A final recruiting pitch by a predecessor spurred Kari Kluckhohn to pursue the head women's track and field coaching position at North Central College in 2002. The former sprinter hit the ground running and has helped lead the Cardinals to continued prosperity in the two decades since.
Outgoing head coach Marcy Thurwachter spoke to Kluckhohn, then the head men's and women's track & field coach at North Park University, at the 2002 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota, about the impending opening.
"I almost didn't apply," Kluckhohn said. "I wasn't sure it was the best time to make a change. As soon as I stepped on campus to interview, I just felt really supported and able to make this my home. My college coach told me if you can ever get to a place like North Central to work, that would be a great place to be."
Kluckhohn felt a responsibility taking over a program which had just won its fifth College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Outdoor Track & Field title, seeking to enhance and add on to an already sterling competitive record.
"I wanted to continue the tradition of excellence while also developing the overall program," Kluckhohn said. "I felt some self-induced pressure to prove what I could do because they'd done so well before, but as time went on I realized it's not about the outcome. If you bring in the right people and doing things the right away, that success tends to follow."
With the help of head cross country coach Mahesh Narayanan '97/M '05, the Cardinals recruited aggressively, putting together a roster which would ultimately lift North Central to the top of the podium at the CCIW Indoor Track & Field Championship for the first time in 2006 and sweep the indoor and outdoor crowns in 2007.
"(Recruiting) set us up to systematically move up the conference," Kluckhohn said. "We created the culture we wanted, brought in people who believed in it, and a lot of great student-athletes responded to it."
North Central swept the CCIW cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field championships in 2010-2011, becoming the first program in the conference to win all three in the same academic year. The Cardinals also swept the indoor and outdoor titles in 2013 and 2014 and have won every CCIW indoor and outdoor championship since 2019.
Under Kluckhohn’s guidance, Cardinal student-athletes have also won eight Division III individual national championships, 101 All-America awards, 131 CCIW individual and relay titles, and 98 United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic awards.
"Part of my calling is to be a strong advocate for women and helping them learn how to not apologize for wanting to be their best, wanting to be excellent," said Kluckhohn, who served three years as president of the USTFCCCA Division III Track & Field Committee and received the USTFCCCA's Jimmy Carnes Distinguished Service Award in 2015. "To never apologize for wanting to win and valuing your time as a student-athlete.
"You have your path and you know you're capable of doing it. The outcome will be what it will be, but it's the collective striving for that common goal that makes a great team and a rewarding experience."
