NEW ORLEANS – In the University of Mary's best finish in nine years, the Marauders placed 7^th in the nation in the final U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division II Jerry Baltes Women's Program of the Year standings.

The Marauders were one of only 17 programs in the nation to place in all three 2021-22 NCAA championships - cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field.  

UMary claimed 10^th in the nation at the 2021 NCAA cross country championships, led by an All-American finish by Alyssa Becker. Powered by a national championship from D'Andra Morris in the triple jump and her All-American finish in the long jump the Marauders finished 21^st nationally at the 2022 indoor championships. Another triple jump title and All-American honors in the long jump by Morris and All-American performances by Tereza Bolibruch and Samoya Neil earned UMary a 16^th place finish at the 2022 outdoor championships.

The USTFCCCA Program of the Year Award standings rank institutions for their overall 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 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 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.

Grand Valley State was the overall champion after finishing as the runner-up in all three meets for a total of 6 points. Adams State was second (13.5), followed by West Texas A&M (17.5), Queens (27), Academy of Art (31), Saginaw Valley State (41) and UMary (47.5), with Lee (50.5), US-Colorado Springs (50.5) and CSU Pueblo (54) rounding out the top ten.

UMary was the top finisher among Northern Sun schools. Augustana was the only other conference school in the standings, placing a distant 15^th with 96.5 points.

The 7^th place finish for UMary is the squad's best program of the year placement since claiming 4^th in both 2011-12 and 2012-13.

The USTFCCCA did not compile program of the year standings in 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to the pandemic cancelling parts of each season, which snapped a string of four straight Top 10 finishes for UMary. The Marauders finished 8^th for three straight seasons (2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19) and 10^th in 2015-16.

USTFCCCA Jerry Baltes Women's Program of the Year Standings
2021-22 | 7^th
2018-19 | 8^th
2017-18 | 8^th
2016-17 | 8^th
2015-16 | 10^th
2012-13 | 4^th
2011-12 | 4^th
2010-11 | 7^th
2009-10 | 12^th
 
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