University of North Carolina Athletics
2002 Men's Lacrosse Roster

Zack Leader
- Position:
- Defenseman
- Height:
- 6-0
- Weight:
- 210
- Class:
- Redshirt Junior
- Hometown:
- Birmingham, Mich.
- High School:
- Seaholm
General: Returns to the Tar Heel defensive unit after red-shirting during 2001 campaign...two-time returning letter winner for the Tar Heels...started for the Tar Heels during the 2000 season on a full-time basis...also started eight of the Tar Heels’ 14 games as a true freshman in 1999...has 66 ground balls and 71 takeaways in his career.
2001 Season: Red-shirted as a junior.
2000 Season: Started all 14 games for the Tar Heels as a sophomore...had 44 ground balls on the season and 47 takeaways...equaled his career high for ground balls with five against Fairfield and Hofstra...had four ground balls against Delaware, Penn and Maryland...had at least ne ground ball in every game and two takeaways in every game...had a season high for takeaways of five each against Fairfield, Navy, Pennsylvania and Lehigh.
1999 Season: Stepped and played with yeoman-like efficiency as a freshman...took over a spot in the starting lineup after Matt Kull fell ill...started eight of the last nine games of the season on close defense and did a solid job...finished the season with 24 takeaways, topped by four at Maryland...had 22 ground balls on the season, including a season-high five against Duke...also had four ground balls against Denver.
Prep: Played football for four years as a linebacker and basketball for one year in addition to playing lacrosse at Seaholm High School...in 1996 he was named second team All-State and second-team All-Midwest in lacrosse...in 1997, he was tapped as first-team All-State and second team All-Midwest on the lacrosse field...as a senior in 1998 he was named first-team All-State...was named the team’s most valuable player and the squad’s best defenseman as well...as a senior he was named All-Area in football.
Personal: Given name is Zachary Thomas Leader...born November 18, 1979 in Detroit, Mich....has two brothers and two sisters...is the son of Gus Leader and Susan Leader and Ms. Jill Leader...hobbies includes photography, sky diving, skiing and fly fishing...most admired athlete is Mike Singletary...communications major...plans to teach high school and work as a photographer...biggest sports thrill was playing in the state semifinal football playoffs at Seaholm High School and beating Princeton his freshman year in overtime because that was the first game he started in his Carolina career.
Personality Chart
College Major... Communications
Post-School Ambition... Teach high school and work as a photographer
Hobbies... Photography, Skiing, Fishing
Person Who Has Had The Greatest Influence On Your Athletic Career... My father
Athlete You Most Admire... Mike Singletary
Favorite Book... My Side Of The Mountain
Favorite Food... Japanese
Favorite TV Shows... Win Ben Stein’s Money
Movie You’ve Most Enjoyed... Smokey and The Bandit, James Bono
Biggest Sports Thrill... Making it through two rounds of playoffs in my senior year of football at Seaholm High School; beating Princeton his freshman year in overtime because that was the first game he started in his Carolina career.
Complete Name... Zachary Thomas Leader
Birthdate and Birthplace... November 18, 1979 in Detroit, Mich.
Parents’ Names... Albert “Gus” Leader and Susan Leader; Ms. Jill Leader
Zack Leader's Career Statistics | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | GP/GS | SH | G | A | PTS | GB | |
1999 | 14/8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | |
2000 | 14/14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | |
Totals | 28/22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 |
Career Highs:
Ground Balls-- 5 vs. Duke, 4-23-99, vs. Fairfield, 2-20-00, and vs. Hofstra, 4-29-00; Takeaways-- 5 vs. Fairfield, 2-20-00, vs. Navy, 3-4-00, vs. Penn, 3-13-00, and vs, Lehigh, 5-4-00.