FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

USTFCCCA Release

June 6, 2011 - For the second time in his first season as the head men's track and field coach at North Central College, Frank Gramarosso has been honored on the national level, as he has been named the National Outdoor Coach of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). 

Gramarosso received the honor after the Cardinals completed a remarkable second straight sweep of the NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships, outdistancing the runner-up University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 58-56, May 26-28 at Ohio Wesleyan University. North Central captured four individual national championships during the meet, and the Cardinals' Michael Spain was named the USTFCCCA's National Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year after winning the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs at the championship.

Gramarosso also received National Coach of the Year honors from the USTFCCCA during the 2011 indoor season, after the Cardinals secured their second consecutive indoor national title. North Central scored 45 points to edge runner-up Central College (Iowa) by one point as eight athletes earned All-American honors.

North Central also won its 11th consecutive College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Indoor Championship in 2011, as well as its 33rd CCIW outdoor title.

The indoor and outdoor National Coach of the Year Awards came to North Central for the second straight season, as Al Carius received both honors in 2010 in his final year as the track and field program's head coach. The USTFCCCA began selecting Coach of the Year honorees in 2008.

North Central now claims nine team national championships (six outdoor, three indoor) and 43 individual and relay national championships in its history, as well as 413 All-America selections.