Episode 80 - Frank Gramarosso

“Like the air we breathe, there's something there that has kept us [Al] together and it's the biggest emotion you have. That's love for each other and love for the program that Al started. I tried to do the best I can, and I hope somebody else is is willing to put in the time and energy that it takes.” On April 4th, Frank Gramarosso announced his retirement from North Central College marking a new era for the historic program. For the first time in almost 60 years, NCC with be conducting a search for a new Cross Country & Track and Field Coach. Gramarosso began at North Central in 1983 as a part-time assistant coach. He was still teaching at a local high school, but his passion was in coaching. In 1985, Al Carius promoted Gramarosso to full-time assistant to allow Gramarosso to go all in on his coaching. He was tasked with building up the track and field side of the program as the cross country program had already won six national titles. Gramarosso helped North Central claim its first track and field national title in 1989 and would be the start of something special. Throughout his time, Gramarosso’s teams won 12 total track and field national titles and enjoyed five straight from Indoors in 2010 through Indoors in 2012. While winning was fun, Gramarosso enjoyed making his student-athletes better people. His goal was to create a program built on trust and love as to not completely focus on times and titles. His time spent at North Central has seen countless trophies and accolades, but he’s most proud of the fact that there are over 100 current coaches that called North Central home. Gramarosso’s impact is not only felt at North Central but across the entire division. We want to thank him for his what he’s done for the sport and division. We hope he enjoys his retirement and only goes back to campus one day a week! D3 Glory Days Patreon We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall - so any support is greatly appreciated. This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support. How to Support D3 Glory Days As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify! We launched a live D3 Track Show. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it. If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers. If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.