MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The West Virginia University cross country and track & field combined programs have been named No. 9 nationally in the Terry Crawford Program of the Year Award rankings, announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

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. The award is based on the institution's finish at their respective championships.

"For our group to have received this ninth-place ranking shows how incredibly consistent that we have been all year," said WVU coach Sean Cleary. "I am very proud of this team and in awe of the level of performance that they have delivered throughout the past 10 months."

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, with the lowest total score for all three championships combined determining the award winner. Ties among school's split points for positions taken.

West Virginia finished No. 2 in cross country, with two program of the year points, No. 23 in indoor track and field with 24.5 program of the year points and No. 24 in outdoor track and field with 24.5 program of the year points. In total, the Mountaineers finished with 51 total points.

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