Ninth place in NCAA Program of the Year Awards

NEW ORLEANS – The BYU women’s track and field and cross country teams placed ninth in the 2017 NCAA Division I Program of the Year Awards announced Tuesday.

“I’m very pleased with that top-10 finish,” BYU women’s cross country and distance coach Diljeet Taylor said. “It was a good combination of cross country finishing 10th, a fourth-place distance medley relay finish at the indoor championship and Shea Collinsworth’s indoor and outdoor performances.”

Scoring is based on the team’s finish at each NCAA championship in cross country as well as both indoor and outdoor track and field (i.e. first = one point, second = two points) with the lowest total score determining the award recipient.

The Cougars earned 10 points for their 10th-place finish in cross country, 19 for 18th place in indoor track and field and 45 for a 43rd-place finish in the outdoor season. Those three results totaled 74 points for ninth place overall. The top-four programs were Oregon (first with three points), Colorado (second with 22 points) and Arkansas and Stanford (tied for third with 30 points).

BYU women's cross country's finish was its best since 2005.

Click here for the full release from the USTFCCCA about the 2017 Program of the Year Awards.