Editorial: Lori Harrigan brings honor to Las Vegas

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004 | 8:31 a.m.

Lori Harrigan grew up in Anaheim, Calif., but when people ask, she says her hometown is Las Vegas. She's as proud of her adopted home as Las Vegas is of her. Now 33, she came here in 1989 as a UNLV student with a reputation for being underhanded -- in softball. Her pitching led UNLV to three NCAA tournament berths. She twice starred in the College World Series. And she set still-standing university records for her sport -- 83 wins, seven saves, 725 strikeouts, 0.77 earned run average, 123 complete games, 53 shutouts and 1,036 innings pitched.

The accomplishments did not stop at graduation. She was a gold medalist at the 1994, 1998 and 2002 International Softball Federation's world championships. She took gold at the 1995, 1999 and 2003 Pan American Games. Best of all, she's been an Olympian, bringing home gold medals from Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000 (where she became the first pitcher in Olympic history to throw a solo no-hitter) and now Athens, where she pitched a one-hit shutout against China.

Las Vegas is fortunate that Lori Harrigan has chosen to continue living and working here. Batters may not see it this way, but she's a hit.