Meeting Exacting Standards : Solid on Football Field, Spectacular in Classroom, Krim of Thousand Oaks Is Ideal Student-Athlete

Kevin Krim’s day begins when he walks into a classroom at 7:25 a.m. Yet it is far from over when he walks off the football practice field at 5:30.

From there, it’s a quick meal, a look at the day’s headlines, then 3 1/2 hours of concentrated study. Lately, he has indulged in a little television watching, only because he wouldn’t think of missing the presidential debates. Ordinarily, the boob tube is taboo.

Weekends are crammed with more homework and maybe, just maybe , a movie, a slice of pizza and a sliver of social life.

Tough schedule, but then again, couch potatoes don’t make it to Harvard.

Krim, a Thousand Oaks High honors student in advance-placement courses of physics, calculus, English and fourth-semester French, just might.

Krim is the creme de la creme of the Thousand Oaks senior class, No. 1 academically among 562 students. He’s also a two-way starter for one of the area’s top football teams with a future as promising as a first and goal inside the five.

Krim’s 4.0 grade-point average and 1,510 (out of a possible 1,600) Scholastic Aptitude Test score, coupled with his better-than-average ability as an outside linebacker and tight end, likely will land him in an Ivy League school next fall. Krim already has visited Harvard, Princeton and Yale. He is leaning toward Harvard.

“They’ve said they’re interested, and that they’re interested in seeing what kind of a football player I am,” said Krim (6-foot, 195 pounds), who has caught two passes for 41 yards in his first season as a starting tight end. Krim, described by Lancer Coach Bob Richards as “a very good football player,” started at linebacker last season.

“I’m very competitive and I take athletics the way I take academics: I don’t like losing and I don’t like getting a bad grade,” Krim said.

As an Ivy League school, which competes in football at the NCAA Division I-AA level, Harvard does not offer athletic scholarships but can assist student-athletes with grants, loans and work-study programs based on financial need. The school’s coaches will not discuss a prospective player specifically, according to Marcella Zalot, an assistant athletic director.

“But if they have the grades and they can play the sport, obviously the coaches are going to be very interested in them,” Zalot said.

While Thousand Oaks has struggled to a 2-3-1 record and a 2-1 Marmonte League mark entering tonight’s game at Channel Islands, Krim has remained ahead of the academic game. His class load also includes a government class and, of course, football.

As if he weren’t busy enough, Krim has played a supporting role in a school play, serves as a contributing writer for the school yearbook and newspaper and remains a member of the French and Gridiron clubs, as well as the school’s Ventura County champion academic decathlon team.

“It’s the little things that add up,” Krim said. “Last year was a really difficult school year, academically. It takes a lot of organization.”

Yet, never throughout junior high or high school has Krim received anything below an A in any class. And never has Richards seen a student-athlete like him.

“I’ve been coaching 27 years, and I’ve never had anything close to this,” he said. “He’s very knowledgeable in politics and current affairs. And he is one of the (best) read individuals you’ll ever find.”

Krim peruses two local newspapers daily and “devours” Tom Clancy novels. He subscribes to Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone and the philosophy that every individual should stand up and be counted, regardless of age.

“I feel a lot of people in my age group--even if they can’t vote--have the power to be politically heard,” Krim said. “I’m kind of argumentative, and I love having people disagree with me because it shows they’re thinking. Being apathetic is wrong.”

On Tuesday, Krim will turn 18. Already a registered voter, he is poised to go to the polls Nov. 3.

“I’ve watched all the debates and I’ve been following this race very closely,” he said.

In a recent editorial for the school newspaper, Krim, a self-described “liberal-leaning moderate,” wrote: “Despite Republican attempts to vilify liberalism in general, and the ideals of the Sixties in particular, these principles still represent a solid hope for a better society.”

A budding politician? Perhaps. Krim already has served a term as a student-council senator. But a law degree seems a likely first step.

Last spring, Krim played the role of prosecutor on the school’s “Mock Trial” team that won the county championship and placed 11th in the state competition in Sacramento. He plans to join the team again next semester.

“One of the attorneys there made the comment that Kevin had a better courtroom presence than many attorneys,” Richards said.

Krim admits that the combative nature of trying a case appeals to his competitive spirit.

“There’s something about (law) I’ve always enjoyed,” he said. “I like to argue and I’m not too shy in front of people. But I don’t know if I’d want to be a lawyer and have everybody hate me.”

He pauses for a moment. “But I guess that’s stereotyping.”

Krim should know better. He may be loaded with gray matter, but he does not, as some people assume, collect rocks or scrutinize bugs under a microscope.

“I encounter a lot of stereotypes both ways,” he said. “A lot of people think I’m a dumb jock and a lot of people who don’t know I’m athletic think I’m a nerd. But it’s fun. I’m sure I catch a lot of people off guard. It’s fun for me to break down their stereotypes.”

For openers, nerds don’t date the school’s head cheerleader. Krim does.

Heather McLean, a senior and classmate of Krim’s in French and English, has dated Krim for the past 10 months. “I’m lucky,” Krim said. “She’s very understanding.”

She’s also busy with the books herself. McLean is an honor student and member of the Mock Trial team, as well as senior class vice president.

“Kevin studies a lot more than I do,” she said. “I admire him a lot. He really works hard both in football and school. His SAT scores are incredible.”

How do they find the time for fun? “We don’t,” McLean said with a chuckle. “It’s hard, really hard. It’s always in-between things.”

Krim spends his lunch hours studying game films with the football team or practicing with his academic decathlon teammates.

After school, practice, dinner and, perhaps, Dan Rather, it’s just Krim, a textbook and a desk-top lamp until late hours.

When will it end? Ask him when he has his diploma from an Ivy League school.

“It’s tough,” Krim said. “It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of sacrifice. But I’m pretty proud of it.”