Fort Walton Beach High School senior Tori Orcutt is a true champion. Out of 40,000 applicants, Tori was named the Heisman High School Scholarship female winner just three years after her brother Daniel won the male award. Orcutt excels on the field and in the classroom. She lettered in four sports – earning 14 state medals in swimming and track. She is a national champion in the Modern Pentathlon. She is Daily News Girls Swimmer of the Year, and has an athletic scholarship to the University of Kentucky.

In the classroom, Orcutt has a 4.71 GPA. And in the community, she’s logged more than 900 hours of community service. “My parents have always told me to strive not to be a success, but a person of character,” Tori said. Even with all those accomplishments, the All Sports Association Award came as a surprise. “I had no idea this was happening,” said the 17-year-old. “I thought I was getting into trouble, and I walked into my principal’s office and to see my friends, my family and the All Sports Association was amazing.”

As a prelude to tonight’s banquet, Orcutt traveled to New York City on December 14th for the Heisman Ceremony. All the honors are validation that it was the right move to come back to Florida after spending her sophomore year in Oklahoma.
“So being a military kid, I’m moved 17 times in 17 years and the move back to Florida was the only one we chose voluntarily,” she said. “So it feels very nice that it’s all paid off and it was worth it in the end.”

By D. Jeffcoat, based on articles by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News, December 5 and 12, 2019. Photos by Devon Ravine, Daily News