From the success of the football team to the futility of the men’s basketball squad, NIU sports saw their share of surprises during the 2003-’04 school year.

The remaining 14 NIU sports were no different, as there were many individuals who emerged to do some surprising of their own.

The following is a list of the top 10 surprising athletes of the year.

Elizabeth Berquist

Track and field

The freshman set the NIU high jump record in the first meet of her career.

Tony Deldin

Men’s soccer

He scored three goals and finished with a team-high eight points as a sophomore.

Elaine Eliadis

Women’s soccer

The freshman scored two goals and finished tied for second in team points with six.

Anthony Gallagher

Football

After he stepped in as an unknown, the senior averaged 40 yards per punt and pinned 23 balls inside the 20-yard line.

James Hughes

Men’s basketball

The redshirt freshman finished with a .606 field-goal percentage and averaged about five points per game. He started almost half (14) of his team’s 30 games.

Jack Komar

Men’s tennis

Komar, a freshman, excelled in singles play, finishing with 24 wins, which was good enough for second on the team.

Rob Lee

Football

Lee, who stepped in for the departed All-MAC selection Vince Thompson, finished ninth on the team with 38 solo tackles.

Kate McCullagh

Volleyball

The Woodstock native finished third on the team with 93 blocks and was named to the all-freshman team.

Mike McKinney

Men’s basketball

The freshman defensive stopper routinely was put on the opposing team’s best perimeter player. He finished with the third-most assists and fourth-most rebounds despite playing the sixth-most minutes on the team.

Stephanie Raymond

Women’s basketball

The point guard, who started 16 games, averaged 8.9 points per game and was named to the freshman All-MAC Team.