Z Cimoroni on Hockey, Resilience, and Everyday Improvement

In Episode 14 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Z Cimoroni, senior, hockey and lacrosse player, award-winning percussionist, and Sherman Price Speaking Contest finalist. He takes us back to growing up in Shaker Heights, finding his way to US when Shaker dropped its honors classes, and walking the track during ILT with the friends who became his core group. Z opens up about what it was like to start here in the middle of COVID, how the brotherhood and incredible teachers pulled him into the community, and why having his younger brother John at US has made his own experience feel even more meaningful.

From packed student sections at “the Bart” to the noise of the locker room, Z reflects on the culture behind US hockey’s success, navigating injury and time away from the game, and how sports have sharpened his leadership and mental approach. In the classroom and beyond, he shares how Anderson Scholars in Entrepreneurship, Spanish Honor Society, and jazz ensemble helped him find a passion for business and economics, and what it took to deliver his Sherman “Demons in Our Pockets” speech on phones and social media without freezing on stage. Looking ahead to a high-spirit, high-academic college where he can study business or economics, Z talks about family-led college tours, being remembered as someone who worked hard and was kind, and his “why”: a genuine love for hockey, drums, and lacrosse, a willingness to “embrace the suck” in the hard moments, and a daily drive to make “tomorrow you better than today.”

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.