USTFCCCA NCAA DI Program of the Year Standings – 2022 Mid-Year Update

NEW ORLEANS – Two down. One to go.

With two of the three NCAA Championships in the books – cross country and indoor track & field (in the right order this year) – it’s time to look at the standings for the John McDonnell Program of the Year Award and the Terry Crawford Women’s Program of the Year Award.

The USTFCCCA Program of the Year Award honors the institution that has achieved the most success in each academic year (spanning the cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons) based on the institution’s finish at the NCAA Championships.

In order to be eligible for the award, teams must qualify for each of the NCAA Championships. Scoring is based on the team’s finish at each NCAA Championship in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field (i.e. 1st = 1 point, 2nd = 2 points … 31st = 31 points) with the lowest total score for all three championships combined determining the award winner. Ties among schools split points for positions taken.

Men’s Story

Northern Arizona, buoyed by two top-5 efforts at the NCAA Championships, leads the race to be named the John McDonnell Men’s Program of the Year by a comfortable margin. After romping to the team title in cross country back in November, the Lumberjacks finished fourth indoors for their first podium finish under a roof, which gives them five POY points using the formula. The best NAU finished in the final Program of the Year standings was third, back in 2010.

Arkansas, whose late Hall-of-Fame coach is the namesake of this honor, sits second with 11 POY points. The Razorbacks made the podium in cross country with a fourth-place finish and took a top-10 seat under a roof with their seventh-place finish in Birmingham, Alabama. Arkansas won this honor last year for the third time in program history (2013 and 2017 were the others).

Indoor champion Texas sits third with 15 POY points, followed 2019 John McDonnell Program of the Year winner Stanford (17) and Ole Miss (25.5) to round out the top-5.

Women’s Story

It’s anybody’s race to be named the Terry Crawford Women’s Program of the Year.

The top-3 teams in the standings are separated by just two points: co-leaders BYU and NC State hold 10 POY points, while third-place Arkansas tallied 12 so far. All told, those three programs have six top-10 finishes between themselves at the NCAA Championships this year – but only one has been champion: the Wolfpack topped the podium in cross country and were ninth indoors; the Cougars were runner-up in cross country and eighth indoors; the Razorbacks ended up eight in cross country and fourth indoors. BYU took home this award last year.

Not too far behind that trio sits fourth-place Colorado with 16 POY points and fifth-place Ole Miss with 16.5 POY points. Both the Buffaloes and the Rebels have a top-10 finish to their credit this year: Colorado took fourth in cross country; Ole Miss tied for sixth at the indoor meet.