Indiana University Athletics
IU Fourth in Final Program of the Year Standings
6/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
June 15, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -
Complete Standings in PDF Format 
The Indiana men's track and field program finished fourth in the John McDonnell Program of the Year Award race for 2010-11, the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced. The award is given out based on the program that has the best combined finish at NCAA Championships in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. Florida State was awarded this year's trophy.
Indiana used a seventh-place finish in cross country, a sixth-place finish indoors and 20th-place outdoors to finish fourth, the highest finish for the Hoosiers since the award's inception. With a combined 35.5 points, the Hoosiers were 28 points better than closest Big Ten foe, Penn State, who finished 11th.
Indiana track and field director and head coach Ron Helmer said that the goal of the program is to be the nation's best in all three seasons, so being fourth on the list is very rewarding to see that the Hoosiers are on their way.
"When we arrived at Indiana four years ago, we made a conscious decision to be competitive across the board and be a complete program," said Helmer. "Part of that is placing high at the NCAA Championships in all three seasons, so to be in the running for program of the year, somewhat validates some of the work we've been doing. Our student-athletes are going into NCAA Championship meets and performing at a high level in those meets because they aren't intimidated and they feel as if they belong among the nation's elite. That makes this program fun and exciting to be around."
Next up for Indiana track and field are the USA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon on June 22-25. For complete coverage of all things IU track and field, stay tuned to IUHoosiers.com.
