2024 NAIA Track & Field and Cross Country Program of the Year

NEW ORLEANS – Two opposite sides of the coin for first-time winners.

Cumberlands (Ky.) ran away with the Jack Hazen Men’s Program of the Year honor, but it came down to the wire for College of Idaho for the Fred Beile Women’s Program of the Year award.

Men’s Story

Cumberlands (Ky.) makes its first appearance in the POY standings one to remember – not only did the Patriots’ debut at No. 1 with the largest winning margin (18 points) in the award’s nine-year history, they did so with lowest-ever NAIA total of 5 points. It was a year full of program-best finishes for all three sports – third in cross country before sweeps of the indoor and outdoor track & field titles.

Dordt (Iowa) – last year’s winner with a then-record 9 points – is second with 23 points for their third-straight top-4 showing. The Defenders were eighth in cross country and second indoors before tying for 12^th outdoors.

Oklahoma City is third for the third time – all in the last four years. The Stars compiled 28 points by placing 11^th in cross country and tying for 11^th indoors before a fifth-place finish outdoors.

Reaching a program high in fourth is William Carey (Miss.) with 40 points. The Crusaders followed the 30^th-place finish in cross country by finishing fourth and sixth, respectively, indoors and outdoors.

Fifth with 40.5 points is Indiana Wesleyan, continuing the longest top-5 streak among NAIA programs that began in 2018-19. The Wildcats were fifth in cross country, 19^th indoors and tied for 15^th outdoors.

Women’s Story

This award has a history of close finishes – the last four were decided by margins of 1, 2, 3.5 and 4 points – but this time a tie breaker was needed. It was also needed for the inaugural 2015-16 award.

College of Idaho’s first-ever victory at the cross country championships proved to be pivotal – it doubled as the best single-sport finish of the programs involved in this year’s POY tie. The Yotes followed by tying for 10^th indoors and 12^th outdoors for 24 POY points. College of Idaho’s previous best finish in the POY standings was fourth – last year and in 2015-16.

A heartbreaking second is Cumberlands (Ky.) with the same point total of 24. The Patriots were the only women’s program to finish top-10 in all three sports – ninth in cross country and indoors followed by a sixth outdoors, the latter being their best single-sport finish. This is the first top-10 POY finish for Cumberlands, whose previous high was 15^th in 2020-21.

The next three programs also reached program bests.

In third, Taylor (Ind.) racked up 31 points. The Trojans were fifth in cross country then placed 12^th indoors and 14^th outdoors.

Just one point separated fourth-place Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) and fifth-place Concordia (Neb.) with scores of 42 and 43 points, respectively. The Tigers started off tied for 24^th in cross country before a pair of top-10 track & field finishes – tying for 10^th indoors and placing seventh outdoors. The Bulldogs were 18^th in cross country before taking third place indoors and tying for 20^th outdoors.