From start to finish, the opportunity to be a part of a strongly united team was what appealed most to Brian Fennelly ’94 about North Central College. Initially attracted to Naperville by a traditional team sport, he capped off his collegiate career with a crowning team achievement in what is regarded by many as an individual endeavor.
A highly-recruited prospect by the Cardinals’ football staff, Fennelly soon drew the attention of North Central’s track and field coaches as well, ultimately relishing the opportunity to pursue both sports at the collegiate level.
“I started my college decision-making process based on football,” he said. “That corresponded with my senior track season in high school, which was very successful. There were a lot of football programs that appealed to me, but there is no track program like North Central, so the decision became very easy.”
As a football player, Fennelly was a four-year starter. After three years on the Cardinals’ offensive line, a coaching change led to a switch to the defensive side of the ball. Fennelly attacked the new challenge with vigor and enjoyed the opportunity to contribute on both sides of the line.
“I went from playing guard in a triple-option offense to playing defensive end and nose tackle as a senior,” he said. “It was great having the experience of playing on both sides of the ball at the college level. It gave me a better understanding of the game.”
Fennelly also experienced success in short order as a thrower for the Cardinals’ track and field program, breaking North Central’s freshman record and qualifying for national-championship competition in the discus throw his first year on campus.
“I really didn’t understand the collegiate postseason,” he recalled. “Most of my freshman year was just about trying to compete with the upperclassmen. That was when Al (Carius H ’16) and (Frank Gramarosso) explained that there was a national championship meet. Once I qualified the first time, it was something I focused on a little more.”
As a sophomore Fennelly broke the Cardinals’ varsity record in the discus throw, then improved upon it again as a junior, qualifying for the national championships twice more in the event. He established North Central’s current discus record of 172 feet, one inch during his senior season before heading into his final national championship competition, hosted by the College in Naperville.
Qualifying for the final with the fourth-best mark in the field, Fennelly approached the final discus competition of his career feeling as mentally prepared as ever. He delivered what turned out to be the winning throw (by a margin of more than six feet) of 170’3” on his first finals attempt.
“I just remember the day of the finals, my mind was set, I had a whole lot of confidence, and I just believed I was going to perform to the best of my ability,” he said. “I knew it was a big throw as soon as it left my hand.”
Fennelly was also in the shot put competition. He came into the meet ranked 16th, but improved to ninth during the preliminary rounds before unleashing a throw of 49’10 1/2" late in the competition to move into sixth place and pick up three valuable points in the team standings. The Cardinals won their second outdoor national title by a single point.
“That whole weekend was amazing,” Fennelly said. “There were only about four events left where we had guys in position to score, and we were behind by a little bit. My throw was not a personal best, but I had thrown that exact distance a total of 11 times during the year. For whatever reason, I hit this distance for the 12th time in a single season, and it moved me from ninth place to sixth.”
The team environment fostered at North Central yielded some of Fennelly’s greatest lessons from sports, not least of which came from a track and field team which counted on contributions from nearly every discipline to claim its highest honor.
“Track and field at North Central College is the greatest team sport you’ll ever experience,” he stated emphatically. “It rivals any other big team sport I can think of. You talk about football being billed as the ultimate team sport, and I would defend that in many circles, but in 1994, in Naperville, that track team was great.”
