National Championship2005Outdoor Pole Vault (16'11")
Brian DeLoriea '05 won the national championship in pole vault at the 2005 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a mark of 16'11". The four-year member of the track and field program and Stanford, Ill., native cleared the height on his first attempt to gain the tiebreaker over second-place finisher Nick Pergande of UW-LaCrosse.
A stunned DeLoriea had a hard time finding words to describe the feeling of joining an elite group of 15 North Central individuals to win a national title in track and field. It was also his third All-American honor at NCAA III Outdoors (eighth in 2004, second in 2003).
“It’s incredible,” DeLoriea said. “I thought it was possible coming into to the meet, but it’s not something I thought about while I was competing. The most amazing thing to me is that we had four guys here, with the three seniors all earning All-American honors.”
DeLoriea's performance helped North Central to its best finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since 2000 when the team won the title with 52 points. The Cardinals placed fifth in 2005 with 31.5 points.
