Born and raised in Burlington, Vermont, Zack got a relatively late start to Irish dancing, competing at his first feis at age 13. Throughout his competitive career, he had the opportunity to dance for the McNeish School of Irish Dance (Vermont, USA), The Bernadette Short School of Irish Dance (Quebec, CAN), The WA Academy of Irish Dance (WA, AUS), and the McFadden Academy of Irish Dance (Vermont, USA), where he taught from when he passed his TCRG in 2014, until when he passed his ADCRG in 2022. Since qualifying as an adjudicator, he has had the honour of adjudicating in the US and internationally, including the All-Scotland, Australian National, and North American Championships. Although his late start led to being a self-described “upper mediocre” dancer, he did have some highlights including being the first person from the State of Vermont to compete at the World Championships, and top ten finishes at the British National and All Ireland Championships (in easy years). Zack’s passion project is the new movement of University-level Irish Dance, where he is a founding and Executive Board Member of the Collegiate Irish Dance Association (collegeirishdance.org), which allows recognised university clubs to compete against each other under CLRG rules. Outside of dance, Zack holds a Bachelor’s in Nursing, a Master’s in Aerospace Management, and works at Delta Air Lines headquarters. He has lived in Seattle since 2017. The Champions' Step-About from the McAleer Championship was the first video of Australian Irish Dance he ever saw, on grainy YouTube, probably circa 2009, and is very excited to experience it in person all these years later, and wishes the best of luck to all the dancers.