NEW ORLEANS – Doug Watts stepped down as Edinboro's cross country and track & field coach in 2013, but his legacy continues to linger. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has announced that Watts has been named the namesake for the NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year Award. The Doug Watts Men's Athlete of the Year Award is one of four newly named national awards for NCAA Division II Cross Country.
Effective with the current 2016 season, the Doug Watts Men's Athlete of the Year Award will annually honor the most outstanding male runner in NCAA Division II Cross Country. The NCAA Division II Cross Country Men's Athlete of the Year award has been administered by the USTFCCCA since the association's formation in 2005.
"Throughout his nearly half a century at Edinboro, Doug Watts established a tradition of excellence that resulted in Running Scots men perennially competing for national titles and All-America honors," USTFCCCA CEO Sam Seemes said in a release from the USTFCCCA. "It's our honor to be able to associate Coach Watts' legacy of excellence with this award and its future winners."
Watts coached for 44 years at Edinboro, taking over in 1969. He led the Fighting Scots to six national championships in cross country, including NAIA national crowns in 1975 and 1976, and four NCAA Division II national championships in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1990. His teams can also boast six Division II runner-up trophies, plus finishes of third (twice), fourth (three times), fifth, sixth (twice), seventh (three times), eighth (three times) and ninth (twice). Watts coached four individual national champions (three at the NCAA level) in men's cross country. Watts' men's cross country team owns a current NCAA Division II record of having qualified 29 consecutive times for the national championships. He coached over 200 All-Americans at Edinboro.
A member of the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame, Watts was not just about running, however. In fact, he probably took greater joy in the academic accomplishments of his student-athletes. His squads traditionally excelled academically.
