With 13 conference championships, 2024 is one of the most successful years in North Central College (NCC) athletics history. Three Cardinal athletes – Elle Sutter, Luke Lehnen, and Hailey Poe – were pivotal in some of that success and will leave campus this spring as some of the greatest to ever compete in their respective sports.
Two are dual-sport athletes, while the third claimed her fourth National Championship in a sport as demanding as it is unique: triathlon.
Elle Sutter, Luke Lehnen, and Hailey Poe sit among the greats of North Central College
From conference titles to All-American honors, and national championships, these three athletes have accomplished feats unmatched across not just North Central, but the NCAA.
Poe was a major part of North Central’s Triathlon team National Championship in 2024. In November, she wrapped up her four-year career by winning a fourth straight individual national title, becoming the first triathlete across any NCAA division to win four consecutive national championships.
“It blows me away, especially because we’re at such an early point in triathlons history at the collegiate level,” said Poe. “So to realize that it has a big impact to be looked back at for generations to come is so cool to me because that’s what’s important to me. Building that legacy and hopefully being a role model for girls who are going into triathlon in the future.”
Hailey Poe’s four-year run as the best Triathlon athlete in the NCAA
Poe has competed in triathlon since the age of seven. The sport combines swimming, cycling, and running and is rising competitively across the United States.
Poe’s four-year run on the triathlon course might never be matched again. Her time of 1:05:03 in the 2024 National Championship was her career best, about seven minutes faster than her first title in 2021. It goes to show how far she and all the triathlete competitors have improved throughout the past four years.
In September, the Cardinal was awarded the inaugural Alexander Award by the USA Triathlon Foundation. The award is given to an outstanding NCAA women’s triathlete across all divisions who not only excels on the course, but also in academics and community service.
Poe will end her career as just the fourth Cardinal to win four career individual national titles. Joining pole vaulter Luke Winder of Men’s Track & Field from 2015-17, and 2019, James Hartzell of Men’s Swimming from 1962-1965, and Dick Blick of Men’s Swimming from 1959-1962.
Luke Lehnen – The best to ever play for North Central Football?
Lehnen, the North Central football starting quarterback since his freshman season in 2021, has led the Cardinals to four straight National Championship games. After winning the Stagg Bowl in 2022, Lehnen will have one more shot at another National title when North Central takes on Mount Union in the Division III Championship on January 5.
Lehnen’s backed up his play with some major accolades. He won the Gagliardi Trophy last season, which is given to the best player in all of DIII football. He is a finalist for the award again for his play this fall as well. If that were not enough, he is also an All-Conference baseball player.
“It’s an honor to reach that level,” said Lehnen. “It allows me to reflect on my past four or five years here and remember all the guys that I’ve done early morning football practices with, and conditioning tests in baseball. There have been so many guys with me along the ride, and I have them to thank for getting me to my highest ceiling.”
It’s hard to sum up what Lehnen has done on the football and baseball field. He began breaking records right away as a freshman and has never stopped. With no football in the fall of 2020, he got to focus on the diamond and recorded an NCC record 10 triples in 2021 en route to a Second Team All-CCIW selection.
Throughout four years at QB, Lehnen has started all 58 possible games for North Central. He’s completed 69% of his passes for 12,360 yards, 158 touchdown passes, and just 23 interceptions. 10 of his interceptions came as a freshman.
Elle Sutter dominates in soccer and basketball
Like Lehen, Elle Sutter made her mark as a two-sport star at NCC. She became the first in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) to earn All-Conference honors in two different sports in the same season.
“When my coaches told me I was the first, I was just kind of shocked and really humble, because I’m just used to playing, and all the awards are just extra,” said Sutter.
The All-American soccer player helped the Cardinals to their first conference title and NCAA tournament appearance in 2023 and broke numerous program records in 2024 as NCC won a second straight CCIW tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament once again. Sutter is also just the fourth Cardinal to earn numerous First Team All-CCIW selections in women’s basketball.
All-time leader in goals, assists, and points for North Central Women’s Soccer
Sutter is the NCC Women’s Soccer All-Time program leader in goals (75), assists (29), and points (179). She’s scored 34 more goals than her classmate Sarah Andrey, who is second in program history.
Before she arrived, NCC women’s soccer held a 9-9-1 record in 2019 and did not have a better mark since a 10-7-0 record in 2009. Since Sutter’s freshman year, she’s earned First Team All-CCIW every year, and the Cardinals have won over 12 games every season.
In addition to shattering records, Sutter is the only first team USC All-American in program history and the lone two-time All-American. But it takes more than just one player to see the historic team success of the past two seasons.
“It goes beyond me. It goes with all my teammates over the past couple of years, we really turned around the program,” said Sutter. “So, as much as the awards are for me, I also couldn’t have done it without my teammates. It also just goes to show how much we’ve improved under Coach Gamarra being here.”
The Peoria native played in just about every Cardinal soccer game and with the postseason stretching into the basketball season, she often missed the opening weeks of basketball games. She appeared in 18 games last season, starting in 13 of them, and averaged a team-high 14.1 points per game.
After originally not planning to play basketball this season, Sutter joined the team at the beginning of December.
Reaching GOAT Status – How each Sutter, Lehnen, and Poe entered NCC with goals and aspirations
The term G.O.A.T (“Greatest Of All Time”) is often overused in sports, but it does feel fitting for these three future NCC Athletics Hall of Famers as the best to ever suit up for women’s soccer, football, and triathlon.
“It was so cool to just be able to cheer them on and support them as we’ve all been here at the same time,” said Lehnen about Sutter and Poe. “And I think that really speaks to the high level of athlete that North Central attracts.”
“We’re all like the Covid class and we were able to stick it out and really excel,” said Sutter about Lehnen and Poe. “I mean, honestly, I feel like with all Hailey and Luke have done, it makes my records seem not even that important because they’re just so amazing. But it’s just really cool. I’m kind of starstruck by them too. They’re just awesome people and athletes,”
Future G.O.A.T’s set up big Goals as freshmen
Reaching G.O.A.T status was never really an immediate goal for any of the athletes. However, Poe and Lehnen both had some big goals as freshmen.
Before Poe arrived in Naperville, NCC won the first three DIII Triathlon National Championships.
“I’d say from the origin, I knew I had the potential to capture a national title at least once in my career,” said Poe. “So, that was a goal through my recruiting process. I was aiming to find the right fit that would nurture my skills and help me grow, especially as a cyclist, because that was the area that I needed the most development in.”
The only year that North Central Triathlon didn’t win the team title was Poe’s freshman year, where she still won individually. NCC has won six of the first seven DIII Women’s Triathlon National Championships.
“So, when I went and captured my first title my freshman year, I knew I had to expand that goal a little bit more and see what else I can do,” Poe added.
Lehnen sets some big goals as a freshman
Similar to Poe, Lehnen arrived at NCC with some big aspirations, and big shoes to fill. North Central was fresh off winning the 2019 National Championship, and record-setting QB Broc Rutter had just graduated. Enter freshman Luke Lehnen to take over, however, his freshman year of football was wiped away due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He sat down with then-head coach coach, Jeff Thorne, to discuss his vision as the starting quarterback for the Cardinals.
“We wrote on a sheet (of paper) what our goals were and I put to win the Gagliardi trophy and be a national champion,” said Lehnen. “I wanted to set my standard high, and a lot of people, I think, thought I was crazy for saying that as a freshman, but Coach Thorne had full support of me.”
He’s accomplished both goals and a lot more. Lehnen holds the NCAA record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass (58) in addition to career touchdowns responsible for (207). His 158 career touchdown passes are tied for the D-III record and are just four away from the NCAA record for career TD passes (162).
With no football season as a freshman, Lehnen was granted the opportunity to play baseball, which he has continued to do so every year.
“When Covid hit, we didn’t have that (football) season and Coach Thorne said ‘You know what? You can play baseball, the coaches here said they want you on the team,’” said Lehnen. “From then on, I just played both every year.”
Sutter arrives on campus with the goal of scoring goals
Sutter arrived at North Central already committed to playing both soccer and basketball, but unlike Poe and Lehnen, she was not joining a national championship program when she joined the red and white.
“I was kind of going back and forth on what I wanted to play in college,” said Sutter. “At first, it was basketball for the longest time and then my junior year, I had a really good soccer season in high school. Then, I decided to just try out both at North Central.”
When it came to athletic goals, all Sutter could think about was scoring goals for the soccer team.
“I didn’t think about trying to capture any of the awards or anything, like, I just kind of committed here to play soccer,” said Sutter. “Even when I committed, I didn’t even know North Central’s record when I came here.”
North Central’s dominance across multiple sports since 2020
Since the 1980s, many have called North Central a “cross country school,” and after all the Men’s Cross Country program just won a 50th consecutive CCIW title. From 1984 to 2016, the only NCC National Championships came from the Men’s Cross Country and Track & Field programs under legendary coaches Al Carius and Frank Gramoroso, which combined for 22 titles across 32 years.
Since 2017, the Women’s Triathlon, Men’s Cross Country, Men’s Track & Field, Football, and Women’s Wrestling teams have totaled up 12 team National Championships.
Individual National Championships include Cody Baldridge with one and Robbie Precin with two in Men’s Wrestling. The Women’s Wrestling team has seen Yelena Makoyed secure three titles, while Maddie Avila, Jaslynn Gallegos, and Amani Jones have one each.
The men’s volleyball team advanced to the National Championship in 2023, finishing as the runner-up.
North Central is now one of the best athletic programs in all of Division III
North Central has flourished into one of the best athletic programs across all of Division III. Since 2020, 14 different North Central teams have won CCIW Championships, including men’s soccer, who like their female counterparts, advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time during that stretch. The Cardinal men’s tennis team has won two titles over the past three years, while the women’s have won every CCIW championship since 2020.
The school is constantly being ranked inside the top quarter of over 300 DIII schools in the annual Learfield Directors’ Cup. The list ranks each school by their overall performance across all sports for every season.
Sutter, Lehnen, and Poe reflect on being a part of the North Central Community
“I’m so glad I have had the chance to be a part of this community and be on this campus with all these sports,” said Lehnen. “I mean, we’re all trying to chase the cross country team because they have all those trophies, and It will take a minute to get there. Just being on the same campus with them, our soccer team, wrestling team, and more. It’s been really special to witness all this happen around us.”
“I think North Central did a great job of developing us and making sure we know that we can succeed and I think that’s very evident in our athletic department,” said Poe. “Our athletic director, Jim Miller, is incredible. He has really set the stage for North Central to be a nationally recognized school. I’m really appreciative for all of that.”
“So many programs have just gotten better over the last few years,” Sutter added. “When we won the conference this year for women’s and men’s soccer, we were joking around about how like, we’re a soccer school now. because North Central is just good at so many (different sports). We’re known for cross country, football, and all that, but also so much more.”
The school that was once primarily known for its running, is now running ahead of everyone else in many sports. Sutter, Lehnen, and Poe are a big part of the expanded success. While their elite performances will be missed by their respective programs, they leave behind a legacy that will be remembered for a long time in Naperville.
Photo Courtesy: Steve Woltmann, Chris Black, and North Central College Athletics
