Alabama Finishes 10th In Program of the Year Award Standings
6/14/2011 12:00:00 AM
June 14, 2011
NEW ORLEANS -
The University of Alabama men's track and field and cross country program finished the 2010-11 season ranked 10th in the John McDonnell Program of the Year standings, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Tuesday.
"This is an awesome accomplishment for our program and this is three straight years we've been ranked," UA head coach Harvey Glance said. "When I started at Alabama, one of my goals was to restore and build the program's credibility and I think this shows that we've done that."
The John McDonnell Program of the Year award is designed to honor the program that has achieved the most success each year based on the team's finish at the NCAA cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field championships. Florida State won the award this season with three top-five finishes. Arkansas was the only other Southeastern Conference program to rank in the top 15, coming in at seventh.
The Crimson Tide started out the season with an 11th-place finish at the cross country championships and followed that up with a 22nd-place showing at the indoor track and field championships. Last weekend, UA came in 25th at the outdoor championships to lock up 10th in the McDonnell Award standings.
Since the award was established in 2008-09, UA has finished no lower than 12th in the standings and achieved a seventh-place finish last season.
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 I 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.
"This award represents who is taking all three sports seriously and that's a credit to the University, our coaching staff and the student-athletes," Glance said. "I consider it one of our greatest honors as it is an award for consistency, having goals in all three sports and achieving them."
2010-11 John McDonnell Program of the Year Standings
1. Florida State
2. Stanford
3. BYU
4. Indiana
5. Oklahoma
6. Iona
7. Arkansas
8. Oregon
9. Texas
10. Alabama
11. Penn State
12. Northern Arizona
13. California
14. New Mexico
15. Villanova
