University of Tennessee Athletics
Decathlete Harris Awarded Davis/Zwingle Scholarship For Leadership
September 12, 2002 | Men's Track
Sept. 12, 2002
Although decathlete Stephen Harris has won All-America honors in each of his three seasons as a Volunteer, the Norcross, Ga., native has proven equally adept at securing off-the-field acclaim. Harris took home the Vic Davis/Earl Zwingle Scholarship Tuesday night at Torch Night in Thompson-Boling Arena. The $1,000 scholarship is awarded to a rising senior who has demonstrated exceptional campus leadership through participation in extracurricular activities in the spirt of Davis and Zwingle. "I am very honored to receive such an award," Harris said. "But I'd like to think that this award is not just representing me, but it also represents all of those who have guided me along the way and filled me with the character that the Vic Davis/Earl Zwingle Scholarship represents. I feel that I am just a channel for the goodness shown to me to give to others." In April, Harris joined such notables as Ambassador Andrew Young and three-time Olympic gold medalist Gwen Torrence for the 2002 Peach of an Athlete Role Model Awards Banquet sponsored by the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Harris was one of 16 amateur athletes honored at the banquet. Additionally, Harris served as one of two students on UT's Presidential Search Advisory Committee. From coaching Senior Olympians to playing with children at the Boys and Girls Club Field Day, Harris has been one of the most active squad members in the track and field/cross country community service efforts. On the track, Harris posted a pair of fourth-place finishes as a freshman and junior and a runner-up finish as a sophomore at the NCAA Outdoors. The runner-up effort helped the Vols to their first NCAA Outdoor title in a decade. Harris' fourth-place, 7,651-point effort as a rookie stands as the best ever performance by a freshman in the NCAA decathlon. Harris' 7,955-point performance to nab fourth place at the 2002 NCAA Outdoors stands as a personal best and the fifth-best score in UT history.
