MIT’s dominance leads to Deb Vercauteren Program of the Year Award

Courtesy of top-four finishes at three straight NCAA Division III Championships, the MIT Women's Cross Country and Track & Field program was honored as the Deb Vercauteren Program of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Tech received the award, which is given to an institution with the best combined team finishes in each of the NCAA's three Championships in a given academic year, thanks to third-place showings at the cross country and indoor meets and a fourth-place finish at the outdoor competition.

Coach Halston Taylor has built his program into one of the most dominant in all of Division III, as evidenced by this honor. His teams have shown great consistency at the NCAA Championships, finishing among the top 10 in the country at seven straight National meets. His athletes have earned 54 All-America honors over the past three years, including 14 at last month's Outdoor Championship.

The NCAA Division III Deb Vercauteren Program of the Year Award is named after USTFCCCA Hall of Famer and former University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh women's head coach Deb Vercauteren. Her Titans have won a combined 18 NCAA national titles and her student-athletes have compiled more than 345 All-American performances. In addition, 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. With 10 points MIT outscored second-place Williams College by seven, the largest margin of victory in the history of the award. The Cardinal and Gray finished as the runner-up in the standings in 2009-10, missing out on the honor by just one point.