North Central College Cardinals

The architect of one of the most enduringly successful programs in collegiate athletics, Al Carius completed 54 years as the Cardinals' head men's cross country coach before handing the reins to longtime assistant coach Frank Gramarosso prior to the 2020 season. He continues to serve the cross country program as an assistant coach. After 44 years in charge of the Cardinals' track and field program, he continues to serve as an assistant coach guiding North Central's distance runners as he has since summer 2010.

A native of Morton, Illinois, Carius came to North Central in 1966 after two years as a graduate assistant at the University of Illinois. As an undergraduate at Illinois, he was a two-time Big Ten Conference champion in cross country, and he added three Big Ten two-mile titles in track. He continued to run competitively until 1968, and at the end of the 1966 season, had the fifth-best time in the United States in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:48-plus, run at the Kentucky Relays).


"The thing we value most is personal improvement, doing something you haven't done before. You're not a better person if you're an All-American and not a worse person if you’re not. Athletics should be fun. It does mean you always give your best. And when you do that, you can live with the results.”


Cross Country

• 19 NCAA Division III team national championships (national record, all divisions)
• Won seven of the last 10 championships (2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018)
• 16 national runner-up finishes
• Finished fourth or better at 42 of 47 Division III championship meets
• 127 All-America awards, including eight individual national champions
• 49 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) team championships, including the last 46 in a row
• 39 individual CCIW Championships, including the last 11
• Three national championship meet records
  • Lowest point total - 32 in 1993
  • Largest margin of victory - 144 in 2016
  • Most individual All-America finishers - 7 (maximum competitors allowed) in 2009

• 12 Division III team national championships (six outdoor, six indoor)
  • Seven titles came during Carius' tenure as head coach
  • Won cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field titles in 2009-2010
    • Second program in D-III history to win all three in the same academic year
• 39 CCIW outdoor team championships out of 70 that have been contested
• 19 of 20 CCIW indoor team championships
• 536 All-America awards, including 63 individual and relay national championships
• 493 CCIW individual and relay championships
• Five current all-time national bests

• United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Coach of the Century, 2000
• USTFCCCA National Cross Country Coach of the Year
  • 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018
• USTFCCCA National Track & Field Coach of the Year
  • 2010 (indoor), 2010 (outdoor)
• USTFCCCA National Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year
  • 2014 (indoor), 2019 (indoor)
• USTFCCCA Midwest Region Cross Country Coach of the Year
  • 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018
• USTFCCCA Midwest Region Track & Field Head Coach of the Year
  • 2009 (indoor), 2009 (outdoor), 2010 (indoor)
• USTFCCCA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year
  • 2014 (indoor), 2018 (indoor), 2018 (outdoor), 2019 (indoor)
• Hall of Fame Inductee
  • North Central College Athletic Hall of Fame
  • Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame
  • USTFCCCA Hall of Fame
  • Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame
  • Drake Relays Hall of Fame
  • Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame
• Named honorary alumnus of North Central College, 2006
• Received honorary doctorate degree from North Central College, 2016
• Namesake of USTFCCCA Al Carius Program of the Year Award
  • Awarded annually since 2008-2009 to Division III men's program with highest average finish at cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field championships
  • North Central teams have won the award four times
    • 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2017-2018

• Earned bachelor of science (1964) and master of science (1967) degrees from University of Illinois
• Resides in Naperville with his wife, Pam