North County senior Chris Leslie is 18 years old, but he makes it clear what he intends to do for a career. He’s set on becoming an Anne Arundel County or Baltimore County police officer.
“It’s something I have wanted to do since I was a child,” Leslie explains. “I have always liked cop shows. They were my heroes growing up.”
Leslie feels he possesses all the qualities needed to become a successful police officer. “I am a vocal leader, and I motivate people,” he says. “I push people and see how they respond to what I say and how I act. I also really like to help people.”
Leslie has shown his tremendous leadership skills as a member of both the North County varsity football and lacrosse teams. Leslie served as co-captain for the football team the past three years. He’s entering his second year as co-captain of the lacrosse team this spring.
Knights’ Boys Lacrosse Coach Jeff McGuire rarely names non-senior captains, but he made an exception for Leslie. “He is a natural born leader,” McGuire says of Leslie, who is president of North County’s senior class. “He walks into a room, and everybody feels it. He is like a one-in-100,000 kid.”
McGuire and North County Football Coach Quinten Jones also love the way the 6-foot-205-pound Leslie can dominate on the field. Leslie, a four-year starter at running back, rushed for 1,537 yards and 12 touchdowns on 232 carries as a junior while catching 24 passes for 402 yards to earn Second-Team All-County honors.
His best game in 2017 came in a 49-48 loss to Severna Park when he ran for 226 yards and two touchdowns on 23 attempts. “He is an old-school football player,” Jones says. “I think that’s what makes him so great. Chris can do a lot of everything.”
Leslie got off to a fast start this fall. He rushed for 212 yards in a season-opening 34-28 loss to Severna Park on September 1st and two weeks later, finished with 150 yards versus Northeast. “I am really quick coming through the hole, and my vision is really good,” Leslie says of his biggest assets.
Leslie, who has been playing football since he was eight years old, says watching countless hours of film in the offseason made him a better running back. “I have worked on being more patient and watching the play develop,” he explains. “If I get the ball and go two seconds slower, the hole opens. If I try hitting the hole right away, it will be closed.”
Leslie wants to play college football, and he says he has been aggressively recruited by Towson University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
“I feel whatever team offers him a scholarship and gets him, they will say to themselves, ‘Why didn’t we do it earlier,’” Jones says.
In 2019, Leslie wants to duplicate the lacrosse success that he experienced last spring. The midfielder ranked among North County leading scorers with 22 goals, which netted him Second-Team All-County honors.
McGuire says Leslie could have easily played college lacrosse if he had taken up the sport earlier. He didn’t take up the sport until high school, but it didn’t take long for him to break into the varsity’s starting lineup. He did it as a sophomore.
“If he had started playing lacrosse in the sixth or seventh grade, I think he could have college opportunities at the Division I level,” McGuire says. “With his physical abilities, I don’t know how a school could turn him down. He is a man among boys sometimes in a high school game.”
