2008 Woodie Awards
Harris breaks record in Summit League Championships
Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: Sports
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"We performed really well," said coach Mike Stevenson. "We had some people really take over and become leaders, whether it is the way they performed or the way they acted. We weren't supposed to win and we didn't. Our terms of success is how the kids perform, and they performed very well."
The Leathernecks finished in third place with a total of 68.50 points, just edging out Southern Utah with 66.50 points. North Dakota State won its first Summit League title with a total of 199 points.
The Westerwinds recorded a total of 77 points to place fifth in the conference. North Dakota's women's team finished the sweep of the Summit League Championships, finishing first with a total of 184 points.
Harris broke Oral Roberts' Marsha Dawkins' 2003 record of 7.57 seconds. The junior college transfer also added a bronze medal to her gold in the 60-meter dash and her silver in the long jump, taking third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.39 seconds.
"I had a lot of competition," Harris said. "I looked over at the finish line, and I saw my entire team standing there. I've never experienced anything like that. It was a thrill to cross the finish line with them all cheering me on."
Senior Sean Delahunt completed the Leathernecks' sweep of the throwing events after teammate junior David Roscoe finished first in the weight throw on Friday, by taking first in the shot put with a throw of 57'06.25" (17.53m).
The gold medal was Delahunt's second straight in the shot put, defeating North Dakota State's R.J. Gross by over two meters.
"It was nice to see Sean get back into form because he struggled a little bit in the middle of the season," Stevenson said. "He threw big today, and hopefully he'll take that confidence into the outdoor season."
Freshman Nichole Manning won the first medal in her career, taking second-place in the pole vault with a vault of 11'05.75" (3.50m).
Rounding out the medals for Western was junior Kevin Deegan. He finished third in the 800-meter run, crossing the finish line with a time of 1:54.75.
Sophomore Brian Pinta had a strong showing in the men's heptathlon, finishing with 4,791 points while setting personal-best marks in six of the seven events. Pinta also took fourth in the triple jump with a jump of 45'01.50" (13.75m).
Western had 10 athletes named to the Summit League All-League Team.
Those 10 athletes are: senior Mary Scott, freshman Julie Dietsch, freshman Josi Parker, junior Mary Kate Jackson, Harris, senior Amy Zaffino, Roscoe, Delahunt, Manning and Deegan.
-Western Illinois University
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