NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Washburn men's cross county, indoor and outdoor track program finished ninth in the USTFCCCA Program of the Year Award after scoring in all three disciplines at the NCAA National Championships. It is the third time the Ichabods have been ranked in the final program of the year standings after finishing ninth in 2025 and 16th in 2023.
This past season, the Ichabod cross country program was program-best 22
nd at the NCAA Championships while finishing 21
st at the NCAA Indoor Championships and 21
st at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Washburn was one of four MIAA schools in the top 15 joining Northwest Missouri (#4), Pittsburg State (#6) and Nebraska-Kearney (#12)
The USTFCCCA Program of the Year 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 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.
| Rank |
Team |
Head Coach(es) |
XC Rank |
ITF Rank |
OTF Rank |
XC Pts |
ITF Pts |
OTF Pts |
Total POY Pts |
| 1 |
Grand Valley State |
Jerry Baltes |
4 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
| 2 |
Wingate |
Pol Domenech / Jacqueline Kirby |
1 |
3 |
10 |
1 |
3 |
10 |
14 |
| 3 |
Colo. School of Mines |
Chris Siemers / Matt Sparks |
3 |
9 |
11 |
3 |
9 |
11 |
23 |
| 4 |
Northwest Missouri State |
Wick Cunningham / Brandon Masters |
11 |
8 |
6 |
11 |
8 |
6 |
25 |
| 5 |
West Texas A&M |
Zach Daniel / Matt Stewart |
14 |
6 |
8 |
14 |
6.5 |
8 |
28.5 |
| 6 |
Pittsburg State |
Ben Barrows / Kyle Rutledge |
27 |
1 |
2 |
27 |
1 |
2 |
30 |
| 7 |
Adams State |
Damon Martin |
2 |
12 |
16 |
2 |
13 |
16 |
31 |
| 8 |
Saginaw Valley State |
Rod Cowan |
6 |
10 |
18 |
6 |
10.5 |
18.5 |
35 |
| 9 |
Washburn |
David Granato / Cameron Babb |
22 |
21 |
21 |
22 |
22 |
22 |
66 |
| 10 |
Lewis |
James Kearney / Dana Schwarting |
12 |
12 |
41 |
12 |
13 |
41 |
66 |
| 11 |
Lee (Tenn.) |
Caleb Morgan |
10 |
45 |
20 |
10 |
48 |
20 |
78 |
| 12 |
Nebraska-Kearney |
Brady Bonsall |
26 |
45 |
13 |
26 |
48 |
13.5 |
87.5 |
| 13 |
Oklahoma Baptist |
Brain Whitlock / Ford Mastin |
25 |
52 |
17 |
25 |
54 |
17 |
96 |
| 14 |
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
Michael Rosolino |
31 |
21 |
58 |
31 |
22 |
60 |
113 |
| 15 |
Roberts Wesleyan |
Andrew Dorr / Mark McCown |
33 |
27 |
50 |
33 |
29 |
53.5 |
115.5 |
