By Thomas Grant Jr.
As outdoor temperatures start to get chilly, Mark Zona can be found working in his “happy place from home” at Lexington High School.
Whether it’s in the press box for football, baseball, softball or cross-country or at the scorer’s table for basketball, he’s seen and heard by fans throughout the school year as the public address announcer.
“I like being behind the scenes just like creating and watching because I’m a fan too at heart,” Zona said. “And so, the best thing I can be doing on a Friday night or a Tuesday night or a Wednesday night is I’m at the venue that I want to be at and I’ve got a cool job and I’ve got the best seat and I’m gonna cheer like crazy for my team. So that’s kind of fun.”
The “voice” of Wildcat sports since 2016, Zona estimates he’s worked “just over 1,020” games at Lexington High. In addition to the PA duties, Zona has spread his talents over to both the Wildcat Sports and National Federation of High School Network to do play-by-play for various sports.
“Mark Zona has been fantastic to work with,” said former Lexington boys basketball coach Bailey Harris, who’s collaborated with him covering cross-country. “Very professional and dependable. I’ve never been to a cross-country meet that had an announcer / DJ for the entire meet to keep the fans informed. A unique Lexington HS experience.
“From a basketball standpoint he’s simply the best, well maybe a tie with my guy from OW (Willie Johnson). I even had the pleasure recently of calling the state track meet for Class 2A and Class 3A for NFHS and we had a blast and got good reviews on our broadcast together. He’s just so professional in all that he does.”
“An amazing announcer”
Over the years, Zona witnessed state championship teams led by coaching legends like Harris, Brian Hucks in baseball and Chris Fryland in girls’ soccer. He’s watched the early development of the likes of former Major League Baseball catcher Nick Ciuflo, former “Mr. South Carolina Football” Shaq Roland, former University of South Carolina women’s basketball national champion Olivia Thompson, University of Georgia catcher Sarah Gordon and most recently, current Gamecock freshman guard Cam Scott.
He approaches each event with both a professional and “fan” mindset. As much as Zona tries to “amp up” Lexington supporters, he also wants to make the game experience memorable for all in attendance.
“What do you do to create excitement but not overdo it because if I was just playing music and talking through the microphone, nobody would show up,” Zona said. “But if you just paint a frame around the game, make it a little bit more exciting at the right times, do the right things and call out the right names, I just thought that increases the environment by just a touch and you can have just a small little piece of that homefield advantage.”
Such an approach has earned him praise from both fans, players, and coaches alike.
“Mark Zona plays a vital role in our program and for our entire school at Lexington,” Lady Wildcats’ girls basketball coach Molly Goodrich said. “He has a passion for announcing at our games and his enthusiasm and professionalism not only elevate our events but create a unique connection with our players and crowds. Mark has the ability to engage listeners and highlight key moments during our games and the girls just love having him at our scorer’s table.
“I have been at Lexington High for 10 years and I can’t remember one game that he wasn’t a part of. He even donates his time and energy to provide his talents during our Christmas Classic Basketball Tournament, which is three full days during the busiest time of the year. He simply is an amazing announcer, but an even better person.”
“A really big stage”
From an early age growing up in Pittsburgh, Penn., a young Zona showed a heavy interest in calling games. He would mimic doing “play by play” of his beloved Pirates and Steelers on television using an oversized tape recorder received at Christmas.
After high school, Zona attended the University of Dayton in Ohio to pursue a bachelor’s degree in radio/TV and Business. He became roommates with Bill Pugh, the older brother of former ESPN and longtime sports talk host Dan Patrick and ended up working various jobs in radio in Southeast Ohio.
A career change to computer work prompted Zona to move his family to South Carolina. The itch to stay involved in sports still remained with him and things fell into place when his two children attended Lexington High School.
Having a daughter in cheer and a son on the football team would set the stage for Zona to return to sports. The opportunity opened when he was approached by then-Wildcats head football coach Scott Earley approached him about the PA duties.
And the rest is history.
“I think Lexington is a really big stage,” Zona said. “I think a lot of schools are, but I think Lexington has one of the bigger stages.”
For all of Zona’s work, he realizes it’s the heavy backing provided by the parents, coaches and school administrators that makes Wildcat athletics successful. He cited this past year’s Carlisle Cup results, the points system used to determine the Palmetto State’s top athletic programs, where Lexington finished second by a small margin to Dorman in Class 5A.
“There’s a culture that gets built and the culture likes a certain type of coach and is attracted to a certain type of coach and you get more and more good people like that in the system and you keep churning out wins.”
As long as good things continue to happen in Lexington sports, Zona will go “as long as they want me to.”
Photo by Lexingtonwildcats.com
