his first PGA TOUR victory.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: 2× Individual State Champion • Team State Champion • PGA TOUR Winner
SCOTT ABBOTT
Highland Park • State Champion
Scott Abbott authored one of Highland Park golf's most dominant state championship performances.
At the 2000 UIL State Championship, Abbott shot:
69–71 — 140
to capture the individual Class 4A championship.
At the same tournament, Highland Park's Blue team won the team state championship by 23 strokes.
Highland Park's depth was so extraordinary that its White team finished third in the same state championship.
Abbott's performance gave Highland Park both the individual and team championships.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: Individual State Champion • Team State Champion
MORE HIGHLAND PARK STATE CHAMPIONS
The Highland Park golf story extends well beyond its nationally known players.
UIL records document an extraordinary list of individual champions.
BOYS INDIVIDUAL STATE CHAMPIONS
Stewart Carrell — 1951
Trip Kuehne — 1990, 1991
Scott Abbott — 2000
Charlie Holland — 2004
Cody Gribble — 2008, 2009
Scottie Scheffler — 2012, 2013, 2014
Scott Roden — 2017
Trip Carter — 2018
Preston Cooper — 2021
UIL championship archives document these individual Highland Park victories.
A REMARKABLE WOMEN'S GOLF TRADITION
Highland Park's golf history is not limited to the boys program.
The UIL archive documents Highland Park girls individual state champions including:
Kelli Kuehne — 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
McKinzie Gibson — 1997
Maiko Senda — 1998
Brooke Shelton — 2001
Lila Barton — 2006
Kelli Kuehne's four consecutive championships remain one of the defining accomplishments in Highland Park athletic history.
FIVE STRAIGHT STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
One period illustrates Highland Park's golf dominance particularly well.
From 1989 through 1993, Highland Park won the boys team state championship five consecutive years.
1989
Trip Kuehne • Harrison Frazar • David Clark • Stuart Pace • Jimmy Kull
1990
Trip Kuehne • Harrison Frazar • Joe Moerschell • Buck Branson • Ed McMurphy
1991
Trip Kuehne • Hank Kuehne • Mark Craig • Ben Ludetke • Steve Summers
1992
Robb Parks • Hank Kuehne • Chris Wall • Stephen Summers • Hunter Oats
1993
Hank Kuehne • Brandon Quigley • Stephen Summers • Chris Wall • Buck Branson
UIL records confirm each of those five consecutive championships.
That five-year run alone produced Trip Kuehne, Hank Kuehne and Harrison Frazar.
THE TRADITION CONTINUES
Highland Park golf has never been confined to one generation.
The Scots were winning state championships in the 1950s.
They won five consecutive titles from 1989–1993.
Championship teams continued through the 2000s and 2010s.
In 2021, Highland Park's Blue team won another state championship while its Gold team finished third in the same state tournament.
And in 2026, Highland Park again placed two teams on the state podium — second and third place.
Different generations.
Different courses.
The same Highland Park standard.
HIGHLAND PARK GOLF
CHAMPIONS • TRADITION • EXCELLENCE
SCOTS FIND A WAY.
A TRADITION OF PIONEERS AND CHAMPIONS
Highland Park's soccer history includes both some of the earliest roots of the sport in Dallas and one of the most successful girls programs in Texas high-school history.
A Highland Park student helped introduce the game to a generation of Dallas athletes before becoming one of America's first homegrown professional soccer stars.
Decades later, Highland Park girls soccer established a championship tradition that produced seven UIL state titles.
The boys program has also twice advanced to the state championship match — first in 1987 and again nearly four decades later in 2025.
From soccer's early growth in Dallas to today's professional game, Highland Park has played a distinctive role in the sport's history.
KYLE ROTE JR.
Highland Park • Sewanee • Dallas Tornado • United States National Team
Kyle Rote Jr.'s story is particularly important because his connection to soccer began at Highland Park before soccer had become an established mainstream high-school sport in Texas.
Rote was already an exceptional Highland Park athlete in football, basketball and baseball. As a teenager in the 1960s, he and a group of Highland Park friends became fascinated with soccer and organized their own team, the Black Bandits.
Rote later recalled that the team consisted of Highland Park students from several different sports who were essentially teaching themselves the game.
After Highland Park, Rote eventually committed himself fully to soccer at Sewanee.
The Dallas Tornado made him the first overall selection in the 1972 North American Soccer League draft. In his rookie professional season, Rote became the first American-born player to lead the NASL in scoring and was named the league's Rookie of the Year.
Rote also became the first Texan to play for the United States national soccer team, earning five full international appearances.
In 2010, he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: American Soccer Pioneer • NASL Scoring Champion • United States National Team • National Soccer Hall of Fame
MAJA LARDNER
Highland Park • Georgetown • Racing Louisville FC
Maja Lardner represents the modern era of Highland Park soccer.
Lardner played four years for the Lady Scots and helped Highland Park win the 2019 Class 5A state championship.
As a sophomore, she was named MVP of the state championship game as Highland Park defeated Mansfield Legacy 2–0 to capture the program's seventh state championship.
Lardner continued her career at Georgetown University, where she developed into one of the nation's top collegiate forwards.
Over five seasons she:
Played 91 games
Scored 31 goals
Recorded 20 assists
Won Big East Offensive Player of the Year in 2024 and 2025
Earned Second-Team All-America honors in 2025
In January 2026, Lardner signed her first professional contract with Racing Louisville FC of the National Women's Soccer League.
She scored the first two goals of her professional career in July 2026, accounting for both Louisville goals in a 2–1 victory over Angel City FC.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: 2019 State Champion • State Championship MVP • All-American • NWSL
SEVEN STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Highland Park girls soccer has built one of the great championship traditions in Texas.
The Lady Scots have won seven UIL state championships:
1994
Highland Park defeated Humble Kingwood 2–1 in the state semifinal before shutting out Arlington Martin 3–0 in the championship match.
1996
The Lady Scots defeated El Paso Franklin 4–0 in the semifinal and Austin Westlake 2–0 in the final.
2000
Highland Park defeated Friendswood 2–1 before defeating Denton 4–1 for another state championship.
2002
The Scots defeated Southlake Carroll 2–1 in the semifinal and Cedar Park 2–0 in the championship.
2012
After a six-year absence from the state tournament, Highland Park returned and captured its fifth state championship.
The title match against Trophy Club Byron Nelson remained scoreless through regulation and overtime before goalkeeper Sarah Howley helped Highland Park prevail in a dramatic shootout.
2017
Highland Park completed a perfect 27–0 season by defeating Aledo 5–3 for the Class 5A championship.
The victory gave Highland Park its sixth girls soccer state title.
2019
Highland Park defeated Humble Kingwood Park 4–1 in the semifinal and Mansfield Legacy 2–0 in the championship match.
The victory gave Highland Park its seventh state championship, with sophomore Maja Lardner earning championship-game MVP honors.
THE PERFECT SEASON
2017 • 27–0
The 2017 Lady Scots authored one of the greatest seasons in Highland Park athletics.
Highland Park entered the state tournament undefeated and untied and completed the season 27–0.
In the championship match against Aledo, Highland Park scored five goals.
Freshman Presley Echols scored twice, while Rachel Wasserman, Frances Ann Matise and Sarah O'Neal also scored.
Echols was named championship-game MVP.
The state championship was Highland Park's sixth and completed a season without a loss or a tie.
27 GAMES. 27 WINS. STATE CHAMPIONS.
A GENERATION OF COLLEGE PLAYERS
The championship culture also sent numerous Highland Park players into major college soccer programs.
Four members of the 2017 championship-era program later signed with:
Sierra Jones — Texas Tech
Frances Ann Matise — South Carolina
Sarah O'Neal — Vanderbilt
Rachel Wasserman — Penn State
Later Highland Park players continued that tradition, signing with programs across the country.
The progression from Highland Park to major NCAA soccer — and now to the NWSL through Maja Lardner — demonstrates the depth of the program beyond the championship trophies.
THE BOYS BREAK THROUGH
1987 State Finalists
Highland Park boys soccer reached the state championship match for the first time in 1987.
The Scots defeated Klein 2–1 in the state semifinal before facing San Antonio Alamo Heights for the championship.
Alamo Heights prevailed 1–0, leaving Highland Park as the state runner-up.
It would take nearly four decades for another Highland Park boys team to return to the state final.
BACK TO STATE
2025 State Finalists
In 2025, Highland Park boys soccer returned to the state championship match for the first time since 1987.
The Scots entered the state final with a 20–1–2 record under head coach Scott Turner and faced Liberty Hill for the Class 5A Division II championship.
Highland Park finished as the state runner-up, but the run marked an important return to the highest level of Texas high-school soccer.
Four Scots were selected to the 2025 state all-tournament team:
Jack O'Grady
Jake Rhine
Brian Gurtowski
Hafeey Shah
The appearance connected two generations of Highland Park boys soccer:
1987
STATE FINALISTS
2025
STATE FINALISTS
Thirty-eight years apart.
The same Highland Park tradition.
FROM THE BLACK BANDITS TO THE NWSL
There is an unusual symmetry to the Highland Park soccer story.
In the 1960s, Kyle Rote Jr. and his Highland Park friends formed their own soccer team at a time when the sport was still trying to establish itself in Dallas.
Rote eventually became one of America's first professional soccer stars and entered the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
More than half a century later, Highland Park graduate Maja Lardner reached the National Women's Soccer League, today's top level of women's professional soccer in the United States.
Between those two stories came:
SEVEN GIRLS STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
TWO BOYS STATE-FINAL APPEARANCES
GENERATIONS OF COLLEGE PLAYERS
A NATIONAL SOCCER HALL OF FAMER
AN NWSL PROFESSIONAL
That is a remarkable Highland Park soccer history.
HIGHLAND PARK SOCCER
TRADITION • PIONEERS • EXCELLENCE
SCOTS FIND A WAY.
A TRADITION THAT REACHED THE OLYMPICS
Highland Park swimming and diving has produced championship success at every level of the sport.
Scots have become Olympic champions, world-record holders, NCAA champions, All-Americans and Hall of Famers.
Highland Park has produced four athletes who went on to win Olympic gold:
David “Skippy” Browning
Mike Heath
Bruce Hayes
Shaun Jordan
Together, those four Highland Park athletes won seven Olympic gold medals.
The program's team history is equally remarkable. Highland Park girls swimming and diving won 10 consecutive UIL state championships from 2001 through 2010, then added titles in 2012 and 2013. The boys won state championships in 2000, 2017 and 2018. UIL records therefore document 15 Highland Park swimming and diving team state championships.
DAVID “SKIPPY” BROWNING
Highland Park • Texas • United States Olympic Team
Long before Highland Park produced Olympic swimming champions, David “Skippy” Browning established an extraordinary diving legacy.
Browning was a three-time state diving champion at Highland Park before continuing his career at the University of Texas.
At Texas, Browning became a six-time All-American and dominated collegiate diving. He won NCAA championships in both the one-meter and three-meter events in 1951 and 1952 and went undefeated in dual-meet competition during his three seasons.
His greatest achievement came at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, where Browning captured the gold medal in three-meter springboard diving.
He later became the first University of Texas athlete inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Browning's life ended tragically in 1956 when the Navy jet he was piloting crashed during a training flight, just months before the Melbourne Olympic Games.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: 3× State Diving Champion • NCAA Champion • Olympic Gold Medalist
MIKE HEATH
Highland Park • Florida • United States Olympic Team
Mike Heath became one of the greatest swimmers produced by Highland Park.
At the Texas state meet, Heath won the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle in both 1981 and 1982, giving him four individual state championships for Highland Park.
His winning 200 freestyle time of 1:37.53 in 1982 improved on the state record he had established the previous year.
Heath continued his career at the University of Florida, where he became an NCAA champion and earned 19 All-America honors while helping Florida win NCAA team championships in 1983 and 1984.
Then came the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Heath won:
GOLD
4×100-meter freestyle relay
GOLD
4×200-meter freestyle relay
GOLD
4×100-meter medley relay
SILVER
200-meter freestyle
The 4×200 freestyle relay set a world record, and Heath was also part of a world-record-setting American 4×100 freestyle relay.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: 4× Individual State Champion • 3× Olympic Gold • Olympic Silver • World Record Holder
BRUCE HAYES
Highland Park • UCLA • United States Olympic Team
Bruce Hayes was already a state champion before becoming part of one of the most memorable swimming races in Olympic history.
At Highland Park, Hayes won state championships in both the:
200-yard individual medley
100-yard backstroke
while swimming for Coach Mike Sorrells.
Hayes went on to UCLA, where he helped the Bruins win the 1982 NCAA championship.
He competed internationally for the United States and entered the 1984 Olympic Games as one of America's elite freestyle swimmers.
In Los Angeles, Hayes anchored the United States 4×200-meter freestyle relay.
The Americans and West Germans were locked in a dramatic race, with Hayes battling German star Michael Gross on the final leg.
Hayes touched first by only four one-hundredths of a second.
OLYMPIC GOLD.
The American team also established a new world record of 7:15.69.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: 2× State Champion • Olympic Gold • World Record Holder
SHAUN JORDAN
Highland Park • Texas • United States Olympic Team
Shaun Jordan's story demonstrates that future greatness is not always obvious at the beginning.
Jordan was a standout swimmer for Coach Mike Sorrells at Highland Park, but unlike Heath and Hayes, he did not leave high school as a multiple individual state champion.
He continued developing at the University of Texas — and became one of the best collegiate sprinters in the nation.
Jordan won NCAA championships in:
100-yard freestyle — 1989
50-yard freestyle — 1991
100-yard freestyle — 1991
He also captained Texas' 1990–91 NCAA championship team and was part of four consecutive NCAA team championships from 1988 through 1991.
Internationally, Jordan achieved something even greater.
He won an Olympic gold medal at the:
1988 SEOUL OLYMPICS
and returned four years later to win another at the:
1992 BARCELONA OLYMPICS.
Both gold medals came as a member of United States freestyle relay teams.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: NCAA Champion • 2× Olympic Gold Medalist
RICHARD QUICK
Highland Park • SMU • Legendary Coach
Richard Quick's contribution to swimming began as an athlete at Highland Park and eventually influenced generations of American swimmers.
Quick was an All-State and All-American swimmer at Highland Park before continuing his career at SMU, where he became an All-American and Southwest Conference champion.
But coaching became his defining legacy.
Quick went on to become one of the most successful collegiate swimming coaches in history.
His teams won an extraordinary:
13 NCAA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS.
That included five consecutive NCAA championships at Texas from 1984 through 1988, seven titles at Stanford and another championship at Auburn.
Quick also coached United States Olympic swimming teams at six different Olympic Games:
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
HIGHLAND PARK LEGACY: Highland Park All-American • 13× NCAA Championship Coach • International Swimming Hall of Fame
TEN STRAIGHT STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Few accomplishments better demonstrate Highland Park's swimming tradition than the run produced by the girls swimming and diving program.
Beginning in 2001, Highland Park won the Class 4A state championship every year for an entire decade:
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
TEN CONSECUTIVE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS.
The UIL's official championship records document Highland Park as the champion in every one of those seasons.
The streak ended in 2011.
Highland Park then returned to the top almost immediately.
2012 — STATE CHAMPIONS
2013 — STATE CHAMPIONS
That brought the Highland Park girls program to:
12 TEAM STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS.
THE BOYS' CHAMPIONSHIP TRADITION
Highland Park boys swimming and diving has its own state championship history.
2000
Highland Park captured the Class 4A boys swimming and diving state championship.
Nearly two decades later, another generation of Scots brought Highland Park back to the top.
2017 — STATE CHAMPIONS
2018 — STATE CHAMPIONS
The Scots won back-to-back Class 5A championships, giving Highland Park three boys swimming and diving team state titles.
FOUR SCOTS. SEVEN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS.
Few facts better capture the reach of Highland Park swimming and diving.
DAVID “SKIPPY” BROWNING
1952 Olympic Gold — Diving
MIKE HEATH
1984 — Three Olympic Gold Medals
BRUCE HAYES
1984 Olympic Gold — Swimming
SHAUN JORDAN
1988 & 1992 Olympic Gold — Swimming
4 HIGHLAND PARK OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS
7 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS.
Their Highland Park careers spanned more than four decades, from Browning in the 1940s to Jordan in the 1980s.
Different generations.
Different events.
The same Highland Park beginning.
A DALLAS SWIMMING LEGACY
Highland Park also played a role in the development of competitive swimming beyond the high-school program itself.
The Dallas swimming community that eventually became associated with the Dallas Mustang Swim Team trained at Highland Park and SMU facilities, creating another connection between Highland Park, elite Dallas swimming and future national and international competitors.
Richard Quick was part of that history as both a Highland Park athlete and later a prominent Dallas swimming coach.
The connection between Highland Park, SMU and elite swimming became an important part of the sport's development in Dallas.
THE TRADITION CONTINUES
The history is still being written.
At the 2026 UIL Swimming & Diving State Championships, Highland Park produced four podium finishes.
The girls finished sixth in the state, while the boys finished ninth.
Highland Park diver Cullen Kemp won the state silver medal and broke the school record, while teammate Nathan Harris also finished among the state's top eight divers.
Highland Park was the only Texas school to place two divers in the top eight at the 2026 state meet.
From Skippy Browning's Olympic gold medal in 1952 to today's Scots competing for state medals, Highland Park's swimming and diving tradition continues across generations.
FIFTEEN TEAM STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
GIRLS — 12
2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2012 • 2013
BOYS — 3
2000 • 2017 • 2018
15 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS.
HIGHLAND PARK SWIMMING & DIVING
CHAMPIONS • OLYMPIANS • WORLD STAGE
SCOTS FIND A WAY.
HELP US PRESERVE HIGHLAND PARK ATHLETIC HISTORY
Highland Park's athletic history spans generations, and this archive will continue to grow. If you know of a Scot, team, championship or achievement that should be considered for inclusion, please contact the Highland Park Sports Club.