Already the first program to win back-to-back national championships in NCAA Division III history with victories in 1975 and 1976, the North Central College men’s cross country team became the first NCAA Division III program to win a third national title in 1978.
The Cardinals traveled to Credit Island in Davenport, Iowa, for the championships and met little resistance, placing four entrants among the top 21 overall finishers and prevailing by 91 points over runner-up Luther College (Iowa). North Central’s total of 60 points established a record for the six-year-old championship, which would stand until another Cardinal team emerged victorious with 51 points in 1982.
The team ran confidently from the start, with five runners in the lead pack after one-and-a-half miles of the five-mile course. Head coach Al Carius (H) ’16 felt a sense of relief seeing the Cardinals run so strongly: “…that confirms that a national championship is in the making unless they have a fantastic collapse or any other team has a fantastic team performance.”
Sophomore Jeff Milliman ’81, a 15th-place finisher in the previous year’s meet, hit the line third to claim All-America honors for the second time and place first among competitors from a qualifying team with a time of 24 minutes, 17 seconds. Steve Jawor ’80 followed just eight seconds later in eighth place, while Jim Nichols ’80 placed 15th (24:33) and Dan Skarda came in 21st (24:42).
Rich Scott ’79 completed North Central’s scoring in 50th place (25:10), while Pete Ffitch ’81 placed 57th (25:14) and Keith Zobrist ’81 finished 92nd (25:32).
Roster: Pete Amann, Burt Becker, Neal Cleghorn, Dave Drazkowski, Pete Ffitch, Tim Hoth, Steve Jawor (captain), Pat Kerrigan, Dale Koepnick, John MacDonald, Joe Mallon, Gerry Mallon, Keith Martin, Keith Mazikowski, Jeff Milliman, Jim Nichols, Ruk Peterson, Dan Riesen, Rich Scott, Dan Skarda, Mike Steben, Tom Stluka, Mark Wenneker, Tom Whitaker, Keith Zobrist, Al Carius (head coach), Glenn Behnke (assistant coach)
