Jefferson County's Lauren Eccles wins Wendy's High School Heisman National Award

Lauren Eccles was coming back to Jefferson County in early November when she saw news vans parked outside her school. She was perplexed. But smart with a knack for figuring out math problems, she figured those vans were there because she was going to be named a national finalist for the Wendy's High School Heisman. 

But Eccles was wrong. 

Eccles, 17, a senior, was named the national winner of the Wendy's High School Heisman Award, which is based on athletic achievement, academic success and community involvement. The winner is awarded a $5,000 scholarship. 

"I'm still shocked," said Eccles, who is considering Georgia Tech, Stanford, Tennessee and Virginia Tech and plans to major in chemical engineering. "There's so many other applicants across the nation, and I thought there were other kids that would have other opportunities."

Eccles is the valedictorian with a 4.0 grade-point average. She ran track, swam and played soccer. She had a perfect score on the ACT and a 1540 out of 1600 on the SAT.

She will travel to New York this weekend and will be presented the award before the Heisman Trophy ceremony Saturday night – Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray and Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins are the three Heisman finalists this year. 

The award is based on a student's athletic achievement, academic success and community involvement. The winner is awarded a $5,000 scholarship. 

"I'm still shocked," said Eccles, who is considering going to Georgia Tech, Stanford, Tennessee and Virginia Tech and will major in chemical engineering. "There's so many other applicants across the nation, and I thought there were other kids that would have other opportunities."

Eccles is the first person from Tennessee to win the award since Sarah Edwards from Sevierville won in 1997. Edwards ended up walking on for the Lady Vols basketball team.