USTFCCCA NCAA DI Program of the Year Standings – 2024 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 – it’s time to look at the standings for the John McDonnell Men’s Program of the Year Award and the Terry Crawford Women’s Program of the Year Award in NCAA Division I.

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

Second and fourth.

Fourth and second.

No matter how you slice it, both equal six points.

That’s why Arkansas and Northern Arizona are tied in the race to be named John McDonnell Men’s Program of the Year. Most recently, the Razorbacks finished runner-up at the NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships after a fourth-place effort in cross country. Inversely, the Lumberjacks placed second in cross country and just finished fourth under a roof.

Cross country champion Oklahoma State sits third with 8.5 POY points, followed by North Carolina in fourth with 11 points and Wisconsin in fifth with 24 points. The Cowboys and the Tar Heels were the only programs other than Arkansas and Northern Arizona to finish among the top-10 teams in both cross country and indoor track & field.

Women’s Story

Welcome back to the Program of the Year Party, Florida!

The Gators are the clubhouse leader to be named Terry Crawford Women’s Program of the Year for the first time in program history. Florida has totaled seven points in the POY standings with its most recent runner-up finish indoors and a fifth-place effort outdoors. This is the first time that the Gators have appeared in the POY standings since the 2018-2019 season.

Back-to-back award winner Arkansas sits second with ten POY points. The Razorbacks most recently topped the podium indoors after a ninth-place finish in cross country. Arkansas has been among the top-3 finishing teams in the POY standings in nine of the past ten years.

Three other programs who doubled up on top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships sit third through fifth: Oklahoma State is third with 11.5 points; Notre Dame and Oregon are tied in fourth with 14 points. The Cowgirls finished third for this award in 2016, while the Irish have never been among the top-3 programs at the end of the year. The Ducks are a mainstay, winning nine consecutive awards between 2008 and 2017.