Coach Al Carius is surrounded by a flock of his current and former contemporaries at the annual USTCCCA Convention in Orlando, FL (USTCCCA/NCC credit)
Sometimes the best coaches DO NOT get the credit they deserve or owed. Sometimes the most influential coaches who comes into a young student-athlete's lives don't see the imprint they left with them until years later. Legendary coach Al Carius is that coach. Coach Carius has over 200 former student-athletes now in the coaching ranks in addition to the countless number of others who are in the atmosphere.
Congrats to Coach Carius!
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Release courtesy of NCC Sports Information Department
Dec. 14, 2016 - North Central College head men's cross country coach and associate head men's track and field coach Al Carius (H) '16 was recognized by his coaching peers on Wednesday with the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) George Dales Award. The distinction was bestowed upon Carius at the USTFCCCA's annual convention in Orlando, Florida.
The George Dales Award has been presented annually since 2006 to a distinguished individual who, through their efforts, has enhanced the profession of coaching track and field and cross country. The award is named in honor of longtime Western Michigan coach George Dales for his relentless pursuit in the growth and development of track and field and cross country over more than half a century. Carius is the first NCAA Division III coach to be presented with the award.
Carius was voted the 2016 Division III National Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA in November, giving him the award for the 10th time and the fifth time in the past eight seasons, after the Cardinals stormed to victory by an overwhelming margin in the Division III National Championship at E.P. Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky. North Central placed five athletes among the top 24 finishers and won with a total of 60 points. The Cardinals' 144-point margin of victory broke their own record for the largest in the meet's history. North Central has 17 team national championships men's cross country, a record across all three NCAA divisions, and finished second 16 times in 44 years of Division III competition.
The Cardinals also claimed their 28th Midwest Region Championship on Nov. 12 at Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winnecone, Wisconsin. North Central totaled 37 points to finish well ahead of its closest pursuers, the third-ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (91) and claim the title for the eighth time in the past nine years. The Cardinals also won their 43rd consecutive College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) championship on Oct. 29, finishing with a perfect score of 15 for the eighth time.
North Central also owns the national-championship meet record for the lowest point total (32), set in 1993. The Cardinals became the first team in Division III history to have all seven competing runners finish in the top 35 and earn All-America honors at the 2009 championships.
North Central has six NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field titles and four NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field titles. The Cardinals have won 37 CCIW Outdoor Track & Field Championships (out of 69 that have been contested) and 14 CCIW Indoor Track & Field Championships.
In 2010, North Central placed first at both the indoor and outdoor Division III Track and Field Championships, sweeping the two titles for the second time and becoming just the second program in Division III history to win the national cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field championships in the same academic year.
Carius and his coaching staff have produced 118 All-Americans and seven individual national champions in cross country and more than 400 All-Americans and 55 national champions in track and field. Inspired by his example, nearly 200 North Central alumni are currently serving as coaches in cross country and/or track and field.
Carius is a member of the USTFCCCA Coaches' Hall of Fame, as well as the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame, the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame and the Drake Relays Hall of Fame. In October 2006, he became an honorary alumnus of North Central and in 2016, he was presented with an honorary doctorate degree.
The USTFCCCA honored Carius with the creation of the Al Carius Program of the Year Award during the 2008-2009 academic year, which is to be given annually to the NCAA Division III men's cross country/track and field program with the highest average finish at the three national championships. The Cardinals have brought the award home to its namesake three times.