Career Highlights: Four-time NCAA III national champion; eight-time All-American; three-time NCAA Athlete of the Year; All-American in cross country in 1998 and 1999 (third and 29th place); All-American in indoor 1500 meters in 1999; national champion in cross country, indoor 1500 meters, outdoor 1500 meters and as part of the indoor distance medley relay team (which set an NCAA III record) in 2000; also All-American in outdoor 800 meters in 2000.
Tim McCoskey is the youngest inductee yet in the North Central College Athletic Hall of Fame and deservedly so. He is a four-time NCAA III national champion, winning the 1500-meter indoor and outdoor track, and cross country titles in 2000; and as a member of the indoor distance medley relay team that same year. McCoskey was also a key contributor to the 1998 and 2000 outdoor track and field national championship teams, as well as the 1997, ’98, and ’99 cross country national championship squads. He won eight total All-American honors in his career, including the outdoor 800 meters in 2000, the indoor 1500 meters in 1999, and cross country titles in 1998 and ’99.
McCoskey was named the NCAA Athlete of the Year three times as a senior. He earned the honor for cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field during the 1999-2000 season. He was also voted Academic All-America by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
“His accomplishments speak volumes,” said coach Al Carius. “To be recognized three times as the best in all of NCAA Division III is quite a statement. He was a tough, tough competitor with incredible passion and desire. An athlete like that doesn’t come along very often.”
At the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championships, McCoskey was a three-time champion. He captured the outdoor 800 meters in 1999 and 2000, and the outdoor 1500 meters in 1999. Through all of his accomplishments, McCoskey listed the 1999 cross country season as his favorite North Central memory.
“I was fortunate to run with a lot of great runners and on a lot of great teams,” he said. “I had been on the team that had won the last year as well, but the ’99 squad was special because I felt like we had all earned it together. It was the definitive lesson for me on what team really is all about, and it shaped the rest of my career at North Central.”
McCoskey is now a fifth-year social studies teacher at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville. He continues his passion for the sport as the girls head cross country coach, overseeing the growth of a program to over 90 athletes.
