Niagara University Athletics

Outlook: In her final season, Julie Dickhans (pronounced DICKENS) looks for her third straight top-10 finish at the MAAC meet and her fourth-consecutive Little Three crown.

Junior (2006): Dickhans led Niagara in all seven meets, finishing in the top 10 four times. Her ninth-place finish at the MAAC Championships (Oct. 27) was a career high and her time of 22:50.2 was a personal best over 6K. She knocked more than a minute off her time from the Iona Meet of Champions (Sept. 30) on the same course a month earlier. Dickhans won the Little Three Meet (Oct. 14) for the third consecutive year helping Niagara claim its third-straight team title. She tied for second at the Titan Invitational (Sept. 9) hosted by Detroit Mercy, where she ran a career-best 5K time of 18:46. She finished 113th at the NCAA Northeast Regional (Nov. 11) in a time of 24:07.1.

Sophomore (2005): Dickhans finished in the top 10 in four-straight meets, culminating with a 10th-place finish at the MAAC Championships (Oct. 28) to lead all Purple Eagles. At the Red Flash Invitational (Sept. 17), she ran the identical time as her freshman year victory, but had to settle for a 22nd-place finish in 2005. She earned a third-place finish at the Le Moyne Invitational (Oct. 1), followed by a seventh-place effort (20:00) at the Buffalo Open (Oct. 8). She captured her second Little Three Meet title (Oct. 15), which earned her Niagara Athlete of the Week accolades. Dickhans wrapped up the year with a strong effort at the NCAA Northeast Regional meet (Nov. 12), earning a 96th-place finish in 23:00.6.

Freshman (2004): Dickhans was the Purple Eagles’ top runner with two first-place finishes and placing in the top 25 in three other meets. She was twice named the Niagara Athlete of the Week following her wins at the Red Flash Invitational and the Little Three Meet. She recorded her first sub-20-minute time at the Buffalo Open with a 13th-place finish in 19:57.

High School: Dickhans helped Quaker Valley to a 20-1 record and three Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League titles. She guided the Quakers to second, third and 10th-place finishes at the state meet her final three seasons and was the WPIAL Class AA champion as a senior. A member of the school-record holding 4x400 and 4x800-meter track and field relay teams, she helped the Quakers to four-straight league titles in the 4x800-meter relay.

Personal: The daughter of Roger and Jenny Dickhans, Julie was born Oct. 23, 1985, in Kansas City, Mo. She had two brothers, Bill and Jim, and a sister, Christy. She is an elementary education major.