Wartburg Women Earn Deb Vercauteren DIII Program of the Year

NEW ORLEANS – Wartburg’s defense of its NCAA Division III Outdoor women’s team title this past weekend over rival UW-Oshkosh came down to the final event, but its defense of the Deb Vercauteren Division III Women’s Program of the Year award was not nearly as closely contested.

The Knights were runaway winners of Program of the Year honors after a championship and runners-up and a fourth-place finishes between the three NCAA championships — indoor/outdoor track & field, cross country — factored into the award.

The USTFCCCA Program of the Year Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding cross country/track & field programs in each of the NCAA’s three divisions and for each gender.  The 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 recipient. Ties among schools split points for positions taken.

The Knights eked out a narrow 46-43 team title competition over UW-Oshkosh and won by just five points over Ramapo and Buffalo State at 41 points apiece. That title, combined with a fourth-place showing at the indoor championships and a runner-up finish at the cross country championships gave the Knight just seven points in the Program of the Year standings, three times fewer than runner-up Williams.

Williams finished 10th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to conclude its Program of the Year pursuit with 21 points after a fourth-place showing at the cross country championships and a seventh-place finish at the indoor championships.

Despite an indoor team championship crown and a runner-up finish outdoors, the UW-Oshkosh women finished third in the standings with 32 points due to a 29th-place showing at the cross country championships.

The NCAA Division III Deb Vercauteren Program of the Year Award is named after USTFCCCA Hall of Famer and former UW Oshkosh women’s head coach Deb Vercauteren. Her Titans won a combined 18 NCAA national titles and her student-athletes combined to earn over 345 All-American performances. Vercauteren won an impressive 36 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles (15 cross country, 11 indoors, and 10 outdoors).