North Central College Athletics

Jim Dickerson ’95 was initially attracted to North Central College due to the team atmosphere cultivated within the men’s cross country and track and field programs. That dynamic permeated his entire career in a Cardinal uniform, as his teammates were never far away even when competing at the highest level.

An unannounced high school visit from head coach Al Carius provided Dickerson with his initial impressions of the College, which he quickly discovered was a natural fit.

“I didn’t even really know very much about North Central,” said Dickerson, a native of Peoria, Ill. “Al came and plucked me out of a physics test, and that’s how I learned about it. When I visited the campus, I was blown away. The other schools I had visited were NCAA Division I schools, but the larger team and the feel of the campus at North Central made it an easy decision.”

Dickerson became one of several runners from the Peoria area to come together on the  Cardinal team. He cites the familiarity of having competed with and against each other as a distinct feature of a group won NCAA Division III National Championships in cross country in 1992 and 1993 as well as a national title in outdoor track and field in 1994. “I guess that’s one of the things that made us unique,” he said. “When we got there we had already known each other.”

Dickerson competed at three national championship meets in cross country, placing 43rd on the team that won the 1992 national title before finishing sixth (and the fourth Cardinal across the line) on the team that established the  current Division III National Championship record by totaling just 32 points in winning the 1993 meet. As a senior, Dickerson helped lead the Cardinals to a second-place finish at the national meet, placing third overall. On the track, the team dynamic was every bit as present even as Dickerson went on to be the only North Central runner to achieve All-America honors in every distance event from 1,500 to 10,000 meters. At the 1994 outdoor national championships, Dickerson placed fifth in the 10,000-meter run as one of three Cardinals to score points in the event. Later in the same meet, Dickerson finished sixth in the 5,000-meter run as North Central claimed four of the top eight places. As a senior, Dickerson again claimed All-America certificates in two events, placing fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and seventh in the 1,500-meter run. The switch to the shorter events came about after Dickerson chose to heed his own intuition late in the year and set a still-standing school record of 9:01.4 in the steeplechase.

“I hadn’t run a steeplechase in two years,” Dickerson said. “I had this voice in my head saying, ‘I think you can run a really fast steeplechase.’ I said to Al, ‘I know it’s probably dumb, and you’re going to say no, but I want to run the steeplechase.’ And he said, ‘That’s great!’ I felt like I almost had to get permission from the guys running the 5,000, but they were great teammates and told me to go for it.”

As so many other alumni of North Central’s cross country and track and field programs have done, Dickerson has made a career in education. He currently serves as a  guidance counselor and boys cross country coach at Hinsdale South High School in Darien and credits the College  for providing an ideal training ground for such a career. “The coaches help you understand every single thing you’re doing. When you spend four years helping to coach  yourself and coach your teammates, it’s a natural extension to keep doing it after college.”