North Central College Athletics

A national championship often serves as a pivotal moment in a student-athlete’s career, as certainly was the case for Susan DeNigris ’02 Kane. Her contribution to a national title in the 4x400-meter relay as a freshman at the 1999 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships served as the completion of one journey and the beginning of another.

Teaming with seniors Pristina Jones ’99, Maggie Zdziarska’99 Brill and Vanessa Vaughn ’99, Kane helped win the first relay national championship in the history of the North Central women’s track and field program. In just a few short months, Kane had gone from a talented high school prospect with an uncertain athletic future to an accomplished collegian with demanding expectations.

“I never had any expectations of myself growing up,” Kane says. “I liked track and field and I was good at it. During the summer between my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college, I had major back surgery. We didn’t know if I would even be competition-ready that first year, so I really didn’t have any expectations of myself. Obviously, the surgery was a huge success, and I was able to get back on the track sooner than I thought.

“That first national championship meet was a big wake-up call in terms of showing me how much ability I really had, and it gave me some real defined goals to look at for the first time. After that, my goal was to get to the national championships every season.”

Kane would live up to her newfound aspirations, earning five more All-America certificates competing indoors and outdoors in the long jump in 2001 and 2002, as well as the 2002 outdoor 4x100-meter relay. She also qualified for national-championship competition in the pole vault and 100-meter dash her senior year. She graduated as North Central’s record holder in the indoor 200-meter dash (25.59 seconds), long jump (19’7”), pole vault (10’10 ¼”), and 4x200 (1:45.0) and 4x400 (3:55.42) relays, as well as the outdoor pole vault (11’3 ¾”) and 4x100 relay (47.47).

Kane’s list of College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin achievements is just as formidable, including seven individual championships, four relay crowns and two Most Outstanding Track Athlete Awards. She won two individual conference titles in 2002 to aid the Cardinals’ efforts in securing the CCIW Outdoor Team Championship.

Kane also compiled six Division III All-Academic certificates, two CCIW Jack Schwartz Academic All-Conference honors, and a 2002 College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America selection. Her combination of athletic and academic prowess resulted in a NCAA Woman of the Year nomination from the state of Illinois (encompassing all three NCAA divisions) in 2002.

Kane credits head coach Marcy Thurwachter, who reinforced her care and concern for Kane when many coaches turned away.

“I was being recruited by a lot of schools, and most of them, as soon as they found out about my back, stopped recruiting me right away,” Kane says. “Marcy continued to check in to see how I was doing and let me know how much she wanted me to be a part of her program. I think that says a lot about what a special woman Marcy is.”

Kane also points to her teammates on the relay championship as key to her development as both a student and an athlete.

“They were huge influences on me,” she says. “They made it their mission to take me under their wing. It really says a lot about them and about the kind of program Marcy ran that a group of seniors would be willing to do so much for a freshman.”