NEW ORLEANS — The men’s and women’s race for first-ever NAIA Programs of the Year came down to what happened at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships this past weekend in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

If the Indiana Tech men lived up to their lofty pre-meet billing (read: No. 1 by a long shot), Doug Edgar’s team would surge ahead of Oklahoma City and capture the award.

The same definitive answer wasn’t possible in the women’s chase as Biola (Calif.), Aquinas (Mich.) andCarroll (Mont.) were all neck and neck throughout the year.

QUICK LINKS: Final Program of the Year Standings

Well, Indiana Tech matched its indoor title with the outdoor version and won its gender’s Program of the Year Award. The Warriors totaled 16 points in the final Program of the Year standings (14 points from cross country and one each from indoors and outdoors) to best Oklahoma City (23) and Wayland Baptist (Texas)’s tally of 28.

And for the first time in the history of the award — across all divisions — a tie-breaker had to be used to determine a recipient.

Biola (Calif.) and Aquinas (Mich.) both finished with 19 points, so we broke down who placed better at each championship this academic year — cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. When all was said and done, Biola (Calif.) had a 2-1 advantage over Aquinas (Mich.), thus giving the Eagles the Program of the Year Award for their gender.

The USTFCCCA Program of the Year Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding cross country/track & field programs in each of the NCAA’s three divisions and for each gender. The 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 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 recipient. Ties among schools split points for positions taken.