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Balancing academics at The College of Wooster and athletics is hard enough playing one sport, or even two. Carrie Zuro upped the ante and did so successfully, excelling in three different sports during her first two years before a pinnacle lifetime event altered her junior and senior years.
“Carrie was exceptional,” said Dennis Rice, who coached then-named Carrie Headrick for two seasons in track & field. “She was able to balance (the commitments) and perform at a high level in three sports. She excelled in the classroom as well. In this day-and-age, you don’t see many two-sport student-athletes, let alone three-sport standouts.”
In addition to track, Headrick was a standout in volleyball and women’s basketball her freshman and sophomore years. An atypical college student not only in her athletic ability, but in terms of her priorities, she got married to Matt Zuro (still her husband to this day) following her sophomore year.
While balancing marriage and school, Zuro continued to standout on the volleyball court for the Fighting Scots, as she capped a four-year career in that sport as the program’s all-time leader in kills with 1,044. Additionally, she surpassed the 1,000 milestone in digs (1,141), and to this day is one of just three members of the 1,000-kill, 1,000-dig club.
The accomplishments do not stop there. Zuro was the first volleyball player in Wooster history to earn all-conference honors four times – a feat that only one other has matched since.
Prior to her marriage, Zuro hurdled past the competition both at the conference level and amongst all Ohio competition (within Div. III). She was a two-time North Coast Athletic Conference champion in the 100 hurdles with times of 15.48 and 15.71 at the 1994 and 1995 meets, respectively, and added four more all-NCAC citations in the 400 hurdles and 4x400 relay for six in all. Zuro garnered four all-Ohio honors, headlined by a first-place time of 1:06.31 in the 400 hurdles in 1994.
“Carrie was a big-meet performer,” confirmed Rice when thinking back at Zuro’s career. “She always performed best in championship meets whether it was in individual events or as part of relays.”
Not to be overlooked, Zuro was a two-year starting guard on the hardwood. As a sophomore, she pulled the rare double of leading the team in rebounds (7.0 rpg) and assists (3.7 apg) while averaging double figures in scoring (10.8 ppg).
One of her most memorable basketball games would be one of her last – Feb. 18, 1995. Zuro scored 28 points in a decisive win over Denison University, with 16 of those points coming at the free throw line – a single-game team record that remains today.
Since earning her bachelor’s degree as a history major (elementary education minor), Zuro has turned her attention to family. She and Matt have six children – Lauren (18), Hannah (15), Blake (13), Ellie (10), Madilyn (6), and Grant (1) – and they live in Wadsworth.
Zuro now happily enjoys playing sports with her family and attending all of her children’s athletic and school events, and when she has free time, she spends it working out at home or serving others.