A victor in every event that he competed in this fall, Dave Davis from the University of Puget Sound (Wash.) has been named the 1999 NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year. The United States Track Coaches Association and Mondo Surfacing selects and presents the award annually to a top performer at one of the 307 NCAA Division III schools that sponsor men's cross country.

Davis, a senior from Portland, Ore., highlighted his 1999 season by winning the individual title at the NCAA Division III Championship held Nov. 20 in Winneconne, Wis. There, Davis outdistanced a field of 212 runners by completing the 8,000-meter course in a time of 23:42. His performance was nine seconds better than the second-place time of 23:51 recorded by Colin Young of North Central College (Ill.) and helped the University of Puget Sound to a 21st-place finish in the team standings. The Loggers were making their first appearance at the NCAA Division III Championship after a decade of competition in the NAIA, where Davis was a two-time All-American.

In addition to his individual title at the NCAA Division III Championship, Davis also won six other events during the 1999 campaign. Among them were the NCAA Division III West Regional, Northwest Conference Championship, Sun Dodger Invitational, University of California-San Diego Invitational and Pacific Lutheran University Invitational. The psychology major's first-place finish at the NCAA Division III West Regional held Nov. 13 in Estacada, Ore., helped the University of Puget Sound qualify as a team entrant for the 24-team NCAA Division III Championship.

Rhaina Echols from the University of Chicago (Ill.) was the 1999 NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year.