CU Women Third In Final USTFCCCA Program Of The Year Standings
NEW ORLEANS – The University of Colorado women's cross country and track and field program finished third in the 2022 United State Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Program of the Year running following a fourth-place finish in cross country and a pair of top-10 finishes in track.
The women finished third in the rankings with 25.5 points in a system that equates a point to every finish at the NCAA Cross Country, Indoor Track and Field and Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Buffs were fourth during cross country, tied for 11th indoors with three other teams and were tied for ninth outdoors last week. This is the first time Colorado has finished top-three in the standings since 2017.
The Buffs were led by a quartet of women during every championship. At the cross country championships, Abby Nichols led the way finishing eighth for her second cross country All-American finish for CU. Emily Covert was 31st to earn her first All-American honor, followed by Rachel McArthur in 55th and India Johnson in 58th.
Turning to the track, the quartet of women split into a trio in the 1,500 and Avery McMullen in the heptathlon finishing eighth while Micaela DeGenero, Madie Boreman and McArthur all were in the 1,500 final. DeGenero made a move from the back of the pack and couldn't be stopped as she rolled to the NCAA Mile National title followed by McArthur in fourth and Boreman in eighth, all picking up points as the Buffs finished tied for 11th.
Outdoors, Colorado earned First Team All-American finishes from Emily Covert, DeGenero, Nichols and Boreman. Covert started things off finishing fourth in the women's 10,000, an effort that was matched with the same place finish for Boreman in the steeplechase. Nichols picked up three points in the women's 5,000 with a sixth-place finish, and DeGenero came just a few meters short of doubling up in titles indoor and out and she finished second in the women's 1,500-meter run.
Arkansas took home the women's title with a fourth-place finish indoors, sixth-place finish outdoors and an eighth-place finish in cross country. BYU came in a close second with a second-place finish in cross country followed by an eighth-place finish indoor and tying with CU outdoors for ninth.
In the men's standings, Texas took the title with ease after finishing 14th in cross country but winning the indoor track title and finishing second outdoors. The CU men were ineligible for the standings as every program needs to score points at all the championships to be eligible. Colorado was eighth in cross country, tied for 41st indoors and did not score a point outdoors. Had the men picked up one point they would've finished tied for 68th outdoors with 117 points which would've finished them 18th in the program standings.
Only Arkansas, Stanford, Alabama, Oregon, Texas and Florida State have won the title for the men since it was created in 2008. Only four women's teams have won it now with Arkansas earning their first to go along with BYU, Oregon and Stanford. The CU women finished second to Oregon in 2017 for their highest-ever finish.