FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Complete Standings

Mar. 18, 2011-- By virtue of its national title at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships last weekend, North Central College has moved into the top spot in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Al Carius Men's Program of the Year standings, released Thursday.

The NCAA Division III Al Carius Program of the Year Award is given 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. The award was first instituted during the 2008-2009 school year with the Cardinals earning the honor in 2009-2010 after winning all three national championships.

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 III 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.

With two of the three championships in the books, the Cardinals have a commanding edge in the standings as they look to secure their second straight Program of the Year honor. North Central sits with three points after finishing second at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in the fall and winning the indoor national title. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is a distant second with 15 points (11 cross country, 4 indoor track) while the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is third with 16.5 points (6 cross country, 10.5 indoor track).

Haverford College, the 2010 cross country national champion and previous Program of the Year standings leader stumbles six spots to seventh as the Fords finished 29th at the indoor championships for an overall score of 33.

North Central tallied eight All-Americans and one individual national champion at the 2011 Indoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Capital University on Mar. 11 & 12, earning the team title with 45 points to edge runner-up Central College (Iowa) by one point. Michael Spain raced to the victory in the meet's penultimate race, the 5,000-meters to tally the squad's final 10 points and secure the win.

The Al Carius Program of the Year Award is named after USTFCCCA Hall of Famer and long-time North Central College coach Al Carius. Carius is in his 46th year of service at North Central, still as head coach of the Cardinals' cross country squad, and has been a part of 21 NCAA Division III National Championship teams (13 cross country, five outdoor track, three indoor track).

North Central opens up the outdoor track season on Friday, April 1, hosting the First Chance Invitational at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.