Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame
Maegan Harris’ legacy at Augustana includes, among other things: a total of eight varsity letters in track and cross country; All-America honors twice; five school records, one of which still stands; three CCIW titles; team captaincies and MVP honors in each sport; numerous academic honors and three Viking Spirit Awards. In addition, Harris was a member of four CCIW champion track teams and three conference title-winning cross country outfits. She also helped Coach Fred Whiteside’s Viking harriers to a pair of top-20 national finishes.
Harris’ career at Augustana culminated with All-America recognition at 800 meters both indoors and outdoors in 2000. She finished eighth at the indoor nationals with a time of 2:16.45 and seventh at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships, running a 2:15.11. That capped an eventful track season for the senior co-captain and team MVP. She also won a conference 800-meter title (2:17.21) outdoors and was a member of school record-setting relays in the sprint (4:24.74) and distance (12:15.63) medleys indoors, as well as the sprint medley relay (4:05.25) outdoors. The outdoor mark still stands to this day. In addition, she recorded personal bests at 800 (2:14.53) and 1500 (4:44.92) meters indoors, which still rank second and fifth, respectively, in school history. Her outdoor 800 best of 2:13.76 is fourth all-time at Augustana. She helped lead the Vikings to the CCIW team title for the fourth consecutive year and was a USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree as well.
Maegan’s athletic career at Augustana began with the 1996 cross country season. The freshman out of Springfield High School in Springfield, Illinois earned all-conference honors with a 15th-place (20:23) finish at the CCIW meet, helping the Vikings to the team title. She went on to finish 40th (19:18) at the NCAA Midwest Regional, was named the team’s Most Valuable Freshman and to the NCAA Division III Coaches Association Academic Honor Roll. In the spring of 1997, she added Most Valuable Freshman honors in track.
As a sophomore, Harris helped Whiteside’s cross country squad to another CCIW team title, finishing 12th individually to again achieve all-conference status. She was 57th (20:12) at regionals and 175th (21:16) at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, where Augustana finished 19th as a team. In track, Harris won a CCIW title with the Viking 4x400 (3:59.59) relay unit and qualified for nationals in that event as well as the 800. The USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree was Augustana’s Viking Spirit Award winner in both cross country and track that year.
The 1998-99 academic year again yielded CCIW championships in both cross country and track. Harris, a junior, was sixth at the CCIW Cross Country Championships with a personal three-mile best of 17:35, which still ranks sixth in school history. She went on to finish 46th at regionals (18:53) and 112th at nationals (19:33), where her effort helped the Vikings to an 11th-place team finish. During the indoor track season, Harris set career bests at 1000 meters (3:02.69) and the mile (5:17.69). Her 1000 mark was a school record at the time and is still second all-time at Augustana. Her time in the mile is currently 10th-best in school history. Outdoors, she won the CCIW title at 1500 meters (4:56.25) and qualified for nationals in the 800 and 4x400 relay. She was again the Viking Spirit Award winner and a USTFCCCA All-Academic team member.
In the fall of 1999, Harris wrapped up her Viking cross country career as a team captain and MVP. She was the individual champion at the Mt. St. Clare Invitational, finish 22nd (20:20) at the CCIW meet and 38th (19:20) at regionals.
Said Harris, “My coaches, Fred Whiteside and Ron Standley, set the perfect example of doing your best no matter the task. The selfless giving of oneself and tireless effort modeled by these coaches remains unparalleled.”
Harris graduated from Augustana in 2000 with degrees in chemistry and mathematics and went on to earn her master’s in chemistry from the University of Minnesota. She taught chemistry and coached track and cross country at Hill-Murray School in Maplewood, Minnesota from 2003 to 2007. She continued running well after her Augustana years and in 2006, finished 42nd among women competitors at the New York City Marathon with a time of 2:58:15.
Maegan and her husband Jason Burney currently reside in Aurora, Illinois with children Julia, Aubrey, Emily and Cooper. Harris has been a stay-at-home mother since 2008 and in 2013 started as an adjunct professor of chemistry at Waubonsee Community College.
