North Central College Women's Cross Country

Mahesh Narayanan '97/M '05 completed his 25th year as head women's cross country coach and assistant women's track and field coach at North Central College in 2024-25. He has guided the Cardinals to unprecedented success in cross country while earning multiple honors for his contributions to North Central's track and field success as the program's distance coach. Cross Country Three NCAA Division III National Championship appearances 2006 (1st in school history), 2011, 2014 Six CCIW Team Championships 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015 Four Division III All-Americans Five Individual CCIW Championships 99 All-CCIW Awards Track & Field Two Division III individual national championships 30 Division III All-America awards 43 individual CCIW Championships United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Track and Field Assistant Coach of the Year 2011 (outdoor) USTFCCCA Midwest Region Cross Country Coach of the Year 2006 USTFCCCA Midwest Region Track and Field Assistant Coach of the Year 2011 (outdoor) Chair of NCAA Track & Field Championships Committee 2014-2015 Meet Director, NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships 2013, 2017 USA Track & Field (USATF) Level I Certification USTFCCCA Endurance Certification USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning Certification Began coaching career as student assistant at North Central Member of Cardinals' coaching staff which won three national titles in men's cross country (1997, 1998, 1999) and two championships in men's outdoor track and field (1998, 2000) Assisted with coordination of all facets of 2000 Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at North Central Graduated from North Central with bachelor's degree in business management (1997) and master's degree in sports leadership (2005) Lives in Warrenville with wife, Amy Kleinheksel '01 Narayanan, and their children Josiah, Daithan, Kaelin and Elijah

Kluckhohn completed her 14th year as head womens track and field coach and assistant womens cross country coach at the College in 2015-2016. Before coming to North Central, she spent two seasons as head mens and womens track and field and cross country coach at North Park University.          Since Kluckhohn began her tenure at the College, the track and field program has produced seven national champions and 78 All-Americans and has won nine conference championships. She earned 2007, 2011 and 2014 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Indoor Track and Field Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors, and her coaching staff has been voted CCIW Coaching Staff of the Year eight times.      Her 2011 squad swept the CCIW indoor and outdoor conference championships, becoming the first womens team in CCIW history to earn a triple crown (cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field conference titles). The team placed seventh at the 2011 Outdoor National Championships, the Cardinals highest finish at the outdoor meet since 1997. North Central swept the CCIW indoor and outdoor track & field championships in 2013 and 2014 as well.      Kluckhohn has personally coached 30 CCIW individual and relay champions, 17 All-Americans and holders of five indoor and four outdoor school records.      She is a native of Wiota, Wisconsin, and a 1994 graduate of UW-La Crosse where she earned her bachelors degree in elementary and middle level education and masters degree in special education in 2000. During this time, she was the graduate assistant coach for the UW-La Crosse womens cross country and track and field teams before becoming head cross country/track and field coach at Texas Lutheran University.      While running at UW-La Crosse, she was a seven-time Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) track champion, eight-time NCAA qualifier, four-time All-American and a national champion as part of the 4x400 relay team. Kluckhohn was also named the WIAC Scholar-Athlete for womens cross country.     We strive to assist our student-athletes in helping them become quality people and team players, Kluckhohn says. By our actions and words, we want them to understand the importance of leadership and their ability to influence those around them to make positive choices on a daily basis. This will not only help them as competitors, but also in life.      Kluckhohn served as an officer on the USTFCCCA's NCAA Division III Track & Field Executive Committee, including three years as its president. She was presented with the USTFCCCA's Jimmy Carnes Distinguished Service Award in 2015. She resides with her husband, James, and sons, Jacob, Nathaniel and Benjamin, in Warrenville.

Throckmorton joined the North Central College coaching staff prior to the 2015-2016 academic year as a graduate assistant coach for the Cardinals' women's cross country and track and field programs. Throckmorton came to North Central from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he coached throwers and jumpers. He coached athletes to three school records and two national qualifying marks during that time. Throckmorton graduated from Allegheny in 2012, earning 12 All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) awards as well as the NCAC's 2012 Indoor Sprinter/Hurdler of the Year award. He ran on the Gators' distance medley relay team which won the national title at the 2011 NCAA Division III Indoor Championship. Throckmorton owns a bachelor's degree in religious studies from Allegheny and is pursuing an MBA degree with an emphasis in management from North Central.

Polhemus joined the North Central College coaching staff prior to the 2015-2016 academic year as a graduate assistant coach for the Cardinals' women's cross country and track and field programs. Polhemus arrived at North Central after completing a four-year career as a multi-event athlete for the women's track and field team at Lewis University in Romeoville. She earned NCAA Division II All-America status last spring in the 4-by-400-meter relay, helping the Flyers to a sixth-place finish at the Division II Outdoor Championships. A native of Hawthorn Woods, Illinois, Polhemus graduated from Lewis last spring with a bachelor's degree in psychology. She is pursuing a master's degree in leadership studies, with an emphasis in sports leadership, from North Central.