UMD News Releases

Duluth, MN – UMD Intercollegiate Athletics will host Dinner with Champions on Wednesday, April 30, 2014 at 5 p.m. The event takes place in the Lake Superior Ballroom of the DECC and is open to the public. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling (218) 726-7005 by Wednesday, April 23.

Dinner with Champions celebrates UMD’s junior and senior athletes while connecting them with the community, their fans who’ve cheered for the Bulldogs at the rink, on the field, at the track, and on the court for the past four years.

The fourth-annual event is designed to facilitate networking with the goal of keeping UMD’s standouts in Duluth after graduation. Dinner with Champions includes a social hour, complementary business cards for the senior athletes, and a seating arrangement that matches majors with potential employers. “A collegiate athlete’s skills are directly transferable to the workforce and this event is an opportunity to showcase this niche to the Duluth community,” says Karen Stromme, assistant director of athletics.

UMD’s Outstanding Senior Athlete Award and Top Senior Scholar Athlete award winners will be recognized, along with this year’s recipient of the Shjon Podein Community Services Award.

John “Bah” Harrington will be the keynote speaker at Dinner with Champions. Harrington, 1979 alumnus and Bulldog hockey star, is a 1980 Olympic gold medal winner who participated in the “Miracle on Ice.” He also played in the 1984 Olympics and professionally. Today he’s the hockey director of the Herb Brooks Training Center in Blaine, Minn, and a scout for the Colorado Avalanche.

500 guests are expected to attend this year’s Dinner with Champions.