Michael Spain ’11 arrived at North Central College just in time to play a lead role in the Cardinals’ resurgence to the top of the national scene in men’s cross country and track and field.
As a high school athlete, Spain fell under the tutelage of coach Jim Macnider ’73, who had already sent several of his swiftest athletes to his alma mater.
“It seemed like every year the top runner on our team went to North Central,” Spain said. “I knew, when I was a senior, that’s where I wanted to go. I took a visit and the guys on the team just seemed to enjoy what they were doing, way more so than other teams. It was a pretty easy decision.”
As a sophomore, Spain earned his first All-America honors with a 12th-place finish in the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships, leading the Cardinals to a national runner-up finish after placing 16th as a team the season before.
Further success followed in the form of North Central’s 13th national cross country title in 2009. Spain led the Cardinals to the line finishing second overall, the first of seven North Central All-Americans in the meet as they established a new championship meet record for margin of victory. Spain placed second in the 10,000-meter run and fourth at 5,000 meters in the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, contributing 13 points to North Central’s winning score of 53.
Spain placed third at the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championship as the Cardinals placed second overall. He then helped North Central claim its second straight NCAA Indoor Track & Field national title, winning the 5,000 meters in a meet-record time.
At the 2011 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Spain concluded his collegiate career by winning two individual national titles to help the Cardinals win a seesaw battle with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse for the team championship. Spain won the 10,000 early in the meet and faced stiff opposition as he attempted to win the 5,000 as well in stifling heat.
“With two or three laps to go, I started wearing down and fell behind,” recalled Spain, whose effort gave the Cardinals a two-point win over La Crosse. “On the backstretch of the last lap, I started kicking, just trying to catch one guy, then started picking off more and gaining momentum. I got to the turn, got a jolt of energy from our fans screaming like crazy in the stands, and realized I was going to win.”
Spain finished his career with 10 All-America awards and ranks fourth-fastest in the Cardinals’ history in the indoor 5,000-meter run (14:17.42) and outdoor 10,000-meter run (29:37.52) while ranking eighth outdoors in the 5,000 (14:15.79).
“People have wondered what North Central’s secret to success was,” he said. “I didn’t know it at the time, but I really think there was just a genuine understanding that Al (Carius (H) ’06) and Grammy (Frank Gramarosso) really loved the guys on the team. We realized that and we loved them, too.
“I think that was really the secret. We loved what we were doing, we loved who we were running for, and we wanted to do anything we could do make each other successful. It seems simpler now than it did back then.”
