STUDENT-ATHLETE: Milk does a local good

Palo Verde grad will use scholarship for Harvard tuition

Cameron Parker is a one-in-a-million student-athlete, so it's no surprise the recent Palo Verde graduate was one of just 25 graduating seniors from across the country picked from a pool of more than 75,000 applicants as winner of the Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year award.

Parker received the award, which was chosen by a panel of milk mustache athletes including Andy Roddick, Jason Kidd and Mia Hamm, for outstanding academic achievement, athletic ability, leadership and community involvement.

Parker was featured in a milk mustache ad in issues of Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine and the $7,500 scholarship he earned will help pay his tuition at Harvard University, which doesn't offer athletic or academic scholarships.

Parker, whose two older sisters went to college in Utah, decided to apply to the prestigious Ivy League school last year.

"It was scripted for 18 years for me to go to Utah for school, but after I got some test scores back and did some research last year, I decided (Harvard) was something worth shooting for," Parker said.

Parker, who graduated as one of 10 valedictorians at Palo Verde, with a weighted 4.7 grade-point average, was accepted to the school early, in December of last year, and will play tennis for Harvard in the fall.

"I wasn't banking on getting in, to be honest, you can't on Harvard, but I was actually accepted early. I was surprised, but I was ecstatic. It's where I really wanted to go," he said. "It's the best of both worlds. The school's great, obviously, and the tennis team is ranked in the top 20. Hopefully I'll be able to add something to the team."

Parker is a nationally ranked tennis player and captured state singles titles his freshman and sophomore year. He won the last three Sunset Region singles titles as well and won more than 120 matches overall in his high school career, while losing only five -- including just one, in the state semifinals, in the last three years.

Armed with a serve clocked at 123 mph, Parker finished fourth in the Intermountain Section winter championships and placed sixth in the summer. He has been ranked as high as 31st in the country in singles and eighth in doubles.

Former Palo Verde head coach Tom Froistad, who coached Andre Agassi in junior high school, said Parker is comparable to the Las Vegas legend.

"I've coached here over 25 years and I've only seen two kids in tennis as good as him, Andre Agassi and Jason Muterspaw," Froistad said. "He breezed through (the postseason) this year. He was in such total control and, physically, he was head and shoulders above the competition."

Parker said he's content to play college tennis; he has loftier goals in mind for the future.

"I don't think pro tennis is in my future," he said. "There are too many good players and, to be honest, there are too many other things I'm interested in doing the next 20 or 30 years."

Froistad said he's more impressed with Parker off the court and was thrilled to learn he earned the SAMMY award.

"I think it's phenomenal. It kind of validates everything I tell people about what a great human being he is," Froistad said. "He's the real deal. The thing about him I like most is he's genuine. He always has a smile on his face, he's outgoing and friendly. He's one of the only people to call me Mr. Froistad. He's so talented in everything he does."

Parker, who also earned a $1,500 National Merit scholarship, is very active in his church and volunteers his time at Opportunity Village and to the Players that Care tennis charity for ovarian cancer research.

He was named one of just 40 All-Americans by the National High School Tennis All-American Foundation his sophomore year and he also competes in chess.

Parker was his sophomore class president and class secretary his junior year. He also was active in student council and was a member of the National Honor Society.

He also recently earned the ranking of Eagle Scout, and he said he enjoys staying so active.

"It's just fun. I'm definitely involved in some things more than others. I try to allocate my time where I think my efforts will best help me in growing as a person," he said. "Some things I just flat out enjoy. I'm really learning to love tennis for the first time. It's something I always haven't had too great a passion for, but my passion for the game is growing as my career progresses.

"School's always been a passion of mine. That's my first love."

Parker's daily routine started with waking up at 5 a.m., to a breakfast faithfully prepared by his mother, Lisa, and then he went to seminary at 5:45 a.m. He went to school from 7 to 11 a.m., ate lunch, and then spent four hours playing tennis and training. After that, he'd do homework until he went to bed, around 11 p.m. or later.

"I got enough sleep, because there's no way you can play tennis on an empty tank," he said. "I definitely had a lot of help from my parents (father, Jeff, led Clark High School to two state tennis titles). They've really done everything they can to help me balance my schedule and keep me going, when there's no way I could do everything myself. They've been great examples to me, as have my brothers and sisters."

Parker plans to enter politics later in life.

"Long-term, I want to go into politics, but I don't want to go straight in," he said. "I want to go into some sort of business first, and when I'm around 50, I'll go in the back door."


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