Calvin Women Fourth/Calvin Men Fifth in USTFCCCA Division III Program of the Year Standings
Friday, March 18, 2011
The recent success of the Calvin men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams at the NCAA III Indoor Track and Field Championships coupled with strong performances by Calvin at the NCAA III Cross Country Championships have boosted Calvin in the AlCarius/Deb Vercauteren Program of the Year Standings.
On the women’s side, Calvin is currently tied for fourth with Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the Deb Vercauteren standings while on the men’s side, Calvin is in fifth place in the Al Carius standings.
The Al Carius Program of the Year Award is named after USTFCCCA Hall of Famer and long-time North Central College head coach Al Carius. Carius is in his 46th year of service at North Central, still as head coach of the Cardinals’ cross country squad, and has won 21 NCAA Division III National 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 have won a combined 18 NCAA national titles and her student-athletes have combined to earn over 345 All-American performances. Vercauteren has won an impressive 36 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles (15 cross country, 11 indoors, and 10 outdoors).
The NCAA Division III Program of the Year Awards are awarded annually to the most outstanding NCAA Division III cross country/track & field programs. 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 Division III 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 Division II 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 Calvin men currently have 12.5 points in the Al Carius standings after finishing eighth at the NCAA III Cross Country Championships in the fall and tied for 12th at the NCAA III Indoor Track and Field Championships last weekend. North Central leads the standings with three points. MIT leads the standings with six points. The Calvin women have 17 points in the Deb Vercauteren standings after finishing ninth at the NCAA III Cross Country Championships and eighth at the NCAA III Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships are scheduled to be held May 26-28 in Delaware, Ohio. Ohio Wesleyan University will serve as host.
