For Dan Benton '12, collegiate career that included four team national championships and four individual crowns began with the simple desire to contribute to a larger goal.
Seeking a new college home after two years in community college, Benton quickly felt at home with a team that already had several strong competitors in the sprint events in which Benton competed.
"I checked out a few places, but nothing really felt like home," Benton said. "(North Central) just felt like the right decision. It was close to home and the team seemed like a completely different league than anything I'd been a part of. I was sold from day one."
Benton's first national championship with the Cardinals was at the 2010 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships. After a narrow second-place finish in the 400-meter dash, Benton anchored North Central's 4-by-400-meter relay team to a first-place finish as the Cardinals won the first of two final sections before watching their time hold up against the remaining teams. The win helped the Cardinals seal their first indoor team national championship since 1989 and the first of three straight for North Central.
"We didn't even qualify until the week before nationals," Benton said of the relay. "We squeezed our way in, so we didn't really have any expectations to win. To watch the second race and realize we won was an incredible way to win a national title."
Benton added his first individual national title in 2011, winning the outdoor 400-meter dash as the Cardinals won a second straight NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field championship. He closed his career at the 2012 indoor national meet, winning the 400 and North Central's second 4-by-400 relay in three years as the Cardinals lifted their third straight indoor trophy.
"It's hard to feel pressure to perform when you have other guys doing so well in the other events," said Benton, whose title was among four won by the Cardinals in the 2011 outdoor championship alone. "I was just one small piece of that and it was awesome to be individually successful and also celebrate everybody else who was achieving amazing things."
Benton graduated as North Central's indoor and outdoor record holder in the 400 and ranks second in both events today as he seeks to pass on the lessons learned from his journey in athletics.
"One thing I really want to instill in my daughter is trusting in a process and trusting in yourself, that if you really apply yourself and try to cut out distractions, it's pretty incredible the things you can do," he said. "The environment that you're in and the people you surround yourself with have a large impact on your success as well."
