USTFCCCA NCAA DIII Program of the Year – 2023 Final Update

NEW ORLEANS – Consistency pays off.

MIT’s men and Washington (Mo.)’s women, which combined for five podium finishes at the NCAA DIII Championships during the 2022-23 academic year, were named the Al Carius Men’s Program of the Year and the Deb Vercauteren Women’s Program of the Year, respectively. This is the second-straight title for the Engineers and the fifth overall for the Bears.

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

MIT posted a near-perfect score of four POY points, claiming titles in in cross country and outdoors along with a runner-up finish indoors (the latter by a scant 0.5 points).

Finishing second was UW-LaCrosse with 11 POY points. The Eagles were the only program besides MIT to win a national title – earning the indoor crown by 0.5 points – and added a runner-up finish outdoors after an eighth-place finish in cross country. This is UWL’s highest POY finish since winning in 2017, the most recent of its four POY honors.

John Carroll – last year’s runner-up in this compilation – had three top-10 finishes in earning 13.5 POY points for third. The Blue Streaks were fourth in cross country, sixth indoors and tied for third outdoors.

SUNY Geneseo reached a program-high fourth place in the POY standings with 23 points after finishing third in cross country and indoors and 16^th outdoors. The Knights’ previous POY best was sixth in 2018.

Also setting a program high was UW-Whitewater, which finished fifth with 26.5 POY points. In fact, it was the first-ever top-15 POY finish for the Warhawks, who were top-10 in all three sports – 10^th in cross country, eighth indoors and seventh outdoors.

Women’s Story

Washington (Mo.) rose back to the POY top spot in a tight race that had three programs within two points. The Bears’ 11 points were best, thanks to a runner-up finish indoors and a third place outdoors after a sixth place in cross country. This is WashU’s first Deb Vercauteren Award since 2019, their most recent of four straight such honors.

Tying for second were Chicago and Johns Hopkins with 13 POY points. For the Maroons, it’s the highest finish ever after being runners-up in cross country and finishing sixth indoors and fifth outdoors. The Blue Jays – last year’s POY winner – were champions in cross country, fourth indoors and eighth outdoors.

No program won more titles than UW-LaCrosse as the Eagles swept the indoor and outdoor team crowns after a 15^th-place finish in cross country to finish fourth with 17 POY points. UWL was third in the standings last year.

Repeating in fifth – this year just seven POY points away from first – was Wartburg. The Knights were one of four programs with a full collection of top-10 finishes after finishing third in cross country, ninth indoors and sixth outdoors.