The Cleo Tanner Award for Outstanding Contributions to North Central College Women's Athletics was first awarded in 2006 to honor the contributions of an individual or individuals who have positively influenced women's athletics at the College. The Cleo Tanner Award is presented annually, in conjunction with North Central College's National Girls and Women in Sports Day Celebration each February.
Past Recipients
2010 - Dr. Nancy Peterson - Dr. Nancy Peterson currently serves as Professor of chemistry and is the faculty mentor for the women’s basketball team at North Central College. She came to North Central College in 1994 as Assistant Professor following a post-doctoral fellowship at the Baylor University College of Medicine. Dr. Peterson was awarded a National Institutes of Health Research Fellowship Award for her study entitled, “Sorting GABAA Receptors in MDCK and Nerve Cells” while at Baylor.
At North Central, Dr. Peterson coordinates the biochemistry program and the science scholarship program. From 1998 to 2002, she served as chemistry department chairperson and from 2002 to 2004, Dr. Peterson was the chemistry and physics department chairperson. For eight years, Dr. Peterson coordinated the Rall Symposium for Undergraduate Research and served as the faculty mentor for the women’s softball program for two years. Currently, Dr. Peterson is a member of the Faculty Personnel Committee and the First-Year Experience Committee, in addition to serving as a member of the student disciplinary panel.
Dr. Peterson enjoys outdoor sports like canoeing, backpacking, waterskiing, hunting, and fishing, in addition to supporting North Central College athletics. She coached t-ball (boys and girls) when she was in graduate school, 7-9 year old girls fast pitch softball when she was a post-doc, and most recently with her son’s t-ball and baseball teams. Dr. Peterson has one son, Alex (9), who enjoys playing football, basketball and baseball, depending on the season. Originally from Minnesota, she’s a Twins and Vikings fan (unfortunately, the North Stars moved to Texas and she never really got into the Wild).
2009 - Heidi Matthews - Heidi Matthews assumed the role of athletic training education program director in 2000 after serving as head athletic trainer and director of sports medicine for seven years. She enters her 16th year at North Central College in 2008-09. In 2002, North Central’s athletic training education program received accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. Matthews received her bachelor's degree in 1981 from the University of Wisconsin and her master's degree from the University of Arizona in 1982. She served as head athletic trainer at Northern State University (S.D.) from 1982-87, head women’s athletic trainer at Emporia State University (Kan.) from 1987-91, and school outreach program coordinator at Sports Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy Associates, Inc., from 1991-93.
Heidi began as an athletic trainer in a time when it was still surprising to see a woman in that job. She speaks of days when she would attend the national convention and be one of the few women there among hundreds of men. Now, women are equally represented in this profession. She was not afraid to forge new roads and stand where some might have thought she didn't belong.
Heidi carries herself in a way that lets student-athletes and coaches know that her gender plays no factor in her quality of work. She treats all student-athletes and coaches with respect and dignity and only asks for that in return for her and her staff. The work that Heidi did for equality in athletic training in her early professional years made it possible for young female athletic training students to be positively influenced by a successful, tenured role model in the athletic training profession.
2008 - 1982-1983 NCAA Division III National Champions, North Central College Women's Basketball Team - In 1983, the Cardinals defeated Elizabethtown College in Worcester, Mass., on ESPN, to win the 1983 NCAA Division III women’s basketball crown! The Cardinals (26-6) won the Chicago-Metro Conference Tournament to earn an automatic bid to postseason and then hosted both the Central Regional and the West Quarterfinal at Gregory Arena.
In the Central Regional Tournament, the Cardinals defeated Buena Vista College behind 28 points from senior Bonnie Hansen. Then they took 32 points from Camie Loudenbeck and 21 points from senior Brenda Sanders to edge Central College in the Regional Championships. Junior guard Kim Wallner scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as North Central set an NCAA Division III Tournament record with a 100-82 romp over the University of Minnesota-Morris. Sanders and Loudenbeck each scored 23 in an 84-74 win over Knoxville (Tenn.) College in the national semifinal.
The championship game matched the Cardinals against Elizabethtown, the defending champions. North Central led 39-32 at the half and then outscored Elizabethtown 15-0 to start the second half. Hansen and Sanders led North Central with 25 and 24 points, respectively. Sanders and Wallner were named to the all-tournament team, and ESPN named Sanders the game’s MVP.
2007 - Shirley Wilson
2006 - Marcy Thurwachter
About Cleo Tanner
During a career than spanned more than 40 years at North Central College, Cleo Tanner was a pioneer in the North Central College athletics program. Her efforts in the field of women's athletics are still felt in the campus community today.
Tanner came to North Central College in 1928 as the physical education director for women. She later served as advisor to the College's Women's Athletic Association and was promoted to Associate Professor in the Physical Education Department. She assumed in the position of Head Women's Tennis Coach in 1931 and led the squad to 10 consecutive tournament victories. She continued as Tennis Coach until her retirement from the College in 1970.