NEW ORLEANS, La. – After an excellent year in which the Olivet Nazarene University men's track & field and cross country teams competed at each of their respective NAIA Championships, the Tigers were ranked at No. 14 in the USTFCCCA NAIA Program of the Year rankings. The league announced its rankings Tuesday afternoon.

The USTFCCCA Program of the Year 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 their respective Championships.

In order to be eligible for the award, teams must qualify for each of the Championships. Scoring is based on the team's finish at each 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 winner. Ties among schools split points for positions taken.

The Tigers were eligible for the honor for the third consecutive season, all under head coach Kyle Rago who has led the Purple & Yellow Gold to their respective Championships in all three sports four of the last five seasons.

The men's cross country team accounted for 23 points, the indoor track & field team contributed 29.5 points in their tie for sixth place, and the outdoor squad notched 24.5 points, giving Olivet a final score of 77 to finish 14th out of 22 eligible universities. Cumberlands (Ky.) was selected as the NAIA's top men's program with 11 points.

ONU's finish in the rankings for the Program of the Year marks their eighth appearance in the standings in nine years since the awards inception in 2016.

To view the full USTFCCCA Program of the Year rankings for the NAIA, click here.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu