Wartburg Earns Third-Straight Deb Vercauteren Division III Women's Program of the Year Award

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Wartburg Earns Third-Straight Deb Vercauteren Division III Women's Program of the Year Award
May 30, 2014

NEW ORLEANS – What a week for the women's track & field and cross country programs at Wartburg.

Less than one week ago, the Wartburg women won their third consecutive NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field team title, and on Friday it was announced they had also clinched their third consecutive Deb Vercauteren Division III Women's Program of the Year Award from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

DIII Women's Program of the Year Standings - Top 5
Rank Team Score
1 Wartburg 15
2 Williams 16½
3 UW-La Crosse 25
4 MIT 25½
5 St. Lawrence 31
FULL STANDINGS

Trailing in the standings behind both Williams and MIT entering the Division III Outdoor Championships in Delaware, Ohio, this past weekend, a third-straight team title by the Knights combined with eighth- and 13th-place finishes from those East Coast schools gave Wartburg the ultimate edge.

MORE INFO: Award History

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 for each gender.

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 and both indoor and outdoor track & field (i.e. 1st = 1 point, 2nd = 2 points, etc.) with the lowest total score for all three championships combined determining the award recipient. Ties among schools split points for positions taken.

The Knights claimed the team title outdoors by just two points over indoor champion UW-Oshkosh, 65-63, in a team race that went all the way down to the meet-finale 4x400 relay. A win or runner-up finish was required to win the team crown outright, and the Knights delivered with a second-place effort.

Combined with a third-place finish in the indoor team championship standings and an 11th-place showing in cross country, Wartburg totaled 15 points in the Program of the Year standings to edge past Williams' 16½.

In addition to winning each of the past three Program of the Year trophies, Wartburg also won the inaugural award in 2009-09.

Williams started the year strong with a runner-up finish at the cross country championships, followed by fifth- and eighth-place showings at the indoor and outdoor championships, respectively. This marks

Rounding out the top five were UW-La Crosse (25 points), 2010-11 Program of the Year winner MIT (25½) and St. Lawrence (31).

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 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).




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

Contact: Kyle Terwillegar
Communications Assistant
kyle@ustfccca.org
(504) 599-8905