USTFCCCA Celebrates NCAA Division III Week

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USTFCCCA Celebrates NCAA Division III Week
April 11, 2013


NEW ORLEANS — The sports of track & field and cross country play a vital role in the mission of NCAA’s Division III and the USTFCCCA along with the rest of the nation celebrates Division III Week.

The NCAA proclaimed April 8-14 as Division III Week.

Student-athletes in DIII are among the nation’s best college-going young adults in discovering their talents both inside and outside the classroom, developing their potential through building relationships and harvesting leadership skills, and dedicating their lives to the advancement of others.

The Division III philosophy fits their motto of Discover, Develop, and Dedicate: "Academics are the primary focus for Division III student-athletes. The division minimizes the conflicts between athletics and academics and keeps student-athletes on a path to graduation through shorter practice and playing seasons, the number of contests, no redshirting and regional competition that reduces time away from academic studies. Student-athletes are integrated on campus and treated like all other members of the general student-body, keeping them focused on being a student first.”

With over 1,100 members, the coaches of Division III are a vital component to the USTFCCCA as well. The track & field and cross country associations within the USTFCCCA presents several awards throughout the academic year to recognize members that are outstanding coaches and their student-athletes for athletic and academic prowess.

ALL-ACADEMIC AND SCHOLAR AWARDS
Following the cross country and track & field seasons, the USTFCCCA honors those who mix athletic standing with academic achievement with the awarding of All-Academic awards to teams and individuals. The Scholar Athlete and Scholar Team of the Year recognitions award those who were on top of the standings among All-Academic honorees.

For the 2012 cross country season, NCAA men’s individual champion Tim Nelson of UW-Stout was named DIII cross country’s Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year and 162 individuals were named All-Academic as they possessed a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or better through the fall semester and were among the top 35 finishers at the most recent NCAA Regional Championships.

The Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year was UW-Oshkosh’s Christy Cazzola. The NCAA women’s individual champion in 2012 was among 200 others were earned All-Academic status.

To earn All-Academic team status in cross country, a squad must have finished the fall semester with a cumulative team GPA of 3.10 or better. For the 2012 season, 114 men’s teams and 197 women’s programs accomplished the feat. Calvin College’s men’s team and Johns Hopkins’ women’s squad were named the season’s Scholar Teams of the Year. The Cardinals of Johns Hopkins were winners of the NCAA women’s team title and reported a cumulative team GPA of 3.32 while Calvin finished tied for national runner-up honors and have tallied a GPA of 3.47.

Track & field All-Academic awards and Scholar Athletes and Teams of the Year for the 2013 season will be announced in July.

YEARLY ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
The USTFCCCA awards All-Region honors to those in cross country who finish in the top 35 at their respective NCAA Regional Championship. In addition, Region Coaches and Athletes of the Year are named for each of the NCAA’s eight regions per gender.

The top 35 finishers at the NCAA National Cross Country Championships earn All-America plaudits from the Association.

National Coaches and Athletes of the Year are chosen for both genders following the national championships. For both indoor and outdoor track & field seasons, regional and national awards are also given in the same manner with the addition of the recognition of an outstanding assistant coach by gender.

All-America honors in track & field are awarded from each event to those who place in the national championships’ top eight in either individual or relay events.

Outstanding Performers of the Meet nods for both track entrants and field entrants are given to those student-athletes per gender who compile the highest point total at the NCAA Track & Field Championships based on the scoring of points within the meet, setting NCAA meet records, setting season’s bests and setting facility records.

KEEPING UP WEEK-TO-WEEK
On a weekly basis, the USTFCCCA recognizes outstanding performances by gender with the National Athlete of the Week program.

During cross country season, national and regional coaches’ polls keep the sport world up-to-date on the who’s who in the division.

Performance data is used to compile national and regional rankings in track & field, giving media, fans, and coaches, a metric in which to evaluate teams. National rankings give insight to a team’s national championship hopes while regional rankings help discover which teams have the best overall depth proving most vital in a conference championship or dual-meet setting.

The USTFCCCA worked with the NCAA and DirectAthletics to create TFRRS.org. TFRRS, short for Track & Field Results Reporting System, benefits Division III in a multitude of ways. All performance data of student-athletes in the division are kept in a massive database for easy access. The NCAA uses the system as the official entry system. In 2012, the system expanded to include cross country, becoming the first of its kind for the sport.

Special reports are also compiled on a weekly-basis that include how DIII athletes stack up with all collegiate track & field athletes in overall qualifying status and how student-athletes who also play football compare in an interdivisional setting.

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR AWARDS
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.

The best DIII men’s program is awarded the Al Carius Program of the Year Award and is named after USTFCCCA Hall of Famer and long-time North Central College head coach Al Carius. Carius is in his 47th year of service at North Central, still as head coach of the Cardinals’ cross country squad, and has won 23 NCAA Division III National Championships. Carius’ program last won a "triple crown" of NCAA titles during the 2009-2010 academic year.

UW-Oshkosh won the inaugural award for the 2008-2009 academic year, but North Central (Ill.) has won the following three academic years. UW-La Crosse is leading the men’s standings after the indoor track & field season for the 2012-2013 award.

The nation’s top women’s program is awarded the NCAA Division III Deb Vercauteren Program of the Year Award. The award’s namesake, Deb Vercauteren is a USTFCCCA Hall of Famer and former UW Oshkosh women’s head coach. 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).

Wartburg is the current women’s program leader for the 2012-2013 award and they have twice won before, including the first award in 2008-2009 and the most recent award in 2011-2012. MIT was the award winner in 2010-2011 while UW-Oshkosh took it in 2009-2010.

USTFCCCA COACHES HALL OF FAME
The association’s Coaches Hall of Fame recognizes the top leaders throughout the history of collegiate track & field and cross country, several of which come from DIII.

The most recent addition the the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame in Division III was former UW-Oshkosh men’s coach John Zupanc. His Titan program won six NCAA team championships in cross country. In 2011, the USTFCCCA inducted UW-La Crosse coach Phil Esten. A number from DIII have been honored in the past ten years including Lynchburg’s Jack Toms (2010), Rowan’s Oscar Moore (2009), UW-La Crosse’s Mark Guthrie (2008), Lincoln (Pa.)’s Cyrus Jones (2007), North Central (Ill.)’s Al Carius (2006), UW-Oshkosh’s Deb Vercauteren (2006), Christopher Newport’s Vince Brown (2005), and William Smith’s Jack Warner (2005).

USTFCCCA DIVISION III ATHLETE HALL OF FAME
The Division III Athlete Hall of Fame honors those student-athletes whose collegiate career were most outstanding. The hall includes those who have won several NCAA championships and USTFCCCA All-America honors.

The 2013 class includes Macalester’s Julia Kirtland, Carleton’s Dale Kramer, Haverford’s Seamus McElligott, and UW-La Crosse’s Tori Neubauer-Muesing.



U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
1100 Poydras Street, Suite 1750
New Orleans, LA 70163

Contact: Tom Lewis
Director of Communications
tom@ustfccca.org
(504) 599-8904













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Tom Lewis

U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association

Director of Communications

1100 Poydras St., Suite 1750

New Orleans, LA 70163

(O) 504-599-8904 (F) 504-599-8909

Email: tom@ustfccca.org

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